will i lose palms?

[tvold]

So basically in my yard there were a few natural sabal palmetto babies, and i potted one yesterday.

There were a few more, so i decided to try to dig another up just before sundown yesterday, but got swarmed with fire ants.

Today, i decided to ask my grandpa if he had any bug spray and i told him what i was trying to do.

So, and i promise im not making this up, he took a pickaxe to the base of it below ground and starting hitting it, knocking off a few healthy deep green beautiful fronds and also the spear.

So, i think it's dead.

It is at least damaged, making it susceptible to disease.

Then, i tried to dig up a much smaller specimen, and it had really deep roots, so i kept digging around it and pulled with a good amount of force, which i thought would get it out of the ground (this was next to a shed and some wood so i couldn't just dig easily around it.)

And i accidentally killed the little baby sabal by seperating it from it's roots completely.

I literally decapitated the poor thing.

Now i believe there is 2 dead palms on my hands, and i have a 4.5 month old coconut like 10-15 feet away from the dead palms.

Will the dead palms attract disease to my coconut?

Got my self in a little predicament here.

This has to be something that never happens, so i dont know if i will get myself an awnser but hey, im trying.

[Kailua_Krish]

The coconut will be fine and there is a reasonable chance the sabals will come back from the underground bud, these can be hard to kill

[tvold]

44 minutes ago, Kailua_Krish said:

The coconut will be fine and there is a reasonable chance the sabals will come back from the underground bud, these can be hard to kill

I dont think you understand the full extent of the damage.

I think that the bigger one's bud has been damaged or destroyed since it was hit while it was dug out, so the underground bud might have been killed as the spear just fell out, and the other one IS dead, it lost it's bud.

Hope the coco is ok!

[tvold]

47 minutes ago, Kailua_Krish said:

The coconut will be fine and there is a reasonable chance the sabals will come back from the underground bud, these can be hard to kill

Also i wanted to mention ive been to ocala and it is a really nice little city!

Probably the best North Florida Town imo.

How's that garden doing, do you know?

Edited December 18, 2021 by tvold

[Kailua_Krish]

8 hours ago, tvold said:

Also i wanted to mention ive been to ocala and it is a really nice little city!

Probably the best North Florida Town imo.

How's that garden doing, do you know?

The garden is doing very well, there are some updated photos in the cold hardy section somewhere.

You'd be surprised what sabals will grow back from even with the spear pulling. Not saying you're wrong just saying I wouldn't be surprised if it went the other way too

[JLM]

Dead Sabals near a Coconut will not cause problems unless the Sabals died of a disease that Coconuts can get. If the Sabals are killed from being basically destroyed then your Coconut will not be affected at all. It just like if you spray weed killer 4 ft away from a Coconut, the grass dies but the palm lives and is not affected because there is no connection there. As already mentioned, its possible you could see them come back up from the ground. Are there any mature Sabals nearby? If you feel bad about these, you can always collect some seeds and germinate them in your own pots so you dont have to worry about digging them up 

[tvold]

2 hours ago, JLM said:

Dead Sabals near a Coconut will not cause problems unless the Sabals died of a disease that Coconuts can get. If the Sabals are killed from being basically destroyed then your Coconut will not be affected at all. It just like if you spray weed killer 4 ft away from a Coconut, the grass dies but the palm lives and is not affected because there is no connection there. As already mentioned, its possible you could see them come back up from the ground. Are there any mature Sabals nearby? If you feel bad about these, you can always collect some seeds and germinate them in your own pots so you dont have to worry about digging them up 

No mature sabals nearby, idk how they got there.

Probably birds.

[Xerarch]

So is anyone going to ask why grandpa tore up the Sabal? 

[JLM]

1 hour ago, Xerarch said:

So is anyone going to ask why grandpa tore up the Sabal? 

Putting the pieces together, it seems like he did it because of the ants. Doing what he did would just disturb them, pour some gasoline over them and light it on fire is not only more fun but it also solves the problem until the ones deep in the ground come out, and then you just keep burning. However in this situation, there was a palm involved, not gonna burn a palm! Just use poison at that point lol

[tvold]

9 hours ago, Xerarch said:

So is anyone going to ask why grandpa tore up the Sabal? 

I have no clue, apparently he was "Trying to loosen it's roots".

Lmao.

[tvold]

7 hours ago, JLM said:

Putting the pieces together, it seems like he did it because of the ants. Doing what he did would just disturb them, pour some gasoline over them and light it on fire is not only more fun but it also solves the problem until the ones deep in the ground come out, and then you just keep burning. However in this situation, there was a palm involved, not gonna burn a palm! Just use poison at that point lol

He literally used a pickaxe on the palm in an attempt to dig it up, but he claims that he didnt mean to hit it.

I told him what he was doing but he didnt listen, i guess becuase he is really old and has hearing aids and couldn't hear me, which something that i want to say is that he is REALLY healthy for his age.

It's honestly awesome, but not for this poor poor sabal.

I really wanted it potted too but couldn't becuase of fire ants, i still have about 20 painful bites on me.

They itch all the time, it's really annoying ngl.

[JLM]

2 hours ago, tvold said:

He literally used a pickaxe on the palm in an attempt to dig it up, but he claims that he didnt mean to hit it.

I told him what he was doing but he didnt listen, i guess becuase he is really old and has hearing aids and couldn't hear me, which something that i want to say is that he is REALLY healthy for his age.

It's honestly awesome, but not for this poor poor sabal.

I really wanted it potted too but couldn't becuase of fire ants, i still have about 20 painful bites on me.

They itch all the time, it's really annoying ngl.

If you are down in SW FL it shouldnt be hard at all to find a mature Sabal somewhere. Seeds are easy to germinate, just have to give them time. I had my oldest in a pot for its first year, i planted it recently (now probably 1.5 yrs old) and it looks like it may be trying to put out its first semi palmate frond soon! Germinating palm seeds is very rewarding.

[Valhallalla]

7 hours ago, tvold said:

No mature sabals nearby, idk how they got there.

Probably birds.

There should be plenty of mature Sabals in your general vicinity. Easily one of the most common plants in Golden Gate along with slash pines and Serenoa. Birds are the most likely vector for seed dispersal.

If you like Sabal palmetto then just head a few miles south into Picayune Strand State Forest on the other side of Alligator Alley. There are some areas where it is practically the only tree you can see. While Sabal palmetto is native it is also considered to be an invasive plant in situations like these as it can take over to the near exclusion of other plants. A better balance should eventually (decades) be achieved as a more natural flow of water is restored in the area. For now, the state tree of Florida is a nativasive in Picayune.

Picayune management might even welcome your grandpa and his pick axe to assist in control

[tvold]

5 hours ago, Valhallalla said:

There should be plenty of mature Sabals in your general vicinity. Easily one of the most common plants in Golden Gate along with slash pines and Serenoa. Birds are the most likely vector for seed dispersal.

If you like Sabal palmetto then just head a few miles south into Picayune Strand State Forest on the other side of Alligator Alley. There are some areas where it is practically the only tree you can see. While Sabal palmetto is native it is also considered to be an invasive plant in situations like these as it can take over to the near exclusion of other plants. A better balance should eventually (decades) be achieved as a more natural flow of water is restored in the area. For now, the state tree of Florida is a nativasive in Picayune.

Picayune management might even welcome your grandpa and his pick axe to assist in control

LMAO

[tvold]

5 hours ago, JLM said:

If you are down in SW FL it shouldnt be hard at all to find a mature Sabal somewhere. Seeds are easy to germinate, just have to give them time. I had my oldest in a pot for its first year, i planted it recently (now probably 1.5 yrs old) and it looks like it may be trying to put out its first semi palmate frond soon! Germinating palm seeds is very rewarding.

Oh wow! That's great!

Do you know how long they take to trunk?

[tjwalters]

8 hours ago, Valhallalla said:

There should be plenty of mature Sabals in your general vicinity. Easily one of the most common plants in Golden Gate along with slash pines and Serenoa. Birds are the most likely vector for seed dispersal.

If you like Sabal palmetto then just head a few miles south into Picayune Strand State Forest on the other side of Alligator Alley. There are some areas where it is practically the only tree you can see. While Sabal palmetto is native it is also considered to be an invasive plant in situations like these as it can take over to the near exclusion of other plants. A better balance should eventually (decades) be achieved as a more natural flow of water is restored in the area. For now, the state tree of Florida is a nativasive in Picayune.

Picayune management might even welcome your grandpa and his pick axe to assist in control

Surely you're not suggesting digging up palms inside of a state park.

[JLM]

4 hours ago, tvold said:

Oh wow! That's great!

Do you know how long they take to trunk?

A long time...
Ive seen up to 15 yrs, ive seen less. @PalmatierMeg might be able to give you a better idea of how long it takes under *perfect* conditions.

[Valhallalla]

8 minutes ago, tjwalters said:

Surely you're not suggesting digging up palms inside of a state park.

Um, no. My comment was merely an attempt at humor. Considering that grandpa wields a mean pick axe and the forestry service is struggling to control the invasive palmettos I thought they might appreciate some assistance. That's all.

And stop calling me Shirley...

[Palmarum]

[NOT A TA]

Small Sabal palmettos do not transplant well at all. Best to dig up seedlings or ones with at least 4-5 feet of trunk which are very heavy. They don't like being transplanted at all when in the few small leaves through juvenile stage. They're a weed problem here but I experimented with transplanting them, germinating seed, and have 5 in pots all a year apart. They do not like to be grown in pots either and are very slow in pots. I killed about 100 seedlings today hoeing a bed to prep it for Cycads I was planting.

And seriously, I surely doubt anyone would care if you dug a couple seedlings in a park full of palmettos.