Royal frond drop

[96720]

Noticed one of my royals is about ready to drop the first frond of the year 

[Fusca]

Stand back! 

[96720]

No problem here as you can see it is already dry before they fall!!

[Blueman]

Sometimes the fronds drop off when the the shaft is partially or entirely green, which means it's still holding some water and can be heavy.  The frond in the above pic is still mostly green and not due to fall off... unless there's some wind.  We've been breezy in SW FL and I've had 3 fronds fall off my royals this weekend, one had a shaft that was entirely green.  

They can flatten smaller plants beneath them when they land, keep that in mind when you landscape.  For me it works best to have fan palms and shrubs near the royals, which lessen the impact from falling fronds.  Under the fan palms and shrubs are more delicate plants, like bromeliads.  

 

 

 

[DoomsDave]

Roystonea regia leaves as can fall with a 70 pound weight

 

[Linton]

Are there other reasons why Roystonea. sp green fronds prematurely falls?
Possibly due to a pest or fungal-base origin?

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, Linton said:

Are there other reasons why Roystonea. sp green fronds prematurely falls?
Possibly due to a pest or fungal-base origin?

Certainly. But my experience is that high winds are the most common cause of frond breakage. Royals evolved breakaway fronds as a defense against hurricane winds. During Hurricane Ian last year all my royals shed their fronds down to their last spear. I had royal fronds hit our metal roof and bounce across our driveway for hours. Afterward, they all looked like sharpened pencils. But new fronds are coming on and they will have full, lush crowns by midsummer.

[Linton]

Thank you for your information. 

Any chance you can list the other causes. The trees of interest are not exposed to high winds. Thank you. @PalmatierMeg