Pygmy date palm two spears pulled, frond pulled

[ChicagoPalma]

I have three indoor pygmy date palms, two spears pulled and a green frond from the crown, i took a light to see what's going on, it looks all white in there,  I think it may have been from cold damage from when it dropped to the 20s in november, it did show signs of growth after that and all the three of them recovered, but two weeks ago or a week I think, I was gonna prune them, but then I realized the fronds on one of the palms looked a bit off on it than the other two palms, and I checked the spears and both two spears pulled, they didn't smell, but they were as deep to the base of the trunk.  Yesterday I checked it out, and a green healthy looking on the same palm in the crown pulled, but it was not as deep by a couple centimeters. I treated it with copper fungicide, but it doesn't show much recovery, right now it's potted with the two others in the same pot, I can't really transplant it to another pot, but the other two palms look health, the palms are about a foot tall or smaller. Should I throw out the palm tree or wait for new growth?

[Las Palmas Norte]

You might want to wait for spring to make the final call. I never subject mine to freezing temps at any point or temperatures below 40°F / 5°C. I store mine in a well lit, unheated garage during winter.  I keep it on the dry side in the cooler months, but quite damp otherwise. They're planted in a 15 gallon pot and need some lower frond trimming but I'll wait for spring with that. Best of luck with yours. Any pics?

 

 

[ChicagoPalma]

Sure, also my windmill palm is showing signs of life, the spears are not totally fried just like @Allen said, or it could be me but they still show a light green color, sort of yellowish greenish, it looks more over normal to me but some minor discoloration, so its not totally fried, so I marked the windmill spears and the one frond that is brown and Ill see the growth over maybe a couple weeks. March is usually when our lowest temps are just in the 30's all the way up to 70's. So Im not really worried when I finally remove all the winter protection for the palm as it should recover and benefit from the warm temps.

[JLM]

I have had a pygmy date do this before, and the only thing i can think of is that it wasnt getting enough light? I have never found an explanation. It continued growing like normal though until it died during the Christmas freeze. 

[Las Palmas Norte]

On 2/17/2023 at 8:47 PM, JLM said:

...I have never found an explanation. It continued growing like normal though until it died during the Christmas freeze. 

There in, lies the explanation. Killed by death.

[PalmsandLiszt]

They are from Southern China/Northern Vietnam if memory serves, so will certainly not be used to temperatures in the 20s. How did it get so cold if they're indoors? If healthy-looking leaves are pulling, that's a very bad sign. If it was damp during the cold spell, it might have root-rot; might be worth checking for that.

[JLM]

9 hours ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

There in, lies the explanation. Killed by death.

Actually...🤓

[ChicagoPalma]

It was outside during the first freezes of November, but there was no spear pull even after the freeze, so it decided to randomly stop growing and let it’s spear pull.

[ChicagoPalma]

I put it back inside after a freeze in the 20s

[ChicagoPalma]

The cannas for some reason were still alive till Christmas.

[ChicagoPalma]

I might as well probably put them in the ground this summer, and the palm is showing signs of life still, and I spray once or twice a week.

[ChicagoPalma]

There is no root rot, and I put some little critters that eat the rotting material away, so I don’t know what happened. We rarely water and sometimes the palm dries out but it still survives, either when spring comes if I don’t see any new growth or signs of life I’ll throw it out.

6 hours ago, PalmsandLiszt said:

They are from Southern China/Northern Vietnam if memory serves, so will certainly not be used to temperatures in the 20s. How did it get so cold if they're indoors? If healthy-looking leaves are pulling, that's a very bad sign. If it was damp during the cold spell, it might have root-rot; might be worth checking for that.

 

[JLM]

On 2/19/2023 at 11:20 AM, ChicagoPalma said:

I might as well probably put them in the ground this summer, and the palm is showing signs of life still, and I spray once or twice a week.

If you are planning on losing them next winter, go for it. If the ground freezes, these palms will die if their roots are frozen. Mine died during the Christmas freeze (19F) but not from frozen roots, just the air temp. I have seen a local pygmy date clump survive a brief dip to 24F with complete defoliation. It looked dead until warmer weather returned.

Can we get some pics of this palm?

[ChicagoPalma]

Sure