Should I cut down this Foxtail ?

[Briank]

About 3-4 yrs ago I dug up a bunch of Foxtails from a nursery closing, they where bunch of them growing in ground.  Got great deal on them. 

I Dug some pretty big ones.  They all are doing well with the exception of 1.  Just didn’t get a big rootball on this one. However I planted it thinking it will grow out if it.  However it seems to have Penciled and the new fronds Havnt opened and seems stagnet.   My dad loves it and hates seeing me cut down palms.  I try to tell him that I have plenty of them and the spot will be taken over by better palm.  And even though I’m killing it,  will put it in greenery bin and will turn into mulch which will be used for energy for something else.  

 

Take a look tell me what you think vs the others.    I want to plant something else that will grow fast in take up some room in its spot.   I have a 7 ga Triple Archontonphoenix Beatrice Or Parajubea 

[Briank]

Here are some of the Fatties in front yard that are just booming away since transplant.  They were already huge but are flowering and not skipping a beat. 

[Briank]

Is this common ? Was already seeding,  then I just took off last Dead frond today and see another seed pod coming !! Woowzers 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

If your lacking room and already have a replacement for the palm w/ shock. Chop it up dont waste any more time haha 

[Rickybobby]

It seems you already have made a decision 

[The Silent Seed]

I like it too, personally. 

Here's a little food for thought. Does your father deserve to keep the one palm (out of many) that he personally likes? 

[Darold Petty]

I would remove the first palm shown.   

[PalmatierMeg]

I have found foxtails to be not as robust as touted. My experience is that often once one experiences some adversity, i.e., a freeze, bad frost, transplant, it begins a slow death spiral. The specimen I had in my yard was damaged in the record freeze of Jan. 2010 and never really recovered. No matter what I did it continued to pencil, produce weak fronds and decline. When a local landscaper pointed out it was also infested with borers, I paid him to cut it down. I never replaced it as foxtails had become common as dirt and generally looked nutrient deficient all over town.

I realized a couple months ago when we traveled 40 miles south to Naples that foxtails are more tropical than I thought. Here in Cape Coral/Ft. Myers (zone 10a) I can't remember seeing any foxtails flowering or setting seeds, whereas in Naples (zone 10b/11) they were dropping ripe seeds by the the 1,000s. I didn't have a camera that day to take photos, which would have been tricky anyway as these palms lined the medians of an 8-lane highway. As we traveled north on Rt. 41, seeds went from red to orange to green. By the time we reached Estero only a few miles south of Ft. Myers, foxtail palms bore no seeds at all. My conclusion is that winters in Cape Coral are a tad too cold for this species to set any seeds. Also, foxtails hate my alkaline soil and are nightmares to keep fertilized. I have failed 3 times at growing the closely related Normanbya and gave up on that one, too.

Based on all that, if I were you, I would dispatch that sickly foxtail and plant something healthy. It will probably continue to decline and will never achieve the growth of its kin.

[palmsOrl]

Foxtails do well around the Orlando area if they get enough water and fertilizer/nutrients.  I have even encountered the occasional fruiting specimen.  In-fact, I have 5 sprouts right now from a specimen on Mills Ave. just north of downtown.  There must have been well over 100 seeds on the ground.

Also, I have noticed that larger specimens tend to survive mid-20s with complete defoliation.

Like Meg hinted at, not a palm I would plant on a dry, sandy site without regular intervention from man.

[Briank]

1 hour ago, palmsOrl said:

Foxtails do well around the Orlando area if they get enough water and fertilizer/nutrients.  I have even encountered the occasional fruiting specimen.  In-fact, I have 5 sprouts right now from a specimen on Mills Ave. just north of downtown.  There must have been well over 100 seeds on the ground.

Also, I have noticed that larger specimens tend to survive mid-20s with complete defoliation.

Like Meg hinted at, not a palm I would plant on a dry, sandy site without regular intervention from man.

Guess I should have Stated in my Post I am in CA,  they growing Fine Out here.   It’s just this one that I didn’t cut a big enough rootball when transplanting it.  All the other 6 I have are doing great. 

[Darold Petty]

We need a better picture of the dog !!  

[Briank]

45 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

We need a better picture of the dog !!  

Lol smell a new thread. “ Palms n Pouches” 

he helps w Leaning Palms.  Who needs a stake when he will keep it upright lol 

[Darold Petty]

Thanks, what a beautiful dog !

[GottmitAlex]

1 hour ago, Darold Petty said:

Thanks, what a beautiful dog !

Jawohl!

[SWFLchris]

On 7/27/2019 at 11:24 AM, PalmatierMeg said:

I have found foxtails to be not as robust as touted. My experience is that often once one experiences some adversity, i.e., a freeze, bad frost, transplant, it begins a slow death spiral. The specimen I had in my yard was damaged in the record freeze of Jan. 2010 and never really recovered. No matter what I did it continued to pencil, produce weak fronds and decline. When a local landscaper pointed out it was also infested with borers, I paid him to cut it down. I never replaced it as foxtails had become common as dirt and generally looked nutrient deficient all over town.

I realized a couple months ago when we traveled 40 miles south to Naples that foxtails are more tropical than I thought. Here in Cape Coral/Ft. Myers (zone 10a) I can't remember seeing any foxtails flowering or setting seeds, whereas in Naples (zone 10b/11) they were dropping ripe seeds by the the 1,000s. I didn't have a camera that day to take photos, which would have been tricky anyway as these palms lined the medians of an 8-lane highway. As we traveled north on Rt. 41, seeds went from red to orange to green. By the time we reached Estero only a few miles south of Ft. Myers, foxtail palms bore no seeds at all. My conclusion is that winters in Cape Coral are a tad too cold for this species to set any seeds. Also, foxtails hate my alkaline soil and are nightmares to keep fertilized. I have failed 3 times at growing the closely related Normanbya and gave up on that one, too.

Based on all that, if I were you, I would dispatch that sickly foxtail and plant something healthy. It will probably continue to decline and will never achieve the growth of its kin.

Meg, I have Foxtail's in Clearwater that have ridiculous stature and constantly seed (they are planted in very rich, not sandy soil). That being said, 90% of the Foxtails I see on the Gulf Coast are not seeding and have some sort of deficiency. I spend half of my time in Fort Lauderdale and have noticed that they start seeding about 1-2 months earlier down south. 

[greysrigging]

Foxtails suffer greatly from some sort of nutrient deficiency all over Darwin ( a climate that almost mimics exactly their native habitat ) We have pretty poor shallow soils and lots of street plantings and garden specimens get that yellow tinge to the fronds on otherwise healthy looking plants.
Given a good organic mulching, fertilizing and watering regime, they look fantastic, flower and seed prolifically. even so, in our town, the split is about 50/50 between looking good and looking ratty.

[PalmatierMeg]

Interesting. What I should deduce is that foxtails and Normanbyas are unsuited to my wretched soil.

Re the original question, I still  suggest you replace the stunted palm. Foxtails don’t come back we’ll from damage

[Silas_Sancona]

18 hours ago, SWFLchris said:

Meg, I have Foxtail's in Clearwater that have ridiculous stature and constantly seed (they are planted in very rich, not sandy soil). That being said, 90% of the Foxtails I see on the Gulf Coast are not seeding and have some sort of deficiency. I spend half of my time in Fort Lauderdale and have noticed that they start seeding about 1-2 months earlier down south. 

^^Have to second Chris'es observation. Many fat and happy Foxtails seeding their hearts away both in / around Clearwater and St. Pete, ( One can easily find all the Foxtail seed one could ever want over at Kopsick ) as well as around Bradenton and Sarasota away from the immediate coast.  Nursery i worked for in a colder part of Manatee county, east of the Lakewood Ranch / I -75 area had numerous good sized established Foxtails planted on his property also. Some were seeding when i worked there ( early 2015 ) . Like Chris mentions, ugliest specimens i would see were typically those planted in crappy soil and barely if ever tended to, fed correctly, etc. Was mostly those i'd also not see producing many inflos / seed on as well.

[Briank]

When he not into all the palms, and it’s to hot  

[Darold Petty]

Who's a good dog !!