Hi everybody, I’m new to the forum but was hoping with your expertise you might be able to shed some light on what’s going on with an unhappy pygmy date palm. 

For the last several weeks, the lower fronds have been progressively yellowing starting at the tips of the leaflets and moving inwards, and then progressing to brown, again starting at the tips and progressing inward until the whole frond dies.  You can see what I mean in the photos below.

Is this pattern a tell-tale sign of anything?  My usual assumption is that I’m either overwatering or underwatering, though in my experience it usually seems to be much easier to overwater.  I typically water every week or so, when the soil feels dry a couple inches below the surface.

This isn’t the first time that the palm has gone through a “death spiral” like this where it suddenly starts dying back significantly.  I’m really hoping to figure out what is leading to this, and what to do about it.

As some added information that might be relevant, the palm originally came in a 7 gallon pot where it was extremely root bound (dense root ball, almost all root with very little soil).  I re-planted it in the quite large planter in the photos (about 15" x 15" x 30" deep).  There is an internal shelf about half way down the planter, with multiple holes for drainage, and I used Miracle Grow cactus & palm soil with a little added perlite to hopefully ensure it drains well, but I wonder if it might still be drying slowly enough to cause problems.

I would be very grateful for any thoughts or insights anyone could offer!

Looks like your palm is happy. If its just the lower fronds then its your palm completing its natural process of growth. As a palm grows and pushes out more fronds, lower fronds die off.
In order for your palm to look better, trim off the dead fronds, and once the yellowing fronds die off trim those as well. 

Hi Adam, welcome to the forum.

From what you have said, it seems that you have a very good understanding of the usual requirements of palms. I think that jlm is right in that it is only the replacement of old fronds for new. It is good that you have waited until the plant extracted all of the nutrients that it can from the old leaves for recycling before you cut them off.

I think that it is the balance of nutrients and other requirements and how many leaves the plant will hold, and I see that it is shooting new leaves.  I don't think that it is a particularly big pot for that sized plant either, although I have seen on here much bigger palms in much smaller pots.

The now popular free draining mixes are very nutrient deficient and need regular fertilizing. That is the one thing that you failed to mention, your fertilizing regime.  I can't help you specifically with that except to say that you may need to fertilize more.  

Hopefully a fellow countryman will be able to be more specific for you.

Thank you, @gtsteve and @JLM!

Good point on the fertilizer.  I've been using Jobe's palm fertilizer spikes (these ones: https://www.amazon.com/Jobes-Fertilizer-Spikes-Release-Package/dp/B000GD3KD0).  It had been about 4 months since the last time I fertilized, so maybe that accounts for what I've been seeing?

On a related note, does anyone have any fertilizer recommendations for indoor potted palms?

20 minutes ago, AdamT said:

On a related note, does anyone have any fertilizer recommendations for indoor potted palms?

I'm pretty new to palms so I can't give you a solid answer, but I've used a few different fertilizers. I've used the same spikes you have, Jobes organic (I honestly haven't used that in a while, since my dog tried to eat it), Alaska fish emulsion (my patio palms LOVE it) and I've started experimenting with an orchid spray on my palms that are potted in a mix of bark and clay. 

 

I guess in a few months I can make a post of what works and what doesn't work lol