Observed: Leaning crown syndrome in Queen Palm today.

[BayAndroid]

I'm visiting Pismo Beach and I observed this Queen Palm with leaning crown syndrome. 

 

[mnorell]

That leaning crown can be a sign of Boron deficiency. If that's what's going on, some Borax can correct it, but you have to hit the palm before it's too far gone. Sometimes they come out of it themselves if it's because of pH availability issues vs. really lacking the nutrient, and rain patterns or what-not change the chemical nature of the substrate. I had two palms come down with this issue at our old place in the Florida Keys, a Pritchardia pacifica and a (native) Leucothrinax morrisii. Once my arborist came out and told me what it was and I hit the Pritchardia with the Borax, it started correcting itself. It was too late for the Leucothrinax, which made me sick, it was a very old and robust palm with lots of trunk and very sorry to see it go. And odd that of all the palms around, only two were affected. A couple of P. thurstonii growing right next to the P. pacifica, and sharing root-space with it, were unaffected through the whole thing. Weird.

There was a real problem in coastal SoCal with a lot of Howea forsteriana back in the late '80s or early/mid '90s with these leaning crowns developing with no apparent stimulus, and I remember that our late beloved "Palm Queen" Pauleen Sullivan spent some good amount of time trying to figure out a correction. If I remember, she just started giving lots of extra water and she said that started to correct the problem...but I am relying on 30+-year-old memories, so pardon me in advance if I've gotten it all balled up and it wasn't that at all... And which makes me wonder, after all these years, is this still a problem with Howea in SoCal?

[Harry’s Palms]

I haven’t seen any of our Kentia with this issue lately. I started collecting in 1990 and remember seeing a few around with this issue . There were a couple down on lower Main Street by the Mission that were almost as bad as this Queen in the picture . I know Pauline was aware of it as I talked to her son Terry about it at one point after seeing a couple of leaning Kentia’s . My go to palm guy in those days was Karl ar Ventura Green Thumb nursery and he said there was no definitive reason found just theory. Harry

[Phil]

The cause is usually Boron deficiency.  
It's difficult to find this element to purchase.  But, if you get old fashioned "Borax Soap" in the can, it'll work.
It's made with the main ingredient being boron.
Water the tree well.  Then apply the Borax soap, maybe a small handful.
Scatter it around and rake it in.  Then water for a few minutes.
I've had the problem on two or three palms and they all corrected the leaning in a month or two.
Sorry, but I didn't take photos.  
Phil
Jungle Music Palm Nursery, Encinitas, CA

 

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[Harry’s Palms]

Thank you for the info on that , @Phil . I just saw a Syagrus in Ventura with this problem , looks like it is a goner to me . Interesting how the problem appeared over 30 years ago and seemingly only on Howea F. Also , the Queen in Ventura has the condition but the other Queens near it do not. , they have been there for years.  Hmmm, Harry🤔