Early leaf opening on Solitare specimen

[byuind]

I have posted this question once and I still can’t get a scientific and satisfactory answer so I’ll try again with new photos.

 

I have this triple Solitare (P Elegans) that went through the freeze this winter with protection and has been treated with H202 against fungus for the last 3 months just to be extra sure. The recovery has been puzzling. It is definitely pushing new spears with a degree of consistency but the leaves have been opening in a very short and compact way.  They also seem to open while still growing out of the center cup.
The spears last year would be a couple feet long at least, but now I am seeing them short and opening very quickly. At first I assumed this was due to a need for photosynthesis ability but now there are plenty of leaves… so what gives?

 

the third picture is the best indication of what I am talking about 

 

any experience with this is welcome and a scientific explanation is even better!

Edited April 15, 2023 by byuind

[Merlyn]

I've seen this on all of my palms that took winter damage.  But the first time I noticed it was when my backyard Bismarck opened a frond that was about half the length of the others.  IIRC it was about late January, and I marked the spear with a sharpie.  In that case it opened early and then slowly grew petiole length until it eventually was the same size as the other summer-grown fronds.  I attributed it to low average temps.  It didn't happen this year because we had a really hot February.

[byuind]

2 minutes ago, Merlyn said:

I've seen this on all of my palms that took winter damage.  But the first time I noticed it was when my backyard Bismarck opened a frond that was about half the length of the others.  IIRC it was about late January, and I marked the spear with a sharpie.  In that case it opened early and then slowly grew petiole length until it eventually was the same size as the other summer-grown fronds.  I attributed it to low average temps.  It didn't happen this year because we had a really hot February.

Thank you for that- do you happen to know how long of a period you saw for normalization? Or even better was it an a certain amount of leaves that had to open before you saw the growth pattern return to the norm?

[Merlyn]

For palms with no winter damage, it normalized in the spring once the temperatures went up to "summer" highs.  That's sort of April-ish timeframe.  For ones that took significant damage they'd grow at least 1 or 2 stunted fronds before growing out normally again.  Spindles and Bottles were the most obvious, because they'd grow a 1' long frond after being defoliated.  The next one would be 2-3' long and the 3rd or 4th would be normal again.

[kinzyjr]

5 hours ago, Merlyn said:

I've seen this on all of my palms that took winter damage.

5 hours ago, byuind said:

Thank you for that- do you happen to know how long of a period you saw for normalization? Or even better was it an a certain amount of leaves that had to open before you saw the growth pattern return to the norm?

I see this happen on palms that can't metabolize once the soil temperature goes too low.  Coconuts tend to do this here after extended cold.  The lack of metabolic activity creates a nutrient deficiency, and sometimes you'll get another deficiency (usually potassium or magnesium) to go along with the stunted growth.  It usually fully corrects itself once the temperature stays consistently at or above 60F at night and there is adequate moisture in the air and the ground for optimal growth.  For anything exhibiting this, it is usually one or two shortened fronds and then back to regularly scheduled programming here.

When growers say they don't like having palms that look terrible until May every year, this is one of the reasons it takes until then for marginal plants to look full again.  That's why @pj_orlando_z9b has the right idea with his coconut - supplemental heat never allows the metabolic activity to stop or foliar damage to stress the plant.

[byuind]

5 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

I see this happen on palms that can't metabolize once the soil temperature goes too low.  Coconuts tend to do this here after extended cold.  The lack of metabolic activity creates a nutrient deficiency, and sometimes you'll get another deficiency (usually potassium or magnesium) to go along with the stunted growth.  It usually fully corrects itself once the temperature stays consistently at or above 60F at night and there is adequate moisture in the air and the ground for optimal growth.  For anything exhibiting this, it is usually one or two shortened fronds and then back to regularly scheduled programming here.

When growers say they don't like having palms that look terrible until May every year, this is one of the reasons it takes until then for marginal plants to look full again.  That's why @pj_orlando_z9b has the right idea with his coconut - supplemental heat never allows the metabolic activity to stop or foliar damage to stress the plant.

So based on this diagnosis I would expect to see some degree of normalization in a couple weeks then.

im thinking that this winter was a great Darwin event in retrospect- the plants that made it will grow back and in theory have the correct genotype to survive the winters that would hopefully be significantly less severe than this past one. Supplemental heat and protection when the temps go below freezing should be the right mix to allow for a decent looking spring in my gardens

[pj_orlando_z9b]

On 4/15/2023 at 2:55 PM, kinzyjr said:

I see this happen on palms that can't metabolize once the soil temperature goes too low.  Coconuts tend to do this here after extended cold.  The lack of metabolic activity creates a nutrient deficiency, and sometimes you'll get another deficiency (usually potassium or magnesium) to go along with the stunted growth.  It usually fully corrects itself once the temperature stays consistently at or above 60F at night and there is adequate moisture in the air and the ground for optimal growth.  For anything exhibiting this, it is usually one or two shortened fronds and then back to regularly scheduled programming here.

When growers say they don't like having palms that look terrible until May every year, this is one of the reasons it takes until then for marginal plants to look full again.  That's why @pj_orlando_z9b has the right idea with his coconut - supplemental heat never allows the metabolic activity to stop or foliar damage to stress the plant.

It certainly has helped. In the 2018 freeze, I had no supplemental heat. The coconut had initial damage, followed by a fungus, then deformed fronds. It took 2 years min to regrow the crown. With supplemental heat, things start looking good by mid summer.