Need Help..Air pockets..sunburn..shock?

[spataro51]

Hello everyone,  i am a little worried about my large roeby that i just got. It seems to be sort of drying up??? Maybe from sunburn?  transplant shock? or hopefully not Airpockets? CAn anyone help?? I got it from a member from another board....it was in his house for about 8 months in filtered sun through the windows. When i picked it up it was completely green and had no brown spots what so ever. It had to be taken out of the pot for removal and it was only out of the pot for a few hours. I planted it in the container it is in now a different pot...it lost a little dirt but most of the dirt that was in the original container made it back into the new container. I added 3 bags of palm potting mix soil to even things out. It has been 10 days since it was transplanted and it  sits in full sun from about 9 am until the sun goes down which is about 8pm. I am hoping that it is just adjusting to its new environment and all of the direct sunlight its getting......here are the pics. More pics next post

[spataro51]

and another..........

[spataro51]

and one more.....ANY SUGGESTIONS?????

[Jeff Searle]

Brian,

      After being inside for so long, it's just trying to adjust. It will be fine, and keep it in the sun, thats where these belong.

Jeff

[Dypsisdean]

Jeff's right. After 8 months of no direct sun, it is freaking out at being exposed to full on sun, and will probably look worse before it looks better.

But that's not your main problem. Your profile says Chicago. If this is in Chicago, the sun won't kill your palm, but the winter will, unless you have a warm place to move it. And if that place is shady, the burn will start all over again when put back in the sun.

Since I assume you will be moving this in and out, it would be best to try and keep it in as bright light as possible without shocking it with direct sun that it is not used to.

[spataro51]

Jeff.......Thanks for the assuarance, i will keep you updated. Dypsisdean......i plan on moving it to a family members house come oct. they have 12 foot ceilings.  Another option is a   nursery over here will  over winter palms in their greenhouse for around $100. Alot of people here in the city are starting to take up the hobby of growing palms.....they are popping up all over, especially downtown along the lake front. The mayor King Richard, has started investing in alot of palms and cycads around the city.  huge Sago's are all over the big parks along with windmills and robusta's along with different kinds of bannana's.    One beach actually has about 15 mature malayan coco's planted in boxes on the beach. It's a shame alot of them just go to waste come fall like the coco's... they are left for dead, but some of the stuff i think the city stores in a green house.  Its not florida but it brings a nice little tropical feel though. I havn't got as crazy as bobby yet maybe because my wife will have a fit.....heck it took me a few weeks to see the roeby on her...... lol

[Tad]

so did your wife have a fit over the coconut?

[spataro51]

Well guys i still see the palm in decline......i have lost 4 more fronds on top of the 4 i cut off that were still shown in the pictures above. Thats 8 total fronds that all dried up.......now it seems that all of the fronds are drooping and all are hunched over in front. I need to take some updated pics tomorrow.......i think this might be air pockets???? I am thinking about taking it out of the pot and repotting it back in the same pot just making sure i get dirt around all of the roots...that is of course if that is the problem. I lost a 10 foot roeby back in nov/dec that i was over wintering in my heated garage from air pockets, and these are the same symptoms that were showing with this one. Suggestions?

[Tad]

my vote is it's a karma thing, i dont think "air pockets" are at fault, if your watering it regular then it should do fine, I would think it has been stressed from being closed up in your garage and the leaves are not acclimating well to the new enviro. especially if your dumping miracle grow or other foliar feed on it, spritz the fronds during the day at watering time but make sure they have time to dry before the evening temps drop, you could get fungal problems.

look else where for problems air pockets are not it!

and during the acclimation period,which is so very important and evidently so very overlooked try moving it into full sun SLOWLY! ! ! ! ! it will react a lot better.

not many plants can go from full 100% shade to full 100% sun all day and not show some adverse reactions.

and the sox lost again :laugh:

[gavilan1]

Do you have any photos of the cocos in boxes at the beach?  Please share if you do.

Shade cloth isn't that costly - you might tie a decent sized piece over the head of this palm for a few days when the sun is the strongest, just so it doesn't completely burn before it recovers.  Otherwise, if all of the fronds are toast, the robelenii won't have any way to breath, without any photosynthesis going on...  just a thought.

[TikiRick]

Sparto,

We are all in agreement that it is just in shock from dense shade to full sun. Even your northern sun this time of year is strong. Keep the soil moist. I would mulch the top of the soil in the container as well to keep the moisture in and keep the soil from heating up too much. Personally, I would have cut some of the fronds off anyway when transplanting a palm. So consider what you have lost to be representative of the roots that may have been disturbed. Squirt the foilage during the day and move the palm into a spot where it can get some fitered sun in the hottest part of the day. Then, gradually move it to full sun in about 10 days or so.

Love your town! (Just not between December and March!)

[spataro51]

Thanks everyone for the reassuarance.....I will see if i can snap some photos of the coco's today at work and post them later.

[DoomsDave]

Move it into the shade, though it needn't be dense.  Under a patio cover should be fine.  That will stop the burning.  Otherwise, it will continue to burn after which it will grow a new set of leaves.

I agree with Jeff and the rest in noting that you can't really leave it out in the sun then move it into dense shade in the winter then back out again.

I'm from Cleveland, originally, so I know the hassles of moving from shade to sun and back again.  I remember the old Slovenian and Italian ladies and their oleanders . . .

P. roebies are TOUGH, but like anything else, they're a lot happier and nicer looking with a little pampering.

best

dave