Identification & care help

[Dave in Central Fl]

Hi. New to this community, new to Florida and new to palms. Just purchased a central Florida property that has this massive palm in rear yard.  Tried to ID (thinking Queen) but am not sure. Hoping to get help with identification and care. The fronds are about 1.5 feet from contacting the ground. The trunk is approximately 3 feet in diameter. I have not seen any fruit or seed pods since purchasing property in March. I would like to know if I need to wait for cool weather to prune? How much to prune? Do I remove all of the small new growth on the trunk? How (pull out or cut -how close?) How much water does a mature palm like this need? It seems we get afternoon showers here about 4 time a week. Should I be fertilizing? I don’t know what (or when) previous owner did with this tree. House was built in 2008 so I’m guessing tree was planted around that time. I have zero palm experience but happy to learn. If I didn’t ask something that is obvious to the community, please feel free to school me. Thank you. 

[aabell]

Hi Dave welcome to Florida and welcome to Palmtalk. This is a healthy looking canary island date palm, Phoenix canariensis. Water and fertilizer I can't give super specific advice for you. Generally this is a drought tolerant species and shouldn't need any additional water this time of year. During the winter I'm not sure how much irrigation if any is necessary. Fertilizer never a bad idea when used correctly.

As far as pruning goes, the best thing you can do for the palm's health is remove only brown and dead fronds. CIDP are often overpruned which deprives the palm of nutrients and the cuts to green stems can introduce diseases as well. The growths on the trunk are ferns, you can try to pull them out but they will probably grow back. They aren't hurting anything, they are epiphytes not parasites. The most important advice I have is to be super careful pruning or doing anything near the trunk of this palm, the spines near the base of the leaves are no joke and can seriously injure you. 

In short, for right now you don't need to do anything at all. Maybe plant some more palms!

 

[Dave in Central Fl]

Thank you so much for the information regarding my palm tree. I feel much better regarding its health and care.