Watering Pygmy Date Palms in 110-125 degree weather

[Tom in Havasu]

Hello all,

This is a great group and I'm learning a lot so far.  I have a dilema....how much is the right amount of water for a Pygmy Date Palm in super not weather.

I have three groups of Pygmy Date Palms all planted about three+ years ago and doing great. All get full sun from dawn to 2-3pm, every day.  Each group is watered separately with a drip system where each group of trees (groups of three or four separate trunks of 3" to 8" trunk diameter) are watered twice a day by one bubbler head, 15 minutes, once at 4am and then again at 9pm.   I dug three in deep motes around the base of the trees and covered them with gravel, so the entire root base should get flooded allowing even watering around the root base. The Bubbler heads supposedly flow up to 30 gallons an hour "per the package", I've not verified the actual flow rate but they are fed by a 3/4" line then separately to drip heads off .  We are seeing very high temperatures of 110 to 125 in Lake Havasu AZ. They had no issues until I had the irrigation valve fail for a few weeks when I wasn't there, thats been replaced. 

All the trees got brownish black leaves on the ends, most I have cut off. The centers of all but one of the trunks, are doing fairly well with new growth coming from the centers. Only one seems to still have some limited growth coming from the center and doesn't look like the others.  I'm hoping it survives.

I now need some solid recommendations on how much to water, during the super hot months from July through September,  I should be doing?

I've read in this group that its pretty hard go overwater these palm because their native habitat is at the edges of rivers and lakes so they are always wet?  Other sites I read said give minimal water every three days, and don't over water because it rots the roots.

Thanks in advance!

[PalmsInBaltimore]

Could we get some close-ups of the brownish black leaftips? From the photo above they look like they're doing fine -- dark green leaves aplenty. 

Sounds like they're receiving enough water. It is hard to overwater. The one that is not growing is possibly dormant from the super high heat or it's struggling to compete with its neighbor. They look great in the picture you posted though. Most people on here have the problem of their pygmy dates shrivelling up into yellow corn cobs when it's that hot

[Tom in Havasu]

These are photos taken this morning. The third photo has the one I'm most concerned about. There is some green coming out of the base,  but not much. The others are growing quite well. I've trimmed back most of the dead fronds so the trunks aren't giving resources to areas less in need. 

 

Glad to see your comment on watering. These are the first Palms I've taken care of, usually they are 95% green and grow quite well. I've recently had two Orbit irrigation valves fail, so I've pulled those out of my system. 

 

[PalmsInBaltimore]

It looks like when the system failed a few weeks ago they got roasted. The third one does look concerning. 
 

by the way, palms are very good at moving around nutrients stored in their stems and leaves to the parts of the plant where they are needed so there’s no need to cut off dead fronds to encourage nutrients to go elsewhere. That works well with other plants but with palms they actually eat their older leaves and so it’s best to trim only the completely dried out ones unless the palm is very mature and thriving

[Harry’s Palms]

In your area , this time of the year , I would be watering them frequently  as temperatures climb. I know they do ok there but you have to water them all the time in order for them to survive. Keep an eye on the center where the spear comes out and make sure to check for new growth as they recover from their drought. Harry

[Tom in Havasu]

Thank you for the comments!  Its interesting to hear about nutrients and the tree cutting off dead fronds. I noticed something yesterday and was wondering that because there was a definite line at the base of a frond where it instantly went brown from green.

Any recommendations on watering times?

[Bill H2DB]

   These palms are Single trunked in real life .    They have been forced to impede each other , and what you are seeing is a common result of that . 

    Each palm wants to spread out its roots symmetrically , but are crowded out by their fellow prisoners . 

 

[Jim in Los Altos]

It’s nearly impossible to overwater Pygmy Date palms even in cooler climates. The rock mulch you have is only making matters worse since it gets very hot in the sun. Wood mulch would be better but, if the rock stays, water these palms daily in the summer heat. They are multiples so there is some competition for water and nutrients but, if water and food are sufficient, they can flourish. 

[Tom in Havasu]

Really good to know on watering.  Yeah bark would be better but it would blow away, we get some big winds. I'll keep my watering at the times I have and see if the one tree comes back.

Interesting that they compete for nutriends. On palms I have in my back yard I have bubblers watering on both sides of the root ball to makes sure there was plenty of water being distributed, so I will do that in the front yard also.   You have triggered another thought though that probably proves your comment....my largest palms for sure has the water source directly above its root base, and that may be one reason its the tallest if they compete,  and I'm guessing that my tallest ones in each group have the bubblers right next to their root base.   

All three groups have motes that are built around the bases, 3" deep (see picture),  the groups may not get enough water flow to circulate and fill the entire mote so the water may not be reaching the entire rootball, therefore flooding down to the roots. I'll do some checking on that and see how that is working.

Below is a picture of one of the groups of three, the red circle is the circumfurance of the mote, the sold red dot represents my bubbler. The motes are covered with gravel so when they start to flood the mote the water goes around the tree group within the boundry of the mote. I also dig a small pit the size of a tennis ball right at the base of the bubblers and drop in time release fertilizer,  so the theory is the water runs over the fertilizer, then it flows all the way around the mote and saturates into the rootball.  If the bubbler is not outputting enough water, it may saturate into the ground before it travels all the way around the mote and rootball.  I think I will experiment with a higher flow bubblers to insure that flow around the mote. The ground/dirt is very very porous. 

[MJSanDiego]

We have seen this time and time again. Can you plant and maintain a pygmy date palm in the low deserts? Sure you can. Should you? No. It's too far outside the range of it's ideal habitat. You would have great success with another slow growing small palm that can take 115 degrees with no humidity, no burning fronds, truly drought tolerant, cold tolerant and wind tolerant. Chamaerops Humilis

[Tom in Havasu]

That's interesting. I'll look into those palms you suggest. Thank you. So far these have done pretty well, they've been there for 3 ish years and if I had not had the irrigation valve issue I don't think I'd be in this position. I have upgraded all of my irrigation valves away from Orbit (three have failed) and all were brand new within the last 1-3 years,  now using Rain Bird. 

[ahosey01]

On 8/14/2024 at 1:43 PM, Tom in Havasu said:

That's interesting. I'll look into those palms you suggest. Thank you. So far these have done pretty well, they've been there for 3 ish years and if I had not had the irrigation valve issue I don't think I'd be in this position. I have upgraded all of my irrigation valves away from Orbit (three have failed) and all were brand new within the last 1-3 years,  now using Rain Bird. 

Any update?

I'm with @Jim in Los Altos, you could probably water this all day every day in Havasu from late May to mid Sep and they wouldn't rot or have any problems.  Potential for chlorosis, though, so you could always find an Arizona's Best iron supplement.

Would love to see pics now.