HELP! Is my palm tree dying or dead already?

[palmofmyhand]

The new leaf growing from the crown is covered in brown now and doesn’t look good. Does that mean it is dead now or dying? Is there anything I can do to save it if so?  The rest of the plant still looks intact but I understand that the crown is the most important part. I have attached the brown crown picture first and after that I have also attached a picture of the entire plant, and then I have attached a picture of the crown of the other 3 sylvester palms that I have also planted that do not look quite as bad. It has almost been 2 months since they have been planted. The first picture is the plant I am very concerned about, but if this one is in trouble I am thinking I may need to take some steps to prevent the rest from suffering the same fate. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Merlyn]

@palmofmyhand Sylvester palms usually grow a new "spear" frond with a thin papery brown fiber in there.  That might be all you are seeing.  It's called Tomentum or Ramenta, though I think the brown papery stuff has a different name.  Either way, if it's just one paper sheath in an otherwise green frond...no problems! 

Crown infections are common going out of winter, a typical recommendation here is either hydrogen peroxide (bubbles up in the presence of fungus), Daconil (sticky and good after H2O2 treatment), copper (very effective but phytotoxic in large or repeated doses) and Mancozeb (supposedly one of the best but I haven't tried it personally).  If you are concerned about fungus in the crown, try squirting a little bit of hydrogen peroxide in there.  If it bubbles up, there's a fungus.  If no bubbles, then no fungus!

[palmofmyhand]

  On 6/28/2024 at 5:39 PM, Merlyn said:

@palmofmyhand Sylvester palms usually grow a new "spear" frond with a thin papery brown fiber in there.  That might be all you are seeing.  It's called Tomentum or Ramenta, though I think the brown papery stuff has a different name.  Either way, if it's just one paper sheath in an otherwise green frond...no problems! 

Crown infections are common going out of winter, a typical recommendation here is either hydrogen peroxide (bubbles up in the presence of fungus), Daconil (sticky and good after H2O2 treatment), copper (very effective but phytotoxic in large or repeated doses) and Mancozeb (supposedly one of the best but I haven't tried it personally).  If you are concerned about fungus in the crown, try squirting a little bit of hydrogen peroxide in there.  If it bubbles up, there's a fungus.  If no bubbles, then no fungus!

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Thank you, good to know it is not actually dying and also I have another question. The new fronds are not growing to the same size as the old ones. I have read online and people have said they could be lacking nutrients. I am considering adding fertilizer to the soil but I have also heard you must wait atleast 3 months before you can add any fertilizer to the soil. What would you recommend for this situation if you don’t mind me asking you are always very helpful.

[Merlyn]

@palmofmyhand at 2 months a smaller fertilizer dose is probably fine.  The browned tips on the older fronds are typical for after a transplant, palms "eat" the old fronds to power new growth.  Leave them on until they are brown and dessicated.  PalmGain or Florikan 8-2-12 are the best fertilizers if you have only a few palms.  I use Sunniland 6-1-8 for my ~325 inground palms, purely because Palgain is pricey in large amounts.

Looking at the photos, you could add a bit of Magnesium Sulfate granular.  I'd do maybe a half handful sprinkled randomly around it.  I use Rite Green brand.  Add maybe a quarter to half pound of Palmgain, and follow up with another dose in a couple of months.

[palmofmyhand]

  On 6/29/2024 at 1:40 AM, Merlyn said:

@palmofmyhand at 2 months a smaller fertilizer dose is probably fine.  The browned tips on the older fronds are typical for after a transplant, palms "eat" the old fronds to power new growth.  Leave them on until they are brown and dessicated.  PalmGain or Florikan 8-2-12 are the best fertilizers if you have only a few palms.  I use Sunniland 6-1-8 for my ~325 inground palms, purely because Palgain is pricey in large amounts.

Looking at the photos, you could add a bit of Magnesium Sulfate granular.  I'd do maybe a half handful sprinkled randomly around it.  I use Rite Green brand.  Add maybe a quarter to half pound of Palmgain, and follow up with another dose in a couple of months.

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So I see they have palmgain 2 lb bag for like $18 online, I guess I could use a half pound for each of my 4 plants then. If you don’t mind me asking, when you are applying the fertilizer do you try to put it only on the surface level or make it go deeper into the soil? Also do you apply further away from the trunk or do you try to apply it very close? Any other tips or insights about the best way to go about using the fertilizer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again.

[Phoenikakias]

  On 6/28/2024 at 5:39 PM, Merlyn said:

@palmofmyhand Sylvester palms usually grow a new "spear" frond with a thin papery brown fiber in there.  That might be all you are seeing.  It's called Tomentum or Ramenta, though I think the brown papery stuff has a different name.  Either way, if it's just one paper sheath in an otherwise green frond...no problems! 

Crown infections are common going out of winter, a typical recommendation here is either hydrogen peroxide (bubbles up in the presence of fungus), Daconil (sticky and good after H2O2 treatment), copper (very effective but phytotoxic in large or repeated doses) and Mancozeb (supposedly one of the best but I haven't tried it personally).  If you are concerned about fungus in the crown, try squirting a little bit of hydrogen peroxide in there.  If it bubbles up, there's a fungus.  If no bubbles, then no fungus!

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I would call it cuticle imo.

[Merlyn]

@palmofmyhand sometimes the bigger bags are a dramatically better value.  PalmGain's guidelines are 1.5lb of 8-2-12 for every 100sqft of canopy area, 4x per year.  Just guessing that your pictured Sylvester is about 5' diameter, that is 2.5 * 2.5 * 3.1415 = 20sqft.  So each palm would get 1.5lb * 20/100 = 0.3lb of 8-2-12.  For a new planting it's better to give it a bit less.

As far as actually putting it down, just sprinkle randomly under the canopy area.  Avoid any big clumps and don't chuck a bunch of it at the trunk.  I also try to avoid sprinkling any directly into the crown, but it happens sometimes when I'm flinging fertilizer around.  I just let the rain wash it in, no need to try and work it into the soil.

[palmofmyhand]

  On 6/29/2024 at 6:18 PM, Merlyn said:

@palmofmyhand sometimes the bigger bags are a dramatically better value.  PalmGain's guidelines are 1.5lb of 8-2-12 for every 100sqft of canopy area, 4x per year.  Just guessing that your pictured Sylvester is about 5' diameter, that is 2.5 * 2.5 * 3.1415 = 20sqft.  So each palm would get 1.5lb * 20/100 = 0.3lb of 8-2-12.  For a new planting it's better to give it a bit less.

As far as actually putting it down, just sprinkle randomly under the canopy area.  Avoid any big clumps and don't chuck a bunch of it at the trunk.  I also try to avoid sprinkling any directly into the crown, but it happens sometimes when I'm flinging fertilizer around.  I just let the rain wash it in, no need to try and work it into the soil.

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Thank you for your input, I may still buy the PalmGain but my dad actually told me he already has Miracle Gro Palm Tree Food that he might as well use on it. Do you have any opinion on using such a maybe lower quality fertilizer on these sylvesters? He actually used the same fertilizer before as well before on the european fan palms that he grew from a small pot. Those already have grown since then over the years and are established well. Thanks for all the help, I know I ask a little too many questions but I would love to gain as much knowledge as I can which could also in turn allow me to inform others as well.

[Merlyn]

@palmofmyhand I only spend $ when I know that it's actually going to be a real noticeable benefit.  I've never had any problems using the cheaper fertilizers, and I have ~150lb of Sunniland 6-1-8 on the back porch right now.  Miracle Gro gets a bad reputation, IMO it's only partially deserved.  Their potting mix is garbage and turns to sludge in no time flat.  But the generic "plant food" water soluble stuff works fine in my seedling nursery area.  There's two different Miracle Gro palm fertilizers.  One is an 8-4-8 mix with 7% magnesium, probably about the same as the Vigoro 8-4-8 house brand that HD sells.  I've used the Vigoro 8-4-8 as well, and had no complaints.  The "better" Miracle Gro is probably the "Shake n feed palm" that is 8-2-12 with slower releast polymer coated nitrogen.  Neither have Boron, which is a big oversight for any palm fertilizer.  If you have a steadily decomposing mulch ring around the palm (like you have) then additional boron may be unnecessary.  IMO either Miracle Gro palm types are probably just fine for 90% of palms, especially Sylvestris that are pretty tough and undemanding.

[palmofmyhand]

  On 6/29/2024 at 9:39 PM, Merlyn said:

@palmofmyhand I only spend $ when I know that it's actually going to be a real noticeable benefit.  I've never had any problems using the cheaper fertilizers, and I have ~150lb of Sunniland 6-1-8 on the back porch right now.  Miracle Gro gets a bad reputation, IMO it's only partially deserved.  Their potting mix is garbage and turns to sludge in no time flat.  But the generic "plant food" water soluble stuff works fine in my seedling nursery area.  There's two different Miracle Gro palm fertilizers.  One is an 8-4-8 mix with 7% magnesium, probably about the same as the Vigoro 8-4-8 house brand that HD sells.  I've used the Vigoro 8-4-8 as well, and had no complaints.  The "better" Miracle Gro is probably the "Shake n feed palm" that is 8-2-12 with slower releast polymer coated nitrogen.  Neither have Boron, which is a big oversight for any palm fertilizer.  If you have a steadily decomposing mulch ring around the palm (like you have) then additional boron may be unnecessary.  IMO either Miracle Gro palm types are probably just fine for 90% of palms, especially Sylvestris that are pretty tough and undemanding.

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Thank you for the input!