Newbee needs help with Bismark

[Linescreamer]

 

Edited September 20, 2022 by Linescreamer

[Linescreamer]

I just took the above pictures and would like some guidance.  These were planted last month in Central Florida.  I am not sure if there are bugs causing this damage or lack of nutrients.  Maybe both?  I would like to treat these properly.  Thanks

[Chris Chance]

If they were just planted last month then I would guess transplant shock. Bismarckia don't like to have their roots disturbed. If that's the case then just give it time. 

[Linescreamer]

Are the white and brown spots normal?  What about the brown fuzzy stuff in the second picture ?

[Billy]

I agree with Chris. My uneducated guess is that the palm is using it's energy to establish roots in it's new home. That's why the lower fronds are taking a beating.  This tends to happen especially when planting palms at such a large size. I'm sure it will grow out of it and do just fine.

PS. I spy a coco palm and a couple nice B. Alfredii photobombing.

[Linescreamer]

Is this fuzzy brown stuff normal? It looks like brown velvet stuck on the fronds.

[Linescreamer]

13 hours ago, Billy said:

I agree with Chris. My uneducated guess is that the palm is using it's energy to establish roots in it's new home. That's why the lower fronds are taking a beating.  This tends to happen especially when planting palms at such a large size. I'm sure it will grow out of it and do just fine.

PS. I spy a coco palm and a couple nice B. Alfredii photobombing.

Yes it's a new place to me.  Don't know what I will be doing with the Coconuts (any ideas on when to harvest and what to do with them).  What is nice B? Alfredii?

[Merlyn]

If they were planted a month ago you could give them a small dose of fertilizer soon.  A good choice is something similar to PalmGain 8-2-12, though I have used the Vigoro Palm & Ixora 8-4-8 and Sunniland Palm 6-1-8 with good results.  Just go light on any fertilizer dose for the first 2-3 months to avoid burning new roots.  1.5lb of 8-2-12 per 100sqft of canopy is a common recommendation.  So for a 12' diameter Bismarck that's about 113sqft or 1.7lb of fertilizer.  I'd do half or less until it roots in, and repeat with a normal dose around 3 months from now.  Osmocote is a good choice for new plantings, because it fertilizes very slowly and won't burn roots.

Regarding the brownish wooly stuff on the trunk, that is normal for a Bismarck.  It's called "tomentum" and is small hairs that let the new frond slide past old fronds as it grows.  Without the little hairs sometimes they get stuck together.  There's normally some of that fuzz on the underside of the leaves, especially along the ridges.  Yours looks like the fronds have some surface fungus, probably from being grown close together in a nursery.  Being out in open air with good circulation will help kill off the fungus.  Here's a view of a "normal" underside of one of my Bismarcks, you can see a little black fungus but nothing to be concerned about:

B. Alfredii is Beccariophoenix Alfredii, a relatively new discovery in the world of palms.  They look a lot like a coconut, but survive down to the mid 20s with just some frond damage.  I have some 12-18' tall ones that only took a bit of frond burn at 24-25F this last January.  Cocos, on the other hand, have a tendency to die below 30F.  This is one of my Alfredii after about 26F and heavy frost, with utterly torched Areca and Bottle palms in the foreground and a badly burned Fishtail (Caryota Mitis) just behind it to the upper left.

[Linescreamer]

I c...thanks for the info!