Dead or Can They be Saved?

[SALOttawa]

I have a bunch of Mexican Fan Palm juveniles. Two look really bad. Are they too far gone or is there something I can do?

[Palmlex]

I have 2 that look exactly the same since I had separated them in spring (they were 3 in a pot). They've now been looking the same for ~9 months and have recently been through -7C/19F in pots (albeit in a covered spot) and their appearance hasn't changed for the worse, so I think they might still be alive. I'm waiting to see if spring can bring some life into them.

I wouldn't give up on yours either.

Do you know what could've caused them to look like that? I know in my case it was severe root disturbance.

Edited January 14, 2022 by Palmlex

[SALOttawa]

11 minutes ago, Palmlex said:

I have 2 that look exactly the same since I had separated them in spring (they were 3 in a pot). They've now been looking the same for ~9 months and have recently been through -7C/19F in pots (albeit in a covered spot) and their appearance hasn't changed for the worse, so I think they might still be alive. I'm waiting to see if spring can bring some life into them.

I wouldn't give up on yours either.

Do you know what could've caused them to look like that? I know in my case it was severe root disturbance.

I am thinking that for some reason, I didn’t give these two enough water. I saw somewhere that some people suggest to cut the pseudo stem back to been and they might start a regrowth. It was with an older palm though so I am not sure in this case?

[Palmlex]

11 minutes ago, SALOttawa said:

I am thinking that for some reason, I didn’t give these two enough water. I saw somewhere that some people suggest to cut the pseudo stem back to been and they might start a regrowth. It was with an older palm though so I am not sure in this case?

I've heard this suggestion both ways: do it or never do it

Some people say it might permanently damage the trunk and even if it looks like it recovers, it will eventually die. But I've never tried it myself. If you're fine with this possible outcome, you could go for it.

I don't know how long yours have been sulking like that, but I was expecting mine to be long dead by now but they're still hanging on, so I just leave them be and treat them like any other palm, hoping they'll recover next growing season.

Actually, I just remembered, out of the 3 palms I mentioned earlier that I have separated, the 3rd one was looking just as bad and now has 3 beautiful fronds. This is why I'm not giving up on the other 2. Washingtonias are pretty tough.

Edited January 14, 2022 by Palmlex

[Jimhardy]

I have some even smaller ones that look exactly the same....those are to small to operate on

but I would mark the spears and see if they move,I think I noticed yesterday that at least one

has pushed up a little-in my case I was just giving them a tiny splash of water and some didn't have

saucers underneath, so they definitely dried out and suffered some root damage but no lost spears................yet.

[SALOttawa]

I think they are goners, but I moved them to another room with an east facing window instead of the west facing one where they were. I’ll give them two weeks and then RIP, if there is no movement.

[Palmlex]

Mine held onto their very floppy spear for close to a year now, without doing anything. If yours look similar, they might still be alive, but I guess it depends on whether you think it's worth keeping them or not.

[SALOttawa]

1 hour ago, Palmlex said:

Mine held onto their very floppy spear for close to a year now, without doing anything. If yours look similar, they might still be alive, but I guess it depends on whether you think it's worth keeping them or not.

I will try. I hate to lose any! I think I am addicted to this ‘sport’ hahaha 

[SALOttawa]

Do any of you know if I should be pruning the brown petioles/branches off the healthy ones? I can’t find any info about the young ones. In older ones, it is suggested that you leave them on until they are completely brown because the plant still get nutrients or something from them. What about this time of year when growth seems to be minimal?

[Palmlex]

A good rule of thumb I follow is if the base of the petiole is brown, you can generally prune those fronds, since the palm couldn't use those nutrients even if it wanted to.

[SALOttawa]

3 hours ago, Palmlex said:

A good rule of thumb I follow is if the base of the petiole is brown, you can generally prune those fronds, since the palm couldn't use those nutrients even if it wanted to.

I know with some plants, pruning actually promotes new growth. I don’t know if that is the case with palms.

[Jimhardy]

Don't give up on them....all of mine which are much smaller look just the same....

I didn't have trays under them and was just giving them a tiny amount of water....

 I put lids under them and watered completely, then marked the spears and every one

of them is growing. You gotta figure they have some tricks up their(dry) sleeves starting out in the desert.

[SALOttawa]

On 1/17/2022 at 10:05 PM, Jimhardy said:

Don't give up on them....all of mine which are much smaller look just the same....

I didn't have trays under them and was just giving them a tiny amount of water....

 I put lids under them and watered completely, then marked the spears and every one

of them is growing. You gotta figure they have some tricks up their(dry) sleeves starting out in the desert.

Thanks Jim!I will give that a try.