I recently acquired a windmill palm with at least 6' clear trunk and had to operate on It due to extreme bud rot. I think I cut a little more than a foot off the top till I got to solid wood. I also pruned the roots a little at the tips since they were a little dry. Any one had any luck with this palm surviving an operation this extreme? Other than the dry tips on the roots the rest of the root system looks good.

Thanks in advance.

Do you have any pictures? Did you apply a fungicide or peroxide?

Edited May 21, 201412 yr by ArchAngeL01

I tried posting these earlier from my iPhone but they were too large to post.

I treated with both peroxide and fungicide on the cut. I have operated in younger palms with a growth bud issue and they are all recovering. This looks like solid wood to me though.

any thoughts???

Doesn't look like there is any bud left and likely wont recover

This palm is dead - sorry.

Advice.... email the pics from your iphone to yourself. Then you can post them from your computer. What causes bud rot in trachys? I got a takil and a martianus and don't want this to happen to them I have them potted under my pergola for now. I never overhead water them.

Operation successful but patient deceased.

patient #2

A customer brought this back to the nursery I work for so I made another attempt at an operation. This time there is still soft tissue in the center unlike the first try where I cut too far. Treating with peroxide and copper fungicide daily. this is a picture from 30 min ago.

What do you think about patient #2?

Also, How far does the growth bud go on a palm? I have operated on younger palms that have all recovered and are doing fine. I also caught the issue earlier on than my currant patients. Thanks!

Edited May 26, 201412 yr by GA Palm Guy

I've never seen anything cut down that far on a windmill survive. Nothing but a sabal might survive that. Come on down to Fl and I will sell you some 5ft CT/9ft OA windmills that are healthy.

What I am seeing at my nursery is the customers are not educated about the palms they are buying and they don't know how to treat a palm that is showing a decline. I am expierimenting to see how much these palms can take. I am glad you mentioned that only a sabal could probably take that kind of cut as I was basing my theory on that palm to see if other palms could re generate as a sable can. These were freebies to me so I had nothing to loose.

You need to be able to see "characters" after cutting...this is why you only cut a little at a timer until live tissue is found...

but as we see in the first pic(possibly)the rot has passed the bud.

My first one I experimented on.

Edited May 28, 201412 yr by Jimhardy

to add to the discussion--- I havent been lucky saving gthem but had about 15 as understory--- they eventually got tall maybe 4-12 feet then I started loosing them I have about big ones left the reason was that I had sabals and other palms that got bigger and the fronds were touching there crown or just above them --- it looked like I was losing them 1 by 1---- finally i started to put it together and started cutting back the big palms that were so close and the other s I pruned that interferred with the spike or crown --- just thought I would pass this on.

Best regards

Ed