Help with saving Foxtail Palm

[CentralFLguy]

Central Florida. About 2 years old. Sandy soil. Watered with lawn sprinklers every other day. Was a triple, but landscaper cut one down. 

Any suggestions on what I can do to save it, if possible, are appreciated.

[Harry’s Palms]

I am in Southern California where I have lost two of them . They are hit and miss here. The ones that survive look great yet one in the same yard will look like yours. I hope someone  here can help. I still hold out hope , I have two in pots that are hardening off in hopes to be placed in my yard. My friend a couple of blocks from me has a beauty and it is large but he planted two and one died in the first two years. Harry

[CentralFLguy]

Thank you Harry!

[SeanK]

Helpful to know where you are.

Woodyetia originates from z10b in Oz. They're ok in z10a but dip below 30°F and you're headed for trouble. SeaWorld used to keep theirs potted and bring them in on cold nights. You also have to contend with sandy soils that leach micros.

[CentralFLguy]

Central Florida. Very sandy soil. I'm going to send a sample of the soil for analysis. $30.

[SeanK]

1 hour ago, CentralFLguy said:

Central Florida. Very sandy soil. I'm going to send a sample of the soil for analysis. $30.

Look, Ocala can be 10F° colder than Orlando on a winter night. Fort Pierce got 20" of rain more than Tampa last summer. Folks can't help you if you don't say what town you're in.

Try contacting CFPACS, the IPS affiliate in your area.

[TampaBayRay]

Fertilizer and water will help dramatically 

[Merlyn]

As Sean mentioned, location can be important on Foxtails and other cold-sensitive palms.  I lost about 6 or 7 small Foxtail plantings over the past 5 years due to cold fronts.  I'm just outside the "urban heat island" of Orlando, so that extra 3-5F drop in the winter meant mine saw upper 20s and people a couple of miles South of me barely got to freezing...if that.  Mine all died from trunk or bud rot after cold fronts.  There weren't any serious cold fronts in the Orlando area this year, but it may have dipped to near freezing just North of Ocala.

Based on the pictures yours look like they have frazzled brown tips on the older leaves.  That's typical potassium and magnesium deficiencies in Foxtails, maybe combined with not enough water.  If they are in a grass area then the standard "lawn fertilizer" that's probably applied around them is not great for palms.  It has a lot of fast release nitrogen and potassium, and none of the minor elements that palms need to survive and look good.  The standard recommendation here is PalmGain or Florikan 8-2-12 ratio fertilizer, at 1.5lb per 100sqft of canopy area, 4x per year.  For those foxtails I'd suggest maybe 1.5 good sized handfuls, sprinkled evenly in about an 8 foot diameter around the base.  In reality, any "palm special" type fertilizer with the same approximate ratios will do a lot to help.  I put down about 100lb of Sunniland Palm 6-1-8 (similar ratio to 8-2-12) on my ~300 palms this spring.

The super skinny trunks make me think they've been overpruned for a while, and are in need of fertilizer and water.  If you cut fronds off to early (before they are dried out / dessicated) then you are opening up fresh wounds for fungi and bacteria to enter...and at the same time removing nutrients from the palm.  Palms will "eat" the old fronds to recycle nutrients into new growth.  You can replace those lost nutrients with extra fertilizer.

I'd take a sharpie and mark the new spear horizontally across it and the older fronds.  That way you can see if it's growing:

 

[PalmatierMeg]

Foxtails are very tricky to grow in FL. On my "3 strikes, you're out!" test, the species failed and I won't plant it again. Once rare and coveted, it is common as dirt. Every BB garden center carries them.

My last specimen was subjected to a record 28.5F in Jan. 2010 and I believe once cold damaged started symptoms of cool sensitivity. It appeared to survive for the next few months but its trunk and crownshaft started penciling. Nothing I did stopped the deterioration. Finally, a local palm grower/landscaper stopped by to examine it and found numerous borer holes in the trunk. I told him, "Take it out now."

I believe foxtails don't do well in FL's alkaline, sandy, calcareous dreck that passes for soil. I don't know how common nematodes are here or whether this finicky palm is prone to them. They often have issues with cold/chilly winter temps. They need regular water and fertilizer or they turn a noxious shade of yellow. I value my garden space too much to waste it on an unsuitable 2-bit palm. BTW, the closely related but rare Normanbya failed my "3 strikes" test, even more spectacularly. I couldn't get one to survive longer than a few weeks/months.

[D Palm]

Looks like your neighbors Adondii are doing well across the street. They are less demanding on feeding but also cold sensitive. You should axe the fox tails and plant Christmas palms if you desire the triple look.

[kinzyjr]

@CentralFLguy My advice would mostly echo @Merlyn's advice regarding fertilizer and over-pruning.  Looking at the trunks, it seems the landscaper has been removing fronds to maintain a "high and tight" appearance.  Wodyetia bifurcata (Foxtail Palm) is self-cleaning and does not need to have fronds removed.

Here, my opinion on these palms has changed dramatically due to their performance in the cold snaps in Jan. 2008/2010/2018/2022 and Dec. 2010/2022.  When 2010 hit, I figured almost all of them would be wiped out due to their reputation as a zone 10 palm.  Most of the Foxtails inside of the city limits made it through those winter cold snaps and produce more seeds than the squirrels can eat.  They've been a suitable stand-in for the Phoenix genus being decimated by Lethal Bronzing.  Sometimes being wrong is good.

@SeanK mentioned CFPACS.  Our next meeting is in Lakeland:

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/83832-central-florida-palm-cycad-society-summer-2024-meeting/

He is also right that "Central Florida" means a lot of things to a lot of people - and the array of climates in that region goes from the cooler, more continental climate of Gainesville to the borderline zone 10 areas in Orlando, Winter Haven, Sebring etc.

As far as the Adonidia merrillii triple in the background mentioned by @D Palm , I'd make sure the neighbors have had that for a while.  Every store sells them, but they're definitely more cold-sensitive than Foxtails.

[FlaPalmLover]

I don't know how old these were when OP got them (I assume that he meant that he's had them for 2 years), but I've seen some absolutely horrible-looking foxtails sold at the big box stores. I don't know where they come up with them, but I think a lot of people buy these and think they can somehow save them and then the story becomes that foxtails just won't make it in that area. If your starting point is planting something that has already been neglected in the hopes that you can save it, how much does that really say about how viable they are in a given area?

[PalmatierMeg]

 The dreaded over planted Adonidia is even more cold sensitive than Wodyetia aka foxtail. If you are somewhere (where?) in Central FL figure on protection and supplemental heat in winter. If you can’t or won’t afford them that level of care figure on treating them as annuals to be replaced when they die, which they likely will sooner than later.

I’m no fan of artificially clustered solitary palms. They are solitary for a reason and if you jam them together 2-3 or more at a time, they will compete with each other until the weaker palms are stunted or dead.

[SeanK]

My only other comment here is about protection. You don't want plants in the front yard that require winter protection. Your neighbors and HOA will give you grief. Sensitive stuff should be out back, where you can cover it and nobody is the wiser.

[PalmatierMeg]

2 hours ago, SeanK said:

My only other comment here is about protection. You don't want plants in the front yard that require winter protection. Your neighbors and HOA will give you grief. Sensitive stuff should be out back, where you can cover it and nobody is the wiser.

True. Where I live in Cape Coral I'm not saddled with an HOA. Local neighbors compliment our gardens. At one time a North American snowbird turned us in to Code Enforcement for running a commercial nursery because we have potted plants set out around the yard so now we scatter the pots around under canopy and no longer get grief. We no longer protect stuff during cold spells but at one time I dressed small palms in t-shirts and hoodies, which probably drew some gawks.

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Which part of Central FL and what temps has it seen? I'm by MCO and here is 2018 vs 2024 for mine. 2018 it was planted and lost 2 fronds to Hurricane Irma then encountered 28F that winter and it still rebounded well. It gets water from my sprinkler system and I fertilize 4x per year (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct).  I also have very sandy soil. It just seeded for the first time. 

[Harry’s Palms]

This is good information on these palms. I spear marked the ones I have in pots to keep track of their growth as we start getting our warmer climate. I brought them out from under the canopy of larger palms during winter. I fed them and slowly moved them to the south side of my home. Two of them are growing well and picking up speed. They are in a very fast draining soil with a good mix so I’m feeling confident that I will have at least two healthy Wodyetia’s. The other three will be cared for until they give up . Right now even though no growth there is plenty of green spear , they were not that healthy when I got them but it was a package deal , take em all or nothing! Harry