Please help: needle palm spear pull

[newtopalmsMD]

The first picture shows the newest spear on one of two pups on my needle palm suddenly is no longer green.  I pulled on it and it slip up about an inch or two.  The second picture shows the some of the leaves of the main plant and the other pup are still green.  What should I do.  I planted this in April (main plant and two pups all in the same 15 ish gallon pot) and all three plants produced new spears during the summer.  Two weeks ago I I put down a little fertilizer that I had used twice before in the growing season (mid autumn fertilizer for needles in this zone is supposed to be helpful) added a couple of inches of black hardwood mulch around the plant being careful not to cover the crown.  (Though I can't keep the leaves off it. )  There is a tip of a new spear and is also this pale blue color.  I live near Olney, MD z7a.,  We have had two light frosts (not enough to kill my musha basjoo nor any of my alocasia or colcasia.  So now what should I do?   Do I pull this spear all the way out and also pull the tip of the newest spear?  I have a liquid copper fungicide with copper Octanoate .08%.  Do I spray the crown with that? Or is there a better fungicide to use?   Advice is greatly appreciated!  Thanks  

[newtopalmsMD]

Also there are two yellowing fronds (first pic) and a couple of the green fronds have a white powder on it near the petiole (second pic) .   thanks

[mdsonofthesouth]

Try peroxide down the hole and try not to mulch too close to the growing point. If the peroxide fizzes then you will need to treat it again and hope it comes back. This is my first year with rhapidophyllum hystrix so I'm not well versed in their recovery capabilities. 

 

Pretty cool you're growing palms maybe 5 minutes from my parents current house! Hope that helps and it recovers.

[Chester B]

I mistreated a small needle palm by constantly moving it as I kept reshuffling things.  It ended up spear pulling on me and I thought I had killed it.  I left it alone and within a month a small frond emerged and each successive one grew larger.  I have 5 needles of the same size and it has become the largest of the bunch even with the set back so I'd say they're pretty tough.

Those smaller older fronds yellowing I wouldn't be too concerned about.  The suggestion of hydrogen peroxide definitely can't hurt for the center spear.  Let's hope this is just a minor setback.

 

[newtopalmsMD]

So squirted some copper based liquid fungicide into the crown and so far no other fronds are discoloring.  Thinking about strategies for covering the crown to keep water out where it could freeze.  thinking of stuffing frost cloth among fronds then covering with some leaves.