Phoenix canariensis seems to be dying!

[Donatasgem]

Hi all,

I recently bought a  Phoenix canariensis  (Canary Date palm) from a local store (B&Q in the UK). It was reduced in price as some of the leafs were already dead. Anyway, I chopped off the dead leaves and left the green ones on, then planted it outside in a warm, sheltered spot (we have had a hot summer here in the UK this year) but it does not seem to be doing anything at the moment, I am not even sure whether it is still alive or not. I did read somewhere that sometimes the plant can be dead but the leafs still remain green for a while. I do water it every day now, it is in a good draining soil too. 

 

See the picture on what you guys think!

 

thank you 

[Pal Meir]

Doesn’t look good …  I would recommend to dig it out and take a photo of the roots. (And if there should be any hope  plant it into a pot as small as possible with excellently draining soil (+lots of LECA). But better first seeing how the roots are looking. )

[Donatasgem]

Thank you Pal!

 

When I planted it, that was only a few weeks ago, the roots seemed to be good, I think the problem with it was that it was under-watered in the garden centre. We have had 30C weather for 3 months without any rain at all! So I am thinking this might be reason why it was struggling, it does look at the very bottom though that there are some new green things going. Will have to see how it goes and follow your example, hopefully it does survive until I come back from holiday next week and able to do anything, otherwise I can still take it back to the store and get a refund as it was a deal that I could do that, but I was just hoping I could save it!

Thank you again for your help

[PalmatierMeg]

I agree you should repot it after checking the roots. In the future, if you get a possibly debilitated palm, avoid planting it until you have grown it to full health in a new pot and soil mix. Throwing it into the ground ASAP, even during favorable weather, puts a lot of stress on an already weakened palm. Better to grow it up and plant in the spring. Also, mark the spear and check daily to see if it is still growing.