Sylvester Date Palm, 3rd hard freeze

[tstex]

Well, the Sylvester date palm just took it's 3rd hard freeze, killing all of the foliage.   This included a nice set of small spears that were developing.  As of now, all brown dead growth.  The trunk [10-12ft br first fronds] is intact w no visible signs of damage at this time.

Question:  Do I leave all the dead material intact, or should I trim all, some, everything but the crown, etc?  Also, is there anything I can do soil wise to help provide anything re a recovery.  

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[PalmatierMeg]

Photos? How cold did you get?

[Xenon]

I'm in Houston Area too, your palm is most likely fine. The bud on sylvestris is a lot more hardy than the foliage. Just wait until the palm pushes green in the coming weeks. Completely brown foliage can be removed. 

[tstex]

Thanks Meg and Jonathan....it got to 16 here....I can trim all dead, but read where sometimes the palm uses it for food...we just got 1.75" of rain so didnt want rot to start either.   I have some agricultural grade fungicide that I can treat the crown and a sm dose for the soil too.  

Thanks again for your feedback....

 

[Merlyn]

@tstexgenerally it's a good idea not to cut live tissue, you avoid a fresh open wound for diseases to enter and you allow the plant to "eat" the rest of the frond for nutrients.  But if it's been frostburned and brown, there might not be anything left to "eat."  It depends on how torched it is.  Many of my palms got burned last January and again this past Christmas weekend.  But the leaves are dead and the stem/rachis/petiole are still green and solid.  So I've left the frond in place.  Either the plant will eat the remaining live stem on the frond, or it'll stay green and provide a little bit of photosynthesis to help the plant grow.  Last summer I still had fronds on Bottles and Spindles that were green stalks with dead leaves, and they finally withered away around mid-summer.  I'd like to think that it helped the plant recover, but maybe not.  Maybe the dead leaflets were just a source of fungi and I'd been better off lopping them off in February?  Who knows...

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

It's kind of a judgement call, with two schools of thought on it.  One, is to keep the dead foliage on there to act as a kind of insulation around the bud, in case there is more freezing weather this winter, which makes sense.  The other school of thought on it is that you don't want too much rotten moist frozen dead leaf material around what is left of the crown and the bud, because that can be a source of fungus and further rot setting in.  I am torn between these two schools of thought.   Trimming off all dead foliage would make it a lot easier to protect the trunk and bud in case there is another freeze, yet you DO NOT want to trim off any green, or even somewhat green foliage, as the palm NEEDS this for photosynthesis to try to recover and start active growth again.  What I am doing with my two 11 ft. tall in overall height Coconut Palms here n Corpus Christi for now, is ONLY trimming off broken leaves that are dangling down, so as to not be a strain on the upper trunk and bud, especially on windy days that will starting here soon this time of year.  Also, I expect the entire upper part of my new spear leaves, just above where they emerge from the crown on my two Coconut Palms to collapse any day now, so when that happens, I will cut them off right above where the living tissue of the new spears are.  Anyway, I have a Phoenix sylvestris Date Palm too that has been in the ground for about 4 and a half years and is also about 11 ft. tall in overall height, that made it through the Big Freeze here in 2021 when it got down to 18F in my yard, and it was totally unprotected, and was only about 7  ft. tall then, and had virtually no leaf burn at all, and started growing again soon after that.  This winter, back around Christmas time, it was hit with 3 freezes over 4 mornings, with the coldest of 24F, and not only WAS NOT hurt in the least bit, but has MANY Flowers emerging in the crown now.  I would suggest that you spray some Bonide Copper Fungicide For Organic Gardening to the crown and upper trunk thoroughly at least once, at the rate of 1.5 ounces per gallon, if you mix it yourself from concentrate, or get the spray bottle version of it that is ready to apply.  You don't want to apply this more than twice in a single winter though, so as to not develop a copper toxicity in your palm.

John

[GottmitAlex]

Pics?

[tstex]

Thank you for everyone’s generous & detailed replies.  
 

There is virtually no green anywhere.  We had very strong N winds w upper teens temps. so it’s all brown from top to bottom.  Here’s a pic and thanks again !!

[tstex]

Note, the top baby spears are all starting to fall over.  I know they are the most sensitive since their growth was tender to the freeze.   This palm is now too tall and protected by all the sharp, long thorns by the top.  Is there a way to test the vitality of the palm?

Next steps on what you would recommend?

Thank you

[Xenon]

1 hour ago, tstex said:

Note, the top baby spears are all starting to fall over.  I know they are the most sensitive since their growth was tender to the freeze.   This palm is now too tall and protected by all the sharp, long thorns by the top.  Is there a way to test the vitality of the palm?

Next steps on what you would recommend?

Thank you

Just wait, recovery doesn't look pretty. Not much you can do to speed it up. Rainfall has been adequate, so now it's just a waiting game for sustained warmth to push new growth. 

[tstex]

Thank you Jonathan...I certainly like/prefer the cooler weather vs 95-105 w high humidity.  But if it comes earlier, then the upside is my palm gets an earlier start !  Thanks again.