Rescued a Mexican Fan Palm - Help Needed

[hbee]

Hello! 

I am an avid houseplant keeper and adore keeping indoor potted trees (ficus, bonsai, and fruit trees mainly), but I have never had a palm tree before. However, my coworker was at a greenhouse the other day and was offered several free houseplants, all in various stages of death. Some could be saved and others, unfortunately were too far gone. One of the plants given was a lovely Mexican Fan Palm (Washingtonia robusta) in a crumbling ceramic pot. My coworker brought all the plants to the office and I have been attempting at reviving each of them, but my palm knowledge is not very deep. 

I have been doing a bit of research and can't quite decide if it was under or over watered and is possibly nutrient deficient. Plus, a lot of places said that as long as the new fronds were green, everything was fine, but my new friend has quite the browned new frond. Also, the trunk is a bit battered. I have included some photos to hopefully aid in the identifying of what is wrong with this palm. 

I had to repot it just on the basis of the previous pot falling apart, and the roots looked totally fine (at least for a typical tree roots). I gave it some fertilizer (although I don't have high potassium fertilizer so I need to get some) and treated it with a bit of Neem because some of the other plants it was with have spider mites (although no signs of mites on these fronds).

Do we think this little guy will live? Do you have any tips for a first time palm caretaker (btw there is no chance for him to be planted outside - we live too far north)? Any and all advice is super welcomed!!!

[JohnAndSancho]

It doesn't look bad, but from the photos it looks like the soil is a little wet. Don't be afraid to put it outside, I kept mine outside unless we were expecting temps in the 20s F. The sun and heat will dry out the soil. The brown tips could just be from salt in the tap water. It doesn't look bad at all. 

[RFun]

It's going to be happier in the ground instead of the pot (if you live in a climate that is friendly to it).

[hbee]

7 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

It doesn't look bad, but from the photos it looks like the soil is a little wet. Don't be afraid to put it outside, I kept mine outside unless we were expecting temps in the 20s F. The sun and heat will dry out the soil. The brown tips could just be from salt in the tap water. It doesn't look bad at all. 

I had just repotted it when I took those photos and had brand new dirt for it hence the moisture. Will it need filtered water? Also, are these guys frost resistant? It has been a bit frosty the last couple of mornings and that is why I am not comfortable leaving it outside. 

 

Hearing that it doesn't look bad warms my heart though! I have definitely been a bit worried about it just dying... 

[hbee]

7 hours ago, RFun said:

It's going to be happier in the ground instead of the pot (if you live in a climate that is friendly to it).

Unfortunately - I live a bit too far north for it to be in the ground. Our winters here are harsh here, and it is already starting to frost in the mornings. I know a pot isn't ideal but, it is all I can do. 

[JohnAndSancho]

They don't like frost. When we had frost, I'd just drop a flannel sheet over mine with some bamboo stakes to keep from bending the fronds. Be careful, the teeth hurt and will draw blood...as I'm sure you noticed already. I wrapped mine in Christmas lights for the holidays and shredded my hands the first time. 

[Philly J]

14 hours ago, RFun said:

It's going to be happier in the ground instead of the pot (if you live in a climate that is friendly to it).

zone 2 twenty five gallon washy is super happy being indoors 10 months of the year ❤️

[Philly J]

I am the northernmost palm collector on this forum, no one else lives in zone 2.  This washy is 8 years old, currently a 25 gallon size, and must be inside for 10 months

Edited October 26 by Philly J

[Philly J]

Grow bulbs and passing gallons of water through it very very frequently if its in something like bark and charcoal and perlite.  All indoor potted palms should be in an orchid type mix so you can safely pass those gallons through them.  Susceptible to all three inside:  mites/mealy/scale.   

Edited October 26 by Philly J

[PalmatierMeg]

Insecticides are generally ineffective on spider mites - which are arachnids. Targeted miticides can be expensive and toxic. Beyond that you should spray mite-infested palms with a solution of Ivory bar soap or Castile soap mixed with water to suffocate them.

[SFLP48584]

I don't know if it is legal where you are located, but malathion kills spider mites.

-John

[hbee]

On 10/26/2023 at 1:00 PM, Philly J said:

I am the northernmost palm collector on this forum, no one else lives in zone 2.  This washy is 8 years old, currently a 25 gallon size, and must be inside for 10 months

Seeing these lovely photos gives me hope for my little rescue! Do you have any advice on repairing/fixing up the trunk of my rescue? Should I trim the prior dead fronds back a bit to clean it up? Is there any way to strength the trunk at all?

Thanks!

[hbee]

11 minutes ago, SFLP48584 said:

I don't know if it is legal where you are located, but malathion kills spider mites.

-John

So far so good - I don't think this palm has any of the spider mites that were infecting the other plants it came with. But, thank you for this advice

[Dwarf Fan]

38 minutes ago, hbee said:

Seeing these lovely photos gives me hope for my little rescue! Do you have any advice on repairing/fixing up the trunk of my rescue? Should I trim the prior dead fronds back a bit to clean it up? Is there any way to strength the trunk at all?

Thanks!

For aesthetic purposes you can trim the brown tips back, make sure to cut only the brown as even yellow tissue has some nutrients that the Palm is able to suck back and utilize as the tissue fades to brown. Obviously do NOT cut any green tissue as this is the most healthy actively energy/food gathering tissue.

There is nothing wrong with the trunk, if you want to retrim the ends of the boots so that they look more symmetrical that is again, purely for aesthetic purposes and completely up to you and your personal taste, your Washy won’t really care one way or the other.

 If it were mine I would just trim up the dead tips of the fronds to give it a freshened up look, a sort of “hair cut” just to make it look prettier to stare at for myself and others, I don’t think the trunk needs any improvements, it looks fine to me I wouldn’t touch it at all personally.

Oh and don’t touch/cut the tip of the center most growing point (spear) let it do its thing naturally, even if it is brown at the tip don’t mess with it right now, just let it grow.