Spear Pull Fungicide vs Cut Back

[Xerarch]

So after this past Christmas time freeze, I’ve had a couple spear pulls. One is on a young majesty, no surprise there, had 100% defoliation anyway.  But I also just discovered spear pull on two Brahea with 0% frond damage. That’s disappointing especially considering my young queens also have 0% damage but have perfect spears. 
 

Anyway I started copper fungicide on the majesty immediately, no sign of any growth so I cut it back to healthy tissue today. As for the Brahea I treated with the fungicide and I’d hate to cut back all those healthy fronds. Problem is I’ve been down this road before. I had a needle palm in West Virginia that spear pulled with 0% frond damage. I treated it with hydrogen peroxide, waited, treated, waited, waited, waited etc. and it never started growing again until I cut it way back and exposed the healthy tissue, then it grew quickly. 
 

So the question is, can I really expect results without cutting back? Like I say, I’d hate to go remove a bunch of healthy fronds. 

[Ivanos1982]

In my experience with these two past crazy freezes in Houston, some palms don't show damage on the outer fronds but inside them they are usually rotting. I lost most my queen palms in the Feb 2021 freeze because I didn't cut them all the way down. I was dumping peroxide in them because their outer leaves were healthy and green but since the spear pulled I thought they just needed that. Eventually the palms died and when I removed them in May, I cut them all in pieces to see what was going on inside and it was mushy, stinky and just a mess inside full of liquid.

The only queen that made it was one that I didnt care much about that was in the back and I cut it back all the way down a few days after the freeze on Feb 2021. The spear pulled and I thought, what the heck Im just gonna cut it down all the way if it dies it dies. And guess what? That was the only one that made it.

This past Dec 2022 freeze, my Majesty palms that I replaced the queen palms with had 80% frond damage and didnt really start getting yellow/brown until a couple weeks after the freeze, all the spears pulled. They were not really growing at all so I cut them all the way down this week and they are pushing. Just like the queens, the inside was rotten, mushy and stinky, I found a cockroach hanging out inside the petioles and lots of little flies.

I left that same queen that survive untouched because the spear didnt pull and it is green inside, even though the outer fronds are brown. So the answer to your question really depends on how badly damaged the plant is. When you pull the spear, smell it to see if it stinks real bad then most likely it is rotting inside. If it's all wet also... if its just white it may be just a little bit. Hope this helps!

[Ivanos1982]

Also, forgive me for how bad this may sound, stick your finger in that hole to feel how wet it is and then smell it. LOL I know you will have to double wash your hands afterwards but it's a way of checking on the level of rot. If it's really bad, the only way is that extreme surgery we all hate to do to our beloved palms. It needs to stay dry!

Edited January 16, 2023 by Ivanos1982

[Ivanos1982]

Here are my majesty palms finally pushing growth after extreme surgery. Hopefully they wont rot and continue to grow. This is how my only queen that survived looked on 2021.0

[Merlyn]

35 minutes ago, Ivanos1982 said:

Also, forgive me for how bad this may sound, stick your finger in that hole to feel how wet it is and then smell it. LOL I know you will have to double wash your hands afterwards but it's a way of checking on the level of rot. If it's really bad, the only way is that extreme surgery we all hate to do to our beloved palms. It needs to stay dry!

  On non-stabby palms I stick my head in there and sniff the spear/core.  Usually it's pretty obvious if it's rotting, because it smells like a rotting McDonalds dumpster in the middle of a hot July afternoon. 

I haven't tried cutting palms back, but I have a big Arenga Pinnata that the spear just fell over.  So I might end up having to cut that back to save it.

 

[Ivanos1982]

24 minutes ago, Merlyn said:

  On non-stabby palms I stick my head in there and sniff the spear/core.  Usually it's pretty obvious if it's rotting, because it smells like a rotting McDonalds dumpster in the middle of a hot July afternoon. 

I haven't tried cutting palms back, but I have a big Arenga Pinnata that the spear just fell over.  So I might end up having to cut that back to save it.

 

yes I do this too!

[Fusca]

I agree with the advice given but would just add one thing.  If you have spear-pull on a crownshaft palm such as a royal or foxtail cutting would not be an option.

[Arecaceus]

I think this depends on the species, its size, the general climate and the current weather. Here a freeze is usually followed by cool rainy weather which encourages rot but only to a certain extend, because it's not warm enough for many bugs, funghi or overall vegetation. Most palms are dormant or semi-dormant. That's also why a lot of us in more Northern latitudes see damages very late sometimes. One trick I sometimes use to prevent moisture or rot, is to blow the growing point out with compressed air. If you don't have an air compressor, you can use the compressed air sold in cans for computers for example. But be careful because they are filled with a refrigerant and if you tilt the can too much it can freeze the tissue a bit. So what I often do is cutting bad only the dead or rotting parts, pour hydrogen peroxide into the hole, let it do its work and then blow it out with air and of course I try to keep the growing point dry. All of this only if it is possible or accessible.

[Xerarch]

Luckily none of my crownshafted palms had any spear pull, they were protected. I was thinking about drilling hole into the crown to drain any fluid that might be in there. Maybe that’s how I can save the existing fronds 

[Chester B]

I had a Brahea armata spear pull in late spring last year.  It was mucky inside and I thought it was a goner.  I kept it dry and used copper fungicide.  By the end of summer it had pushed a damaged frond and two new healthy ones.  No damage to the older leaves when it spear pulled.  I would wait.

[Ivanos1982]

so here is an update to the majesty palm I butchered in Jan 16. It is now Feb 28 and it is growing. I left one intact, and that one rotted all the way down and is now dead. So I'm pretty sure this is what works to keep these alive after a bad frost. At least in my area which is West Houston, TX. Temp went down to 16 degrees on Dec 22, 2022. It hasn't freezed since then though, so that may have helped.

Edited February 28, 2023 by Ivanos1982