European Fan Palm Dying

[Donna Ann]

Hi, I am new to this site and glad I found it. I live in Marco Island Florida and can’t figure out why my fan palm is dying. I have 4 palms and have had to cut trunks off of some of them in the past due to browning leaves. This time the issue seems to be affecting the entire tree. The palms were planted a couple years ago. Any advice would be appreciated!  

[Merlyn]

@Donna Ann welcome to PalmTalk!  I'm not seeing anything unusual in those palms, though there might be some mealybugs on the second photo.  Do you have any pictures of the browning leaves?  The fronds only last ~2 years before the palm "eats" them and they dry out and droop down.  So if it's old leaves dying off, that is *sometimes* normal.  If they die off really fast it could be a root rot or trunk rot.

If it's new fronds turning brown (i.e. the new spear leaves) then it's probably a crown fungal infection.  Those are relatively easy to solve on a hardy palm like Euros.  A splash of hydrogen peroxide will confirm a fungal infection (if it bubbles up there's fungus present) and is usually a good cure.  Other good treatments are Daconil and Mancozeb. 

Can you also share your watering & fertilizing details?  Usually Euros are ok with no supplemental water in Florida.  The typical fertilizer recommendation is 1.5lb of 8-2-12 for every 100sqft of canopy, so about 0.4lb of fertilizer per palm 4x per year is reasonable.  PalmGain and Florikan are great, though I just put out about 100lb of Sunniland 6-1-8.

[Donna Ann]

  On 4/21/2024 at 4:27 PM, Merlyn said:

@Donna Ann welcome to PalmTalk!  I'm not seeing anything unusual in those palms, though there might be some mealybugs on the second photo.  Do you have any pictures of the browning leaves?  The fronds only last ~2 years before the palm "eats" them and they dry out and droop down.  So if it's old leaves dying off, that is *sometimes* normal.  If they die off really fast it could be a root rot or trunk rot.

If it's new fronds turning brown (i.e. the new spear leaves) then it's probably a crown fungal infection.  Those are relatively easy to solve on a hardy palm like Euros.  A splash of hydrogen peroxide will confirm a fungal infection (if it bubbles up there's fungus present) and is usually a good cure.  Other good treatments are Daconil and Mancozeb. 

Can you also share your watering & fertilizing details?  Usually Euros are ok with no supplemental water in Florida.  The typical fertilizer recommendation is 1.5lb of 8-2-12 for every 100sqft of canopy, so about 0.4lb of fertilizer per palm 4x per year is reasonable.  PalmGain and Florikan are great, though I just put out about 100lb of Sunniland 6-1-8.

Expand  

Thanks so much Merlyn.  This is really helpful advice.  I’ve updated my pictures as the first set weren’t that great.  The large trunk stopped growing leaves about a month or so ago.  I just put peroxide on top of trunk and it did appear to bubble a bit (pic uploaded). The leaves are now browning on the second trunk. The third trunk still seems ok. There is a sprinkler head within about 20 inches of the trunks and I also have been watering manually more lately so maybe it does have root rot. I think the browner they got, the more I watered 😳😳😳.  The sprinklers run 3 days a week 30 minutes each in that bed and hit all of the trees. I did give them some palm food about 6 weeks ago when I noticed this issue getting worst.  I think they did go a while without fertilizer. I will start fertilizing 4x a year . I really appreciate your help!!

  On 4/21/2024 at 4:01 PM, Donna Ann said:

Hi, I am new to this site and glad I found it. I live in Marco Island Florida and can’t figure out why my fan palm is dying. I have 4 palms and have had to cut trunks off of some of them in the past due to browning leaves. This time the issue seems to be affecting the entire tree. The palms were planted a couple years ago. Any advice would be appreciated!  

Expand  

 

[PalmatierMeg]

To confirm: you are irrigating your Chamaerops with a sprinkler head (how tall?) positioned 20" from the trunk(s)? Back it off - way off. Most palms hate being blasted by sprinklers, which can lead to butt rot, trunk rot and root rot (take your pick). We carefully placed our sprinklers around the periphery of the yard so the irrigation water arcs high and far. Then we take care not to plant anything close to them.

Chamaerops are temperate, not tropical palms and should be treated as such, i.e. research their needs. They hail from semi-arid/arid parts of Europe and are quite drought tolerant, so you don't need to ply them with excess water. Overwatering kills far more plants than under watering

[Donna Ann]

  On 4/21/2024 at 8:09 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

To confirm: you are irrigating your Chamaerops with a sprinkler head (how tall?) positioned 20" from the trunk(s)? Back it off - way off. Most palms hate being blasted by sprinklers, which can lead to butt rot, trunk rot and root rot (take your pick). We carefully placed our sprinklers around the periphery of the yard so the irrigation water arcs high and far. Then we take care not to plant anything close to them.

Chamaerops are temperate, not tropical palms and should be treated as such, i.e. research their needs. They hail from semi-arid/arid parts of Europe and are quite drought tolerant, so you don't need to ply them with excess water. Overwatering kills far more plants than under watering

Expand  

Yes that’s correct and likely the problem. Thanks for the feedback.  I am going to stop using the sprinklers until I can have them rerouted. Would your recommend cutting both trunks off that are dying?

  On 4/21/2024 at 4:27 PM, Merlyn said:

@Donna Ann welcome to PalmTalk!  I'm not seeing anything unusual in those palms, though there might be some mealybugs on the second photo.  Do you have any pictures of the browning leaves?  The fronds only last ~2 years before the palm "eats" them and they dry out and droop down.  So if it's old leaves dying off, that is *sometimes* normal.  If they die off really fast it could be a root rot or trunk rot.

If it's new fronds turning brown (i.e. the new spear leaves) then it's probably a crown fungal infection.  Those are relatively easy to solve on a hardy palm like Euros.  A splash of hydrogen peroxide will confirm a fungal infection (if it bubbles up there's fungus present) and is usually a good cure.  Other good treatments are Daconil and Mancozeb. 

Can you also share your watering & fertilizing details?  Usually Euros are ok with no supplemental water in Florida.  The typical fertilizer recommendation is 1.5lb of 8-2-12 for every 100sqft of canopy, so about 0.4lb of fertilizer per palm 4x per year is reasonable.  PalmGain and Florikan are great, though I just put out about 100lb of Sunniland 6-1-8.

Expand  

Thanks so much Merlyn.  This is really helpful advice.  I’ve updated my pictures as the first set weren’t that great.  The large trunk stopped growing leaves about a month or so ago.  I just put peroxide on top of trunk and it did appear to bubble a bit (pic uploaded). The leaves are now browning on the second trunk. The third trunk still seems ok. There is a sprinkler head within about 20 inches of the trunks and I also have been watering manually more lately so maybe it does have root rot. I think the browner they got, the more I watered 😳😳😳.  The sprinklers run 3 days a week 30 minutes each in that bed and hit all of the trees. I did give them some palm food about 6 weeks ago when I noticed this issue getting worst.  I think they did go a while without fertilizer. I will start fertilizing 4x a year . I really appreciate your help!!

  On 4/21/2024 at 4:01 PM, Donna Ann said:

Hi, I am new to this site and glad I found it. I live in Marco Island Florida and can’t figure out why my fan palm is dying. I have 4 palms and have had to cut trunks off of some of them in the past due to browning leaves. This time the issue seems to be affecting the entire tree. The palms were planted a couple years ago. Any advice would be appreciated!  

Expand  

 

[Merlyn]

@Donna Ann a common sign of overwatering palms is drooping fronds that turn yellowish or lose color.  My guess is you've got a root or possibly lower trunk rot as Meg said.  My trunking Chamaerops Humilis / Euro / Mediterranean fan palms get a pair of 0.5gph drippers per palm, running 40 minutes per day.  That's about 0.5 gph * 2 drippers * 40min / 1hr = 0.66 gallons per palm.  In reality I could remove the drippers from them entirely, and they probably wouldn't care.  They might suffer a little during our typical May & October droughts, but are really semi-desert palms.  They happily grow in places like this:

I wouldn't cut those trunks off unless the growing point is d-e-d dead.  So for the trunk with no fronds coming out, I would give it a good couple of ounces of hydrogen peroxide, and then follow up with a squirt of Daconil.  Repeat this every other day until you get no foaming from the hydrogen peroxide.  Sometimes growing points can be damaged by fungus but recover, sometimes not.  I had a Chamaerops with a bud infection, after a couple of months it started growing out normally.  This is what mine looked like before the hydrogen peroxide + Daconil treatments:

I'd also take some close up pictures of the center top of the trunk, so you can see in a few days if anything is trying to grow.  It's a lot easier to compare pictures than try and remember later what it looked like. 

[Donna Ann]

Oh wow!!!  Yours is beautiful.  I will give that a try and see if anything happens. I am so thankful to have your advice. This will also help me as I redo my sprinkler system.  Warmest Regards, Donna 

[Merlyn]

@Donna Ann that photo was just from online, as an illustration of how well they grow in a rocky borderline desert with no watering.  

[Looking Glass]

These grow in Florida without too much fuss and as already stated, the grow best under desert-like conditions.  They don’t look as good in Florida, as out west.  I think it’s because they actually grow too fast here, straight up, due to the rains.  But they do just fine here normally.  

I’ve got one in all day sun, that I don’t water directly, but it gets kind of a light misting from an irrigation head aimed elsewhere, nearby.  I’d cut your irrigationn of them back to 2x per week, and make sure you aren’t wetting the crowns. 

[SM458]

They’re such a bullet proof plant with lack of water. 

[PindoPalm]

This happened to me also. My local nursery said it was likely lethal bronzing. It cannot be stopped but you can stop it from spreading, sorry.

[PindoPalm]

If it is Lethal Bronzing then you must remove the palm. That is the advice my local nursery said. The signs of Lethal Bronzing are wilting and discoloring fronds, new growth dying, sudden stop to flowering or early flowering and death.

[PindoPalm]

Here’s some reference photos for lethal bronzing for comparison 

[Merlyn]

@PalmLover69 Chamaerops Humilis isn't on the "official" list of susceptible palms...yet.  https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/PP163

I would bet on a trunk or root rot first, unless @Donna Ann or her neighbors recently lost a whole bunch of Sylvesters to Lethal Bronzing.

[PindoPalm]

Makes sense. 

[sonoranfans]

Im going to agree with Meg and Merlyn, do not use overhead water on this palm in florida.  The palms does best in a mediterranean desert setting.  I grew a few in Gilbert arizona and they looked better than any I've seen here in FL.  I chose not to grow them here, didnt want to get frustrated trying to make them look like my desert ones.  Most palms that do well in the desert dont want overhead water here in florida.  Your yard does look a bit deserty, perhaps just switching to drippers would help.  Yes I would remove all those dead trunks, being careful not to cut or damage the live trunks.