Is my palm tree dieing?

[Rookie-gardener]

Hi, I have recently got two Robusta palm trees 3-4 ft in height from livingsocial site. I have planted them at the bottom of my garden into two big plant pots 42cm.Since putting these in a pot i have noticed some the palm leaves have split or turned slightly yellow and the palm didnt feel secure enough in the pot so i added some support by planting a stick and securing the root.

My questions are. Too much water or not enough water?

I water every other day depending on weather. If it rains than i miss a day. I use a watering can and water for about 5 seconds around the pot.

Plant not deep enough in the pot? The plant was planted just above half way of the pot but soil is 3cm below top of the pot. I have attached photos from when first received them till and now which is a week apart from each other. As you can see the plant has turned yellow in some areas and I am not sure if this is normal behaviour or am I doing something wrong? Also I will be adding pot feet on Thurs for better drainage.

 

Any help much appreciated. 

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[JLM]

Not nearly enough water. 5 seconds is nowhere near enough. These could probably use a good 1-3 minute soaking. The roots are probably drying out which is why the fronds are turning yellow. Definitely water some more.

[JohnAndSancho]

My Washie looked terrible a few months ago due to a combo of cold damage and underwatering. Mine's a bit bigger than yours, and in a pretty decent size pot. I don't measure water in seconds, I just give mine a gallon every other day - I'm in Texas so it's definitely hot enough to drink that up. Just make sure your soil and your pot both drain well. 

[Rookie-gardener]

10 hours ago, JLM said:

Not nearly enough water. 5 seconds is nowhere near enough. These could probably use a good 1-3 minute soaking. The roots are probably drying out which is why the fronds are turning yellow. Definitely water some more.

Thanks for the quick reply. I will definitely water some more and hopefully get this plant looking healthy again. 

[Rookie-gardener]

9 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

My Washie looked terrible a few months ago due to a combo of cold damage and underwatering. Mine's a bit bigger than yours, and in a pretty decent size pot. I don't measure water in seconds, I just give mine a gallon every other day - I'm in Texas so it's definitely hot enough to drink that up. Just make sure your soil and your pot both drain well. 

Did you managed to get it looking green again? 

[JohnAndSancho]

3 hours ago, Rookie-gardener said:

Did you managed to get it looking green again? 

Yeah. It now looks like it did last year after a few months of pushing tiny little fronds that all yellowed and drooped. 

[JohnAndSancho]

17 hours ago, Rookie-gardener said:

Did you managed to get it looking green again? 

Search for "Dirty Sanchez" on this site, that's it's name. Anyway here's the proof. 

 

Backstory- for whatever reason, I really wanted a pic of a palm with snow on it. I did bring it in during the big Texas freeze of 2021, but I left it outside in 2022 just because he's heavy and I live in a studio apartment. I draped a flannel sheet over it. I guess that wasn't enough. In spring, it was throwing very short very deformed looking plants. I cut way back on it's watering. Apparently that was a bad idea, since cold damage plus underwatering almost killed him. I was literally shopping for a replacement. 

 

Here in Texas, we basically skipped spring and went straight into summer this year. He's in a large (I'd guesstimate a 12 gallon) pot and I started giving him an entire gallon of water a couple times a week. It's in well draining soil, and it's impossible for me to overwater in this pot - it's technically a bottom watering pot and I top water, so if I give it too much water it just comes out the side of the pot. I probably set it back 1 or 1/2 years worth of growth, but it's alive and healthy. 

[Rookie-gardener]

I just like to say thanks for all the replys and help its much appreciated. 

Update.... 

I have recently added plant feet to raise the pot around 3cm and I have watered it more often but as you can see from the photos I took today it looks even worse. These plants are dieing by the second . I just don't know what else to do. 

 

[spike]

Did you disturb the roots while transplanting? It might just be some transplant shock. I've had that with my washingtonias too, they usually grow out of it but do lose some leaves. Also, does your pot have holes in it? 

Edited August 10, 2022 by spike

[Rookie-gardener]

35 minutes ago, spike said:

Did you disturb the roots while transplanting? It might just be some transplant shock. I've had that with my washingtonias too, they usually grow out of it but do lose some leaves. Also, does your pot have holes in it? 

Hi, yes the plant pot is concrete and has 2 holes at the bottom. I don't think i disturbed the roots, all i did was take it out the pot it came in and planted it straight into the big one. 

[ZPalms]

I don't think its dying, I'm sure it's just figuring out it's new enviroment because from the pictures it looks fine, It probably just adjusting and it will figure it out. you could mark the spear and see if it's pushing growth

[JohnAndSancho]

What kind of soil did you plop it into?

[JohnAndSancho]

Another thing to consider is it more than likely was grown in a greenhouse, and now it's exposed to the elements. There's no more UV protection from above. It's eating the older fronds to push new growth. Like @ZPalmssaid it's adjusting. They're tough palms, you have to make a pretty serious effort to kill them. Just try to keep water out of the growth point and you'll be fine. 

[Rookie-gardener]

10 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

What kind of soil did you plop it into?

I used multi compost soil. Should I buy some miracle-gro all purpose soluble plant food? 

[Rookie-gardener]

10 hours ago, ZPalms said:

I don't think its dying, I'm sure it's just figuring out it's new enviroment because from the pictures it looks fine, It probably just adjusting and it will figure it out. you could mark the spear and see if it's pushing growth

Yeah i hope your right mate and that's definitely something i could try. 

[Rookie-gardener]

9 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Another thing to consider is it more than likely was grown in a greenhouse, and now it's exposed to the elements. There's no more UV protection from above. It's eating the older fronds to push new growth. Like @ZPalmssaid it's adjusting. They're tough palms, you have to make a pretty serious effort to kill them. Just try to keep water out of the growth point and you'll be fine. 

I did adjust the plant because i think i might of buried the crown a bit which was most likely left too wet so the plant probably could not breathe? 

[JohnAndSancho]

8 hours ago, Rookie-gardener said:

I used multi compost soil. Should I buy some miracle-gro all purpose soluble plant food? 

Miracle Gro is garbage. How well does the soil drain? When you're watering, how long does it take for water to drain out the bottom of the pot? It should be pretty quick. 

 

 

[Rookie-gardener]

14 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Miracle Gro is garbage. How well does the soil drain? When you're watering, how long does it take for water to drain out the bottom of the pot? It should be pretty quick. 

 

 

It seems as if the soil is always damp so i don't water it fully enough to see if it all drips from the bottom. It does have 2 drainage holes at the bottom and 3cm high on pot feet. 

[JohnAndSancho]

2 hours ago, Rookie-gardener said:

It seems as if the soil is always damp so i don't water it fully enough to see if it all drips from the bottom. It does have 2 drainage holes at the bottom and 3cm high on pot feet. 

You need to change your soil. It's not draining well enough. You should probably drill more holes in the bottom of the pot, too. You're barely watering it at all and it's staying damp, that's bad. There's lots of threads on here about soil and soil amendments - but yeah, if your soil is staying that wet your palms will develop root rot and die. 

[Rickybobby]

My thought. Watering every other way is way too much 

[5am]

It’s been a month. Can you give us an update?