Trachy Fungus?

[newtopalmsMD]

I noticed this weekend what I assume is fungus on two of my Trachy Fs.  Oddly one of them (first picture) was potted during the winter, was brought into an unheated garage for 10F or below nights and left under cover if there was sleet or freezing rain in the forecast.  It was planted about two weeks ago.  The other (second picture) spent its third winter in the ground.  Both funguses are on the spears (and in the second pic you can't see a second spear whose top is completely brown, not yet protruding).  These Trachys are forty feet apart.   I did fertilize them two weeks ago but I can't imagine that had any effect. I sprayed the first with a copper fungicide on Thursday, and yesterday poured hydrogen peroxide (3%) in both of them.  There was some bubbling on top of the spear that you can't see in the second pic.  Oh, neither (at least as of yet) had any spear pull.

Is spring fungus normal?  I thought with such a mild winter I would not have to worry about such things.  Do I need to reapply the hydrogen peroxide? or copper fungicide?

Thanks

[8B palms]

I suspect you might have had some pathogenic issue but I suspect the reason now you see it is that it is warming up and the new spear/fronds are pushing out.  Sometimes on pinnate palms you get a frizzle effect were there was an issue right at the bud and then it pushes out fine, so the tip which was out is fine, then there is a no leaflets and when the rest of the frond pushes out its fine.  You could mark with a sharpie to make sure it is pushing out new growth, and maybe give some 3% hydrogen peroxide or some copper fungicide, but I suspect all your new growth will be fine.  Maybe other with more trachy experience can chip in.

[Bismarckiafan]

All it takes to get a spearpull or fungus in the heart of a palm is spring rain during daytime and mild freeze at night. I once put my pot-grown, indoor overwintered Chammies and a CDIP outside a bit too early for my climate, in March, and the damage was done. They all spearpulled but recovered over summer.  Going forward you might want to think about protecting the growing hearts of palms from the rain even in mild winters  by building a shelter of some kind, be it a polycarbonate roof,  a dismantable box or just by wrapping the crown in hoticultural fabric  or  fixing an open umbrella over the growing point.

[Allen]

Like everyone said spring rot from that late cold spell, will grow and be fine now.

[DAVEinMB]

@newtopalmsMD same thing happened with one of my mules two springs in a row. Little peroxide helped speed up the recovery. 

[Chester B]

I too would suggest some peroxide.  I think they'll grow out of it and look great in no time.

[newtopalmsMD]

Just an update on the Trachy fungus,  I think its gone (H2O2 and copper fungicide used)  but not without some effect.   The frond on the right had fungus where the petiole meets the leaflets (the sinus?) and the leaflets no longer point upward.  I will leave them on as long as they are green.  The very small frond on the left had most of the leaflet growth stunted (I guess). A third frond that has nit opened  just has brown tips.  The is another frond that is pushing through that has no brown  

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

This is common when growing palms in colder climates.  

[mdsonofthesouth]

Yeah occasionally you'll get a frond that pushes out and its burnt off the tips. Small price to pay for growing palms in z7a.

[cm05]

Every single Trachy of mine has done this at some point coming out of winter, lost my Takil and Princeps this winter/spring, my Waggy and Nova also had spear rot but recovered.

This was the first winter that neither of my Fortunei’s had this issue, usually one or both has had spear damage each spring. I don’t know if it was the copper fungicide treatments throughout the winter (which was pretty mild) as a preventative measure or if it’s because they’re just bigger now.

[Chester B]

Seeing your before and after pictures I had a takil do the exact same thing first winter even though we didn't go below 25F.  I used peroxide and it grew out of it beautifully.

[Love them palms]

2 hours ago, Chester B said:

Seeing your before and after pictures I had a takil do the exact same thing first winter even though we didn't go below 25F.  I used peroxide and it grew out of it beautifully.

Same here with one of my Fortunei.had a spear pull in late feb and I poured peroxide on it and now the spot is growing 3 new spears here in mukilteo wa

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

It is age related with trachycarpus.  Once they get a certain size they stop doing this.  Small plants will lose the entire spear in low 20s.  Zero die for us but it's annoying.  

[GregVirginia7]

I had the same problem with my in ground Trachy. Copper fungicide worked great. It kind of turned out to be of my own making...I loosely wrapped some burlap around the crown and wrapped some incandescent twinkle lights with it to add a little heat...well, the burlap held a lot of moisture and that same malady started to take over...it really did a number on several fronds weakening and killing large sections of the leaf...they couldn’t support the weight of the healthIre outer parts and collapsed...had to trim the fronds to make them look better...anyway, in my case, lesson learned, any protection is dry...