Does this sound like transplant shock? Help

[trachyman]

I got a trachycarpus manipur through mail order I think it arrived on Thursday or Friday. It was bare rooted surrounded by damp warm moss (grrr). I am not a big fan of roots sitting in damp/wet/warm material for a few days to much potential for root rot. Anyway I potted it up that night in a mix that contained mostly small bark, Fox Farm Ocean Floor potting soil and coarse perlite (50:40:10). I have kept it inside of my home sitting in the laundry room for the past few days to have it recover from shipping before going out to the heated greenhouse. The laundry room temp ranges from 74F-80F/23C-27C depending if any domestic duties are being performed.

This morning I noticed on my "largest" frond the tips have started to brown and shrivel a bit. I was wondering if this is transplant shock? If so what can I do to help it along? Should I place it into the greenhouse now where it is more humid instead of inside of my home where it is rather dry (i.e. 30% humidity)? I am worried cuz this poor thing doesn't have many fronds to loose.

[MattyB]

It's surely transplant shock. I'm not sure about the conditions of your greenhouse, but if your other Trachycarpus do well in there then I'd say for sure move it to the greenhouse. The only reason I see not to move it into the greenhouse is if it gets above 90F degrees in there, that might be too hot.

[trachyman]

Matt thanks for the response. The most I have been able to muster in my little greenhouse this winter (got it for Christmas) so far was 80F. Yes my other trachys (which are quite a bit younger and older) are doing very well in the greenhouse. I only kept my manipur inside my house because I was told by others to not put it in the greenhouse for a week or so and leave it inside the house to help it recover from shipping.

Anything else I can do other than put it in the greenhouse to help it recover?

[LJG]

I know it is anecdotal, but I swear by it - Super Thrive. Also, if you have a systemic fungicide, I would use it. Plants under shock are easy targets for fungus attacks. Every plant I get from Jeff Marcus gets both these treatments from me.

Got a picture?

[trachyman]

I know it is anecdotal, but I swear by it - Super Thrive. Also, if you have a systemic fungicide, I would use it. Plants under shock are easy targets for fungus attacks. Every plant I get from Jeff Marcus gets both these treatments from me.

Got a picture?

LJG I usually use Superthrive but this time for this palm I forgot to put a drop or two into the watering can until I had already watered it. Yup kicking myself now.

[Palm Killer]

Super thrive is good anything with some b1. I have had a lot of palms shipped in recent years some times there is nothing you can do to save it. If its going to die it will be in the next few weeks.;(

[trachyman]

Here are some pics to better illustrate what I'm saying.

[LJG]

Looks like fungus. I would hit it with a fungicide.

[trachyman]

Looks like fungus. I would hit it with a fungicide.

You know I thought that too when I took a second look at it when I came home from work.

[Ken Johnson]

That sure looks like a minor case of shock. I think fungicides are preventitive in nature so they dont kill existing plants...they only stop spores from developing.

I would want to get some sun on the plant so it can start to make energy.

All the vitamins in the world wont do any good if the plant cant make ATP.

[kahili]

Tracyman, I also think its transplant shock, and would get it into the greenhouse asap.

I would also say that I don't think that shipping palm roots in moist moss is going to hurt the roots. There are too many oxygen pockets to start any rot. Its not a bad way to ship. But I would caution against using any potting medium that says "soil" on the bag. Soil is too heavy and hard to dry out for containers imo. You are much better off using a soiless mix of some sort and adding perlite to that for extra drainage. I just saw that you have bark in the mix, and maybe its just me, but I don't like bark mixes as that takes longer to dry out also. Better to have to water more than hardly ever.

[daxin]

I think it is a combination of two factors: bare rooting has caused some damage to the root system, which limits water uptake; When you put this stressed palm into a dry environment, it is probably tranpiring water at a rate much more than before. With a restricted straw so to speak, the leaf will lose luster and start to die back from the tip. To save the palm, I think you can try to give it close to 100% relative humidity by wrapping the whole plant with a clear plastic bag. Mist inside first and take the bag off a couple times a day for several minutes each to let fresh air in. You won't need this bag method If you have controlled misting in your greenhouse. Be warned that typical GHs can have <40% RH when inside temperature hits 80F. A little bottom heat would also be very helpful to stimulate root regrowth, but with Trachy you may not want to set the soil temperature too high. A good dose of fungicide will also be a safeguard. It is also important to give your palm as much light as it can safely tolerate so the leaves can produce more food for regrowth.

[trachyman]

Thanks all. I put the palm into my greenhouse yesterday as soon as I got home. I figured with a heater in there the humidity is around 60-70% with the outside humidity almost always hovering in the 70-100%.

Kahili I know I said "potting soil" but what I am using is really soiless. I know better than to use soil in a pot. I am a bag reader lol. My bark doesn't stay wet, quite the opposite I have to water more frequently with the bark based mix. I also use course perlite with the mix and so far all of my other palms are absolutely thriving in it because it is very airy.

This morning I did spray the palm with copper fungicide. The only issue is I have other palms inside of the greenhouse and was wondering if there are any palms sensitive to copper fungicide? I know butias are but I don't have any of those.

BTW my greenhouse is not fancy its one of those portal walk-in deals. I have a small yard so I had to settle for one with a smaller footprint. So no fancy auto misting system for me.