Queen palm trunk splitting (too much water?)

[Walt]

Today I drove up to Avon Park, Florida, to look at some folks' queen palm. The trunk near the bottom had lots of transverse splits in it. Farther up the trunk there were more, but less severe, splits.

I don't know these folks. They are snowbirds from Ohio. They come down here from December through April (to live in a mobile home/RV park), then return home to Ohio.

I asked them some history about their queen palm. They told me that had it planted about two years ago. They said when they left to go back to Ohio last April (2012) the trunk looked good (no splits). But when they returned back to Florida this past December the trunk was full of splits.

I told them my experience is limited, but transverse splits in palm trunks is an indication of too much water uptake too fast.

I told them Florida had been in a four-year drought until last summer's rainy season, then we got much above normal rainfall. So much so that it broke the drought. I surmised that the palm -- since it had been in a drought condition, took up too much water once the rainfall became abundant, hence, causing the splits and deep fissures.

Possibly, the splits are from another condition, I just don't know. The palm, overall, looks good (no sign of mineral deficiency, pests, etc.)

Any thoughts from the forum? Has anyone here encountered a condition like this? I have a couple of Archontophoenix cunninghamiana palms with fairly deep splits in the trunk, but no queen palms with splits.

Below our four photos I took today of the queen palm trunk splitting:

[MattyB]

Skinny palm planted with trunk formed already and then when the roots get established it starts thickening and the old hard wood splits.

[_Keith]

I have seen freeze damage manifest itself that way, as it is doing on my oldest queen. I figure the next decent hurricane will take it down.

[spockvr6]

Skinny palm planted with trunk formed already and then when the roots get established it starts thickening and the old hard wood splits.

Yes, this would be my guess as well. The palm started "liking" its new home too much.

[MattyB]

The hard wooded or thick barked species seem to do this more often. Or if you have a D. lutescens, for example, that gets it's trunk sun scorched and it hardens off grey in color, then as it gets older and wants to swell instead of a uniform swelling it'll be forced to crack the hardened outer part.

[Walt]

The hard wooded or thick barked species seem to do this more often. Or if you have a D. lutescens, for example, that gets it's trunk sun scorched and it hardens off grey in color, then as it gets older and wants to swell instead of a uniform swelling it'll be forced to crack the hardened outer part.

I have more queen palms than I can count and haven't encountered this splitting problem. On the other hand, I have lots of trunked A. cunninghamiana with vertical splits/fissures.

I called the palm owner this morning and he told me (I was incorrect in my intitial post) that the palm was planted about five years ago. He also told me the palm did have some splits in it but they weren't wide and deep like they are now.

Since the splits happened while the customer was away from April of 2012 to December of 2012, I conclude the heavy rain fall we got during the rainy season of 2012 (June-Oct.) probably exacerbated the splits due to trunk swelling. As I said in my earlier post, we had been in a four-year drought until the summer of 2012, then we got all kinds of rain. All the lakes around here were filled to the brim, docks/piers under water. Water out of some lakes had to be drained off into the canals that lead down to lake Okeechobee. The drought was busted.

I told the palm owner today it is what it is. That there's nothing that can be done about the trunk damage.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

Walt, t looks like it could be planted too deep too. That will mess up water uptake and cause other problems over the long haul.

[Walt]

Walt, t looks like it could be planted too deep too. That will mess up water uptake and cause other problems over the long haul.

Keith. I can't attest to how deep the palm was originally planted, but the owner said it was planted five years ago the major splitting problem didn't happen until last year (four years after planting). So I would think any problems with respect to too deep of planting would have manifested themselves before four years. But that's just my guess. In any event, it shall remain a mystery as I told the owner there was nothing more I could tell him.

[_Keith]

Was the mystery ever solved?

[paulgila]

Whats with the queen palm thread bumping rampage? Never seen anything like it. Oh,the humanity.

[_Keith]

Whats with the queen palm thread bumping rampage? Never seen anything like it. Oh,the humanity.

So many replies, none socially acceptable.

[paulgila]

Could you be any more evasive? I guess not.

[_Keith]

Could you be any more evasive? I guess not.

Paul, that first reply was joking. Here in Zone 9a, the Queen is one of the most popular and beautiful of the pinnate palms. Certainly the most tropical looking of the bunch, in a not so tropical place. So, as I perused the queen threads I noticed so many were open ended, and thought I would inquire as to how things wound up.

[paulgila]

I hope yer happy.

[_Keith]

I am always happy, just sometimes happier than others. A common phrase here to describe life in Acadiana is Joie de vivre. We have as many or more problems as anywhere else, but why let that stop happiness and a little mischievousness as well.

[Walt]

The case of the splitting trunked queen palm was never fully solved, just left to speculation. The owners are just winter time snow birds from out of state, so they aren't all that concerned.

[buffy]

I saw this in a W. filifera in town. Even bigger and deeper than these. That palm was getting into some power lines. I suspect they may have gotten juiced by electricity or lightning. So perhaps that palm was struck by lightning while they were away.

[_Keith]

My queen has similar after the big freeze of 2009/10. But it seems no worse for the wear.

[JasonD]

Yeah, I've seen this as a latent symptom of freeze damage. It doesn't show up for a long time.

[Walt]

I've ruled out the trunk splitting to freezes, as there hasn't been a freeze bad enough in the 16 years I've lived here that caused trunks to split.

[Walt]

Could you be any more evasive? I guess not.

Paul, that first reply was joking. Here in Zone 9a, the Queen is one of the most popular and beautiful of the pinnate palms. Certainly the most tropical looking of the bunch, in a not so tropical place. So, as I perused the queen threads I noticed so many were open ended, and thought I would inquire as to how things wound up.

Queen palms are the main staple of my palm garden. Further, they are naturalizing all over my property. If they come up where I don't want them, I dig them up and pot them and/or just mow over them. I've found lots of variances in queen palms. Some have denser (hold more fronds than others) canopies; some have fatter trunks; some have longer fronds and leaflets, etc., even when given the same cultural conditions.

Over the years I've had several volunteer queen palms that are more robust than others. Many of them in my outlying areas don't even get fertilized or extra water, yet they do well.

Below is a volunteer that happened to come up in the right spot. The other is one I planted out in April of 1999 from a 7 gallon size.

Above photo: A volunteer queen palm that happened to come up near where I lost of clump of red bay trees (Persea borbonia) to the laurel wilt disease.

Above photo: This queen I planted out as a 7 gallon size 10 years or so ago. It's hard to tell from the photo but it has a rather fat trunk for a queen and large fronds. I just recently had it trimmed of all inflorescence, spathes, and some lower fronds. Some folks despise queen palms, but given the right TLC and keeping them trimmed, they aren't all that bad looking.

[KennyRE317]

around my dad's neighborhood they have very large queens, he has a volunteer that has a crown that's easily 2' in diameter and it hasn't started trunking yet, still working on the width. most of the queens in that area are very different than the ones I've seen at the common nurseries around here which are very thin

[_Keith]

Could you be any more evasive? I guess not.

Paul, that first reply was joking. Here in Zone 9a, the Queen is one of the most popular and beautiful of the pinnate palms. Certainly the most tropical looking of the bunch, in a not so tropical place. So, as I perused the queen threads I noticed so many were open ended, and thought I would inquire as to how things wound up.

Some folks despise queen palms, but given the right TLC and keeping them trimmed, they aren't all that bad looking.

If they were nearly impossible to find or to propagate, people would rave over their beauty. Palm snobs despise nothing more than a common palm. A queen to them is simply a weed.

[Walt]

If I had at least a one half USDA zone warmer climate, I probably would have far less queen palms and more royal palms. Still, I would have some nice queen palms. I have to grow what my climate allows, and queen palms are the best non native palm I can grew for quick landscape satisfaction. I have about 1/2 the length of my driveway lined with queen palms. Over the years I've lost two queens to hurricanes and one to ganoderma butt rot. Most of them, IMO, look good (when they are kept trimmed of old spathes, spent inflorescences, etc., and I admit they can look trashy with all that stuff remaining on the palm).

Above photo: One (center)of the queen palms lining my driveway. When they look like this one I have few complaints.

[KennyRE317]

Those are great looking queens Walt, unfortunately not only are they over used out here but massively over trimmed so that there's only 2 or 3 fronds

[gsytch]

I have a Queen that is splitting vertically. It started rather young - like when its was 12-15' tall. It was planted in 2006 as a clump of 4 rather close - to create some shade after the hurricanes took my shade. The other three are fine, and this tree faces the furthest west. The hottest sun. It protects my Bromeliad bed underneath. It once was only on one side...starts about 8' up and lasts another 8'. The other side is now showing some splitting. Luckily, it is rather close to the house, about 12', so momentum would be less if it fell. It is now 30-35' tall and is actually the tallest, although the other three are bare a few feet shorter. It is in an area of temp floodng in heavy rains but it slopes, so it does drain. Any further comments? In a hurricane, yes, I expect it to go. BUT it is valuable as a shade tree........Greg ....as I type this more bolts and storms currently pounding us! black skies! yikes...again

[lorraine monaco]

My Queen is split as well..can i trim it

[lorraine monaco]

My Queen after 1 year starting to split..other than that it looks extremely healty.can i cut the prawns off that split.there are many good growths

[aztropic]

Chop away...

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona

[lorraine monaco]

No saving it