Pygmy date palm probs - England

[Jennie]

Got this potted pygmy date palm last year and am now worried its on its last leg. Since November I have kept it wrapped in a thick blanket on the leanto upto a few weeks ago when the UK daytime temperature reached around 15 C. It looked rather happy upto this point..unfortunately the night temperature dropped to around 0 C and i wrapped it up again for another few weeks. I have re potted it and made sure its not dried out. I am somewhat clueless to what is wrong and if there is anything i can do to save it. I would be very grateful for anyones experienced feedback of what i can do (if anything..).

Fyi - this is the first palm tree i have owned and am a bit of a novis..

Edited April 12, 2015 by Jennie

[Pip]

I think your pygmy date palm is ok. It is adjusting to the new growing conditions. I hope you don't have the roots too wet as that can cause health issues when the plant isn't in active growth. Keeping them on the dry side is better during winter. once the nights get consistently warmer begin feeding the palm with a water soluble fertilizer regularly throughout your growing season.

[Jennie]

Hi Pip, thank you for your reply it was very helpful.

Is it normal for a palm tree to loose its bottom fronds at the beginning of its growing season?

[Pip]

Pygmy date palms tend to grow multiple new leaves at the same time. Growing conditions would determine the time between each flush of new growth. I'd expect that the lower leaves of your palm would look very tired before they are replaced by a new flush of growth.

[Jennie]

Yes, the bottom ones are completely dry and lifeless.

Thank you for your feedback.

[Pal Meir]

Hello Jennie, I am not so optimistic. I think all the roots of the palm are rotten. Maybe it got too much water during the cold season, but the 0°C can't be the (only) reason.

I am very unhappy to write this sad notice, but I wish you more luck in the future with (other) palms!

Greetings from Germany,

PM, growing palms since 1958

[Jose Maria]

The pictures of the dwarf date palm : it seems that the palm is too dry.Sometimes I see this condition here in Costa Rica when people forget to water their plants.

But... if the roots are diseased ( rot) this is also one of the symptoms. If it has good drainage ,then it is difficult for roots to rot.

And,i admit, I have no clue what cold temperatures would do to these palms.

[Phoenikakias]

I am competely on the same line with Josemari!

[Pal Meir]

No, I regret that I don't think that the above comments are correct. According to my experience in cold climates (like in England or Germany) with potted palms, especially also with Phoenix roebelenii, the leaves of the palm don’t look like the result of too dry conditions. I suppose – as mentioned above – it is the result of overwatering and/or bad drainage during the cold season resulting in rotten roots. The leaves of a healthy potted Ph. roebelenii ought to look e.g. like this one, posted at Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/palmeir/16935896548

[Axel Amsterdam]

It dried out from wrapping it for a very long time, no air, no light.

The palm is probably still alive. I have a planted pygmy in my courtyard and it survived -5C at night and several days around 0C. It lost a large number of fronds (they look dried out, but were hit by the cold) but also kept a few good looking green fronds. It's already growing again.

I think -5C is the absolute min.

Edited April 12, 2015 by Axel Amsterdam

[Phoenikakias]

I regret too, but having experienced BOTH death of a roebelenii due to cold and foliage shrinking because of underwatering, I incline to say that present situation seems to be rather a result of root dehydration! I regret even more to say that if assumption is correct, then this palm may have still rescue chances, because Phoenix roebelenii, UNLIKE (let's say) Microcoelum, has a remarkable come back ability after such dehydration, both in terms of needed time and final losses in leaves as well.

[Jennie]

Thank you all for your feedback.

May i add that it looked rather happy and as in image shown in the link above when i first uncovered it a few weeks ago.

I am fearing that i have over watered it thinking that it was dehydrated.

The bottom fronds have completely died..

Is there anything i can do to avoid it deteriorating further?

[Tyrone]

Overwatering causing root rot, and dehydration due to lack of water create the same sort of sad look in the leaves. When the root tips die they can't suck up water so the entire plant dehydrates. These things are tough little things. Do you have a conservatory? If so, put it in there and get it warm. This will speed up it's metabolism and maybe it will sprout new roots and be OK. Can you get those soil moisture probes in the UK? They will instantly tell you if it's too dry or too wet. In cold climates too wet is a very bad thing. In warmer climates the plant will use the excess moisture or it will simply evaporate. This species can handle being on the dry side in cold weather as others have said.

My plan of attack would be to get it warm and if it's too wet try and get it to dry out a bit in a warm sunny spot. When it's time to water it again, give it a bit of seaweed extract and just hope it pulls through.

[Jennie]

Thank you Tyrone, i will certainly give it a go and hope for the best.

[David York]

Typical symptoms of root death. Could be either down to being too dry for an extended period, or too wet especially in the colder months.

Only the owner will know the answer as to which it is, but the end result is just the same.

Greetings from the EPS.