This evening my husband & I surveyed our back yard and definitively diagnosed 3 large queens on the east side that have FW. Two on the west side are questionable but surely doomed. Younger queens planted on the berm at the end of our canal are infected. We have a call out to our tree man to remove the large dead/dying palms and that won't be cheap. Tomorrow, Tim and I will cut down the smaller ones. I'm considering taking out our remaining mule as a proactive measure. The two large queens will have to wait till we have funds to have them removed. And we're keeping an eye on our Washy.

But....I have questions for PT experts regarding FW and the whole Syagrus genus, i.e., what other species/hybrids besides romanzoffiana does this fungus affect? I have the following: stenopetala (strap leaf in pot), ruschiana (1 dead, 1 maybe dying, which may answer the question - they come out tomorrow too), flexuosa (1), kelleyana (2), x costae (1), schizophylla (2), romanzoffiana x flexuosa (2), unknown hybrid (1).

I'd appreciate any info or experience anybody has had with this disease and I'm sure other palm growers would too. Photos would be great. At least then I can be ready for what comes. I will track the issue in the coming year and report my findings. In any case, I'm done with this genus.

I've read your recent threads on your queens and the prospect of loosing all your queen canopy is so disheartening. Losing one is bad enough so really sorry to read this.

I do have a few questions. Back in January of last year you posted about being concerned about one of your queens dying rather suddenly and then a few weeks later said it was determined, after cutting it down and dissecting it, it was likely due to a lightning strike. Do you think now that wasn't the case? Also wondering if you have had a sample of an afflicted palm sent in for testing?

I remembered when I was reading up on the canary version of the wilt disease coming across this article from the University of Florida extension: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp278 and if you haven't seen it might want to give it a read. Talks about how to get samples tested, and eventual disposal of the diseased palm among other things. You might also note that they mention mule palms rarely succumbing to it (don't know if that has changed since the article was written); but before cutting your mules down, I would think about it twice especially if you lose so much canopy with the queens. Might be worth trying to contact someone from your local extension to verify current thinking. I know from our own experience in Calif, locating a knowledgable palm tree disease specialist can be challenging, but then palms aren't planted here in No. Calif. to the extent they are down southern Calif or in Florida so you might have better luck finding someone local.

I was surprised to read in the above article that this f. sp. palmarum affects queens and Washingtonia robusta. Found it odd that one palm species is pinnate and the other fan. Didn't realize the two were so closely connected.

BTW I read in one of your posts that you've been able to trim your palms yourself so far and curious what precautions you've taken when cleaning your saws. The article mentions this as well. I found it interesting that new palms could carry the disease, and nurseries would need to destroy all their stock if diagnosed with it. Anyone know if it gets into the seeds from an affected tree and could be passed on that way too?

Wish you all the best, and as painful as it is to go through appreciate your sharing your experience.

Meg, I lost 5 of the original 11 that were on my property when i bought my house to Fusarium. I'm convinced my landscapers at the time (lawn cutters) had brought it on one of their pole saws. Mine were fed & watered, fat & heavily, while none of my neighbor's scrawny, malnourished Queens perished.

This was almost 7 years ago & i recently lost 2 of 3, 20 ft stalks of a botryophora, but i have an amara & a schizophylla doing fine.

These photos are from the first few being taken down. Notice the dark area of the trunk. I was told this was a sure sign of Fusarium.

Randy, your comments bring up a good point that Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. palmarum is not a single specie specific killer like F. oxysporum f. sp. canariensis. Just a hunch, but I am sure it it kills many more palms then given credit for, it is just that the popularity of those palms isn't to the level of the Queen and Mexican Fan Palm. Just glad this hasn't made its way to Cali yet.

Debbie, our tree man suggested lightning because he didn't find obvious signs of disease and the palm died suddenly. It was totally dead when he cut it down. So was the second.

But Sunday, my husband noticed the dying palms showed the telltale signs of FW: fronds start dying on one side, then the other. Also, they turned and odd "rusty" brown color. Normal die-back is a much lighter shade of grayish-brown.

We had been cutting our own fronds for years. But most of our queens are too tall to be reached by pole saw and my husband is too old to be climbing ladders. However, our younger queens are infected that were never pruned professionally. Certainly, contaminated cutters can introduce this disease but I suspect it can spread by direct contact between palms, wind, rain or even animals.

Meg also syagrus ruschiana is died with Fusarium?

if yes,I hate to say,there are many probability,that also other species of Syagrus are affected to Fusarium

My ruschiana never did well here. I think they don't like our sweltering humidity. Of 3 I planted, one died last year, 2nd died over the holidays and the 3rd had many dying leaves. Did they have FW? I'm not sure but they are out of here.

Meg, I remembered when our mule palms were fairly new to our yard (transplanted mature), we were concerned about the coloration on one or two of our fronds. I believe I investigated similar things like FW and lethal yellow, etc. I didn't see FW listed in my research for California and while I knew one of the parents was a queen figured it probably wasn't FW due to the locale and the Palm having been grown in Calif. We let the frond dry totally and cut it off and decided to take a wait and see approach. Found photos I took from then (June 2011). Take a look. And if you are wondering, the mule is doing just fine years later.

Back in February, 2011, we had had a very wet month of rain and our Palm beds sat in surface water during this time. We later saw the Lightning bolt indicator of boron deficiency on this same mule's fronds that were developing at this time. I know the theory that FW might pass through the soil in water and spread into the roots could explain the timing. The soil being wet like it was isn't something we've seen repeated. I realize you live right at the water and your water table is very low compared to ours. Just some food for thought on you mule Palm. We didn't have any samples examined so really not sure the cause but sure does look similar and the ground around our mule dried out after that month and we went into our dry, hot summers. That might have something to do with California queens not seeming to suffer from FW or University of Florida Extension's comment that mules don't seem to succumb to FW. Just my speculation across the board.

The diseases killing palms in Florida these days are ridiculous. Sabals, Washies, Queens, the whole genus Phoenix. Pretty soon it's going to look like Illinois (my home state) around here...except for less corn. Sorry about the queens, Meg. Maybe Royals would be a better option? I haven't heard of anything killing them yet. I'd leave the mule for now. I've been wondering if they will prove susceptible to the myriad new diseases ravaging our hobby. Fwiw, I haven't heard about anything new killing Butia either. Those genes might convey some resistance. I'm thinking of changing hobby to bamboo...!

Dear Meg.

Sorry about your palms..I know how it feels when you take care of a plant or pet and suddenly after few years their health starting to deteriorate. .

But my suggestion is those palms which has not shown signs of this disease do not cut it down.

And are you comfortable using chemical based fertz and fungicides,

Then start using it.

Iam not a fan of organic substances.

Most occasion organic feeds do tend to breed infection in coastal high humid zones.

Never clean the palm leaves and crown section with ground water.

Hope all your palm related problems get solved in yr 2015.

Love,

Kris.

The remaining mule looks healthy so I'm leaving it be. Same with the remaining species/hybrids. The queens we cut down yesterday all showed telltale symptoms - they were doomed. Also goes for the 5 that we need our tree man for. Why leave them as microbe factories for the fungus?

I think my humid climate may play a part in the transmission of this disease and may be a clue to why it doesn't strike in Cali - that climate is very dry.

I always said if I'd known in 1993 what I know now about queens I never would have planted them. But back in the 1980s and 90s queens were the next best thing for FL palm gardens, as the foxtail and majesty became in the new millennium. A triumph of advertising and wishful thinking.