Royal not doing well

[Yunder Wækraus]

My royal was transplanted from a nursery last summer. It did really well for the first few months. It pushed out new fronds at a steady pace. Winter came, and long before it ever got cold, we had strong winds with A LOT salt spray. Several of my plants began to decline, but the royal is the only one that has neither died nor recovered by now. It's been frozen in time for 5 months. The spears you can see have not budged. Its mature fronds have steadily aged off or been sheared off by wind. What do I do? Relevant facts: palm is near road; about 1,000' from beach; soil is sand; coldest temp was more than a month after start if decline and well above 35

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Alex,

Salty wind burn is my best guess.  There are some that are exposed to too much salt spray at South Padre Island that look horrible, but ones on the west side of the buildings or a couple of blocks away from the Gulf look good.  Royals really don't like salty winds, unlike the tall varieties of coconut palms which seem to thrive with it.

John

[Yunder Wækraus]

7 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Alex,

Salty wind burn is my best guess.  There are some that are exposed to too much salt spray at South Padre Island that look horrible, but ones on the west side of the buildings or a couple of blocks away from the Gulf look good.  Royals really don't like salty winds, unlike the tall varieties of coconut palms which seem to thrive with it.

John

Will it recover? Is there anything I can do to help it?

[empireo22]

45 minutes ago, Yunder Wækraus said:

Will it recover? Is there anything I can do to help it?

lots of water, fertilizer, and mulch.

[PalmatierMeg]

Make sure you use fertilizer with minors. If you can find it, also use Southern Ag Essential Minor Elements in granular form. Also, try some manganese sulfate (not magnesium) for possible frizzle top. My royals are prone to frizzle top and yours may be too.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

7 hours ago, Yunder Wækraus said:

Will it recover? Is there anything I can do to help it?

I don't know other than lots of water, and I would suggest using only Organic fertilizer with micronutrients.  We have an excellent one over here called MicroLife 8-4-6 Ultimate that has over 70 minerals and micronutrients that covers the full spectrum of all nutrients a plant can possibly need.  I have been using it for 4 years now with excellent results.  They also have an Ocean Harvest 4-2-3 that I use as a foliar spray in tandem with the granular slow release I mentioned above.  You may be able to get a nearly Organic (95%) natural fertilizer that I use sometimes too called Medina Hasta Gro Lawn 12-4-8 that has some micros that gets good results too.  Also, apply about an inch or 100% Organic compost around the area of the root ball, but not right up to the trunk.  Leave about a 3" space from the trunk.  Then over the compost, apply about 2.5" of a good 100% Organic mulch.  I like to use Texas Native Hardwood Mulch.  It is a fine shredded all natural mulch without any dyes.  You can probably find something similar over there.  My only other suggestion is that if the palm is not too big already, then move it to a less exposed location.  Good luck.

John

[Bill H2DB]

     Royal Palms really are not a good palm for an exposed location on the East Coast of Fla. They are really a wetlands dweller in their native

enviro.   Many palms look fairly bad when exposed to the east winds , which not only are salty , but are quite drying . Look at the native vegetation nearby.

The closer to the beach , the more desiccation there is , and combined with the excessively well drained soil , only the tough survive . Notice how the Oaks etc

grow ok on the lee side but are clipped on the windward side . That's why Mom Nature has Serenoa , and some suffering Sabals mostly, along with other

adapted plants like Sea grape etc along the Beach .

   As you proceed to the west side of the coastal island , the plants look better because they have a lot more shelter from the coastal winds .

   In order to overcome the harsh conditions , you will need a lot of water , but extended exposure to the winds will still do the leaves some damage .

      It's a harsh environment , and you'll see the effects on your aluminum windows and most everything else , as time goes along .    

Been there , done that .

 

[Walt]

My first question is: How long had the palm been field dug before it was planted for you?

My second question is: What culture have you been giving your royal since it was planted (i.e., watering frequency, fertilizing (what analysis)?

My third question is: How much trunk does your royal have (if any), as your photos don't indicate?

Your palm appears to be traumatized and suffering from K (potassium deficiency), judging from the necrotic leaves.

If you have a John Deere Landscape company nearby or not so near by, I would buy a 50# bag of their 8-2-12-4 palm fertilizer. As per the University of Florida, it's about the best fertilizer you can by for palms in Florida. (See below link):

https://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/gardener10/Presentations/Tuesday/am/0800%20M%20Elliott.pdf

Next, I would take a soil sample from around your palm and take it to your county extension office and have it checked for pH level.  Being so close to the coast your soil may be alkaline (too high pH) and have to be adjusted downward into the 6.0-6.5 range, so that your palm can fully take up the minerals from the fertilizer.

About 6-7 years ago I had a trunked royal palm field dug (I picked it out at the field palm nursery) and planted on my property. It adapted very well without much set back. I took note of the large white healthy root ball when they lowered the palm in the planting hole. This was in September of the year and I watered the palm daily for weeks.

On the other hand, up in town (Lake Placid) a homeowner had a double royal palm planted (with about 15 feet of trunk each) late last year. If it's any consolation to you, the two palms look very similar to yours (not doing well). I drive by these palms at least once a week and they just don't seem to be showing any new growth. I have no idea what kind of cultural care the homeowner is giving the palms, if any.

I say, about all you can do is keep watering your royal palm and fertilize it with a quality palm fertilizer (8-2-12 w/minors), like what John Deere sells.

I would mark the spear of the palm where it emerges with a waterproof black marker. Then, check the spear 24 hours later. I estimate the mark should have moved at least 3/8ths of an inch minimum. If there is no movement after several days, then there is something definitely wrong with your palm, and it may be fatal. The weather (air temperature and soil temperature is warm enough now that your palms should be exhibiting new growth. If the spear moves at least 3/8ths of an inch, then your palm is probably okay. It should pick up some speed as the weather gets warmer, especially when the rainy season starts. By then the spear should be growing faster, more like 5/8ths of an inch a day.

 

[RedRabbit]

When I was in that area last I was pretty surprised by the amount of salt spray in the air. It is never like that on the west coast and I haven't seen it like that in further south on the east coast so it is kind of unique. That's probably the only area of Florida that is actually warm enough for royals and has that amount of salt spray... I don't know if that's what's to blame, but I thought I'd at least share that observation. :)

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

1 hour ago, Walt said:

My first question is: How long had the palm been field dug before it was planted for you?

My second question is: What culture have you been giving your royal since it was planted (i.e., watering frequency, fertilizing (what analysis)?

My third question is: How much trunk does your royal have (if any), as your photos don't indicate?

Your palm appears to be traumatized and suffering from K (potassium deficiency), judging from the necrotic leaves.

If you have a John Deere Landscape company nearby or not so near by, I would buy a 50# bag of their 8-2-12-4 palm fertilizer. As per the University of Florida, it's about the best fertilizer you can by for palms in Florida. (See below link):

https://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/gardener10/Presentations/Tuesday/am/0800%20M%20Elliott.pdf

Next, I would take a soil sample from around your palm and take it to your county extension office and have it checked for pH level.  Being so close to the coast your soil may be alkaline (too high pH) and have to be adjusted downward into the 6.0-6.5 range, so that your palm can fully take up the minerals from the fertilizer.

About 6-7 years ago I had a trunked royal palm field dug (I picked it out at the field palm nursery) and planted on my property. It adapted very well without much set back. I took note of the large white healthy root ball when they lowered the palm in the planting hole. This was in September of the year and I watered the palm daily for weeks.

On the other hand, up in town (Lake Placid) a homeowner had a double royal palm planted (with about 15 feet of trunk each) late last year. If it's any consolation to you, the two palms look very similar to yours (not doing well). I drive by these palms at least once a week and they just don't seem to be showing any new growth. I have no idea what kind of cultural care the homeowner is giving the palms, if any.

I say, about all you can do is keep watering your royal palm and fertilize it with a quality palm fertilizer (8-2-12 w/minors), like what John Deere sells.

I would mark the spear of the palm where it emerges with a waterproof black marker. Then, check the spear 24 hours later. I estimate the mark should have moved at least 3/8ths of an inch minimum. If there is no movement after several days, then there is something definitely wrong with your palm, and it may be fatal. The weather (air temperature and soil temperature is warm enough now that your palms should be exhibiting new growth. If the spear moves at least 3/8ths of an inch, then your palm is probably okay. It should pick up some speed as the weather gets warmer, especially when the rainy season starts. By then the spear should be growing faster, more like 5/8ths of an inch a day.

 

FYI, everyone.  John Deere Landscape changed names to Site One around the end of December 2015.  They had been sold some time back and had the rights to use the name for a while.  So, you should still be able to buy the same items, but the name of the store changed.

[Yunder Wækraus]

9 hours ago, Walt said:

My first question is: How long had the palm been field dug before it was planted for you?

My second question is: What culture have you been giving your royal since it was planted (i.e., watering frequency, fertilizing (what analysis)?

My third question is: How much trunk does your royal have (if any), as your photos don't indicate?

Your palm appears to be traumatized and suffering from K (potassium deficiency), judging from the necrotic leaves.

If you have a John Deere Landscape company nearby or not so near by, I would buy a 50# bag of their 8-2-12-4 palm fertilizer. As per the University of Florida, it's about the best fertilizer you can by for palms in Florida. (See below link):

https://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/gardener10/Presentations/Tuesday/am/0800%20M%20Elliott.pdf

Next, I would take a soil sample from around your palm and take it to your county extension office and have it checked for pH level.  Being so close to the coast your soil may be alkaline (too high pH) and have to be adjusted downward into the 6.0-6.5 range, so that your palm can fully take up the minerals from the fertilizer.

About 6-7 years ago I had a trunked royal palm field dug (I picked it out at the field palm nursery) and planted on my property. It adapted very well without much set back. I took note of the large white healthy root ball when they lowered the palm in the planting hole. This was in September of the year and I watered the palm daily for weeks.

On the other hand, up in town (Lake Placid) a homeowner had a double royal palm planted (with about 15 feet of trunk each) late last year. If it's any consolation to you, the two palms look very similar to yours (not doing well). I drive by these palms at least once a week and they just don't seem to be showing any new growth. I have no idea what kind of cultural care the homeowner is giving the palms, if any.

I say, about all you can do is keep watering your royal palm and fertilize it with a quality palm fertilizer (8-2-12 w/minors), like what John Deere sells.

I would mark the spear of the palm where it emerges with a waterproof black marker. Then, check the spear 24 hours later. I estimate the mark should have moved at least 3/8ths of an inch minimum. If there is no movement after several days, then there is something definitely wrong with your palm, and it may be fatal. The weather (air temperature and soil temperature is warm enough now that your palms should be exhibiting new growth. If the spear moves at least 3/8ths of an inch, then your palm is probably okay. It should pick up some speed as the weather gets warmer, especially when the rainy season starts. By then the spear should be growing faster, more like 5/8ths of an inch a day.

 

The palm was dug and planted within a few hours. It came from a nursery about 30 min away. The root ball was huge. I gave it root stimulating fertilizer, mulched (but not against the trunk), and, months later, provided palm fertilizer in pellet form. The soil is pure sand, and, yes, I can confirm that royals a block away do not show the same wind burn. The start of the crown shaft is above my head, and I'm 6'4". Thanks for the advice.

[Yunder Wækraus]

Here are pix to give context (in the sunrise pic, the cabbage palms in the distance are on a beach front condo property; the beach is four properties from my home)

[Walt]

1 hour ago, Yunder Wækraus said:

The palm was dug and planted within a few hours. It came from a nursery about 30 min away. The root ball was huge. I gave it root stimulating fertilizer, mulched (but not against the trunk), and, months later, provided palm fertilizer in pellet form. The soil is pure sand, and, yes, I can confirm that royals a block away do not show the same wind burn. The start of the crown shaft is above my head, and I'm 6'4". Thanks for the advice.

I don't understand what the problem might be with your royal. Even if the foliage has some salt and/or wind burn, that shouldn't have much to do with the fact the spear isn't growing (but you need to confirm this with the marking and measuring). If the royal had a huge root ball and some trunk, there should be enough starch storage to keep the spear and meristem growing.

Again, I think all you can do is to keep the soil moist and apply a good palm fertilizer -- and hope with the summer heat and rainy season your royal will snap out of it.

My biggest royal (R. regia) has a full healthy crown. But I have many R. borinquena (that I grew from seed about five years ago) that have no trunk, and they look ragged, with a sparse canopy of fronds, and they've been in the ground two years. I figured last summer they would have cranked out lots of fronds, but no such luck. TLC seems to make little difference. Only one looks normal, and that is one I have close to the house where I can water it almost everyday. Part of the problem on my property is that it is so dry, and I only water outlying areas where I have palms maybe twice a week at most. And even then it's not a deep watering.

 Sunniland Corporation makes a palm fertilizer approved by the University of Florida labeled: 8-2-12 UF.  Item# 02008512.

You might contact Sunniland as to where their closest distributor is where you could purchase this fertilizer. I contacted Sunniland about a year ago and they sent me a PDF showing the palm fertilizer label. I don't have a Sunniland distributor in my neck of the woods, but fortunately I can buy an 8-2-12 with minors and some slow release capability in Nitrogen and potassium from a company called Brandt Consolidated.

Here's a link to Sunniland's website, and where you can contact them by email. Ask them to send you the PDF palm fertilizer label and where you can buy it.

http://sunnilandfl.com/lawn-garden/lawnandgardenproducts/

Or, here is the reply I got from Sunniland last year showing the email address:

Hi Walt,

Here is your label as requested.

 

Thank you,

 

Sincerely

Sue

Susan Bagley
LAWN & GARDEN ASSISTANT
SUNNILAND CORPORATION
PO BOX 8001
Sanford, FL 32772-8001
sbagley@sunnilandcorp.com
407-322-2421 x 345

 

 

[Yunder Wækraus]

1 hour ago, Walt said:

I don't understand what the problem might be with your royal. Even if the foliage has some salt and/or wind burn, that shouldn't have much to do with the fact the spear isn't growing (but you need to confirm this with the marking and measuring). If the royal had a huge root ball and some trunk, there should be enough starch storage to keep the spear and meristem growing.

Again, I think all you can do is to keep the soil moist and apply a good palm fertilizer -- and hope with the summer heat and rainy season your royal will snap out of it.

My biggest royal (R. regia) has a full healthy crown. But I have many R. borinquena (that I grew from seed about five years ago) that have no trunk, and they look ragged, with a sparse canopy of fronds, and they've been in the ground two years. I figured last summer they would have cranked out lots of fronds, but no such luck. TLC seems to make little difference. Only one looks normal, and that is one I have close to the house where I can water it almost everyday. Part of the problem on my property is that it is so dry, and I only water outlying areas where I have palms maybe twice a week at most. And even then it's not a deep watering.

 Sunniland Corporation makes a palm fertilizer approved by the University of Florida labeled: 8-2-12 UF.  Item# 02008512.

You might contact Sunniland as to where their closest distributor is where you could purchase this fertilizer. I contacted Sunniland about a year ago and they sent me a PDF showing the palm fertilizer label. I don't have a Sunniland distributor in my neck of the woods, but fortunately I can buy an 8-2-12 with minors and some slow release capability in Nitrogen and potassium from a company called Brandt Consolidated.

Here's a link to Sunniland's website, and where you can contact them by email. Ask them to send you the PDF palm fertilizer label and where you can buy it.

http://sunnilandfl.com/lawn-garden/lawnandgardenproducts/

Or, here is the reply I got from Sunniland last year showing the email address:

Hi Walt,

Here is your label as requested.

 

Thank you,

 

Sincerely

Sue

Susan Bagley
LAWN & GARDEN ASSISTANT
SUNNILAND CORPORATION
PO BOX 8001
Sanford, FL 32772-8001
sbagley@sunnilandcorp.com
407-322-2421 x 345

 

 

Thanks!

[Yunder Wækraus]

Update: I took a sharpie pen and duct taped it to a pole so that I could mark the spear. I couldn't really get the right angle to mark it at its lowest point, but I was able to mark the emerging spear and mark an already established frond base immediately adjacent to it. After several days, it does look like the spear has moved up by as much as an inch.

I've also changed the way I water the tree. After I first got it in the ground, I would water it with well water at a slow drip. (My well is artesian--I think that's the term--and if I don't use the pump, the water comes out at a steady rate of a few gallons an hour.) I stopped using the well water last year because someone told me it had too much salt in it and would harm the tree. As I've thought about when and why the royal began to decline, I think there is a correlation between the change from near-constant well water drip to regular city water sprinkler. Perhaps it's drying out too quickly between my city water waterings; it's also possible that the well water might contain some nutrients which are lacking in the sterilized city water. I just don't know.

At least there are signs that the tree might recover. I hope the extra water and the warming weather will be enough to bring it back into robust health. Thanks to all of you who offered suggestions :-)

[Walt]

Well, if the spear is growing, then that is a good sign. Royals like water. I have one near my house that I water every day. As a result, it looks better than the eight others (all Roystonea borinquena) I have planted, but which get watered far less. If your well is artesian, I wouldn't think it would have much salt in it, as to my knowledge (which isn't all that much) they are very deep, comparably to more shallower wells (where they would be more apt to salt water intrusion), and the hydraulic pressure pushes the water up naturally to the surface.

In any event, I would take a well water sample and have it checked for a complete analysis at a water treatment company, that way you will know once and for all what the water quality is. You may also be able to get your well water checked by your county health department.

Also, FYI, over a year ago there were about a dozen trunked (15 feet at least of trunk) royal palms planted locally in some run down residential area, but on county property. Every one of these palms look ragged as heck. I highly doubt they are being watered. They look far worse now than when they were planted.

I know for a fact that regular irrigation will make these palms grow faster and fatter.

[Cocoa Beach Jason]

Manganese, Potassium, and water are your friends here.