What’s wrong with my windmill palm

[Wordofadvicce]

It was looking just fine about 3 weeks ago and then I suddenly noticed the leaves were folding inwards. I have not been doing anything different and the temperature is just right at the Jersey Shore. It’s protected in the winter by a greenhouse and never looked as bad as it does now in the summer months. Anyone have ideas? The second picture is of a new frond coming up and it looks terrible! 

[SeanK]

Buy a bottle of H2O2. Give the spear a little tug.

Do you have moles?

[Wordofadvicce]

Thanks! Yes I do have moles. Could that be the problem?

[pinkpantheressfan]

i feel you, im in jersey and our summer was rough. i noticed my palm started to get a little stressed this summer so whenever it was gonna go above 92, i gave it a good water the night before. ik some say don't water at night but that did truly help them and i made sure to get no water in the spear and on the fronds 

[Harry’s Palms]

How long has it been in the ground? It looks like a young palm. Harry

[Wordofadvicce]

1 hour ago, Harry’s Palms said:

How long has it been in the ground? It looks like a young palm. Harry

It’s been in the ground for two years now. Always did well until recently. Perhaps it’s the heat and humidity? 

[Wordofadvicce]

9 hours ago, SeanK said:

Buy a bottle of H2O2. Give the spear a little tug.

Do you have moles?

I do have moles. Could that be the problem? I keep reading online some say stop watering others say keep watering

[Wordofadvicce]

5 hours ago, parishilton said:

i feel you, im in jersey and our summer was rough. i noticed my palm started to get a little stressed this summer so whenever it was gonna go above 92, i gave it a good water the night before. ik some say don't water at night but that did truly help them and i made sure to get no water in the spear and on the fronds 

Hottest summer ever! I have two bigger ones in pots and they are doing just fine 

[SeanK]

Dig it out and pot it up.

[Harry’s Palms]

2 hours ago, Wordofadvicce said:

It’s been in the ground for two years now. Always did well until recently. Perhaps it’s the heat and humidity? 

That could be . Plus your winters can be a bit cold and that could weaken the palm. They are ok with some cold , but both a cold winter and a humid , hot summer might be too much for a young palm. Are others in your area growing these? Mine is in full sun and we get warm summers but without summer rain or humidity. Our winters are pretty mild compared to yours . It may be that potting it up to be able to protect  it from the extremes is the answer. Harry

[Wordofadvicce]

Thanks, Harry. That might be the answer. I see a few condos along the ocean have them in the ground and protect during the winter. Besides that it’s just me trying to pretend I live in a different climate!

[Allen]

1-medium tug on the spears and crispy fronds and make sure they don't pull out.   Only If it pulls out treat immediately with hydrogen perozide

2-Mark the emerging spear with a sharpie to see if it is moving

Reply with watering schedule, fertilizer, etc .   

[Wordofadvicce]

1 hour ago, Harry’s Palms said:

That could be . Plus your winters can be a bit cold and that could weaken the palm. They are ok with some cold , but both a cold winter and a humid , hot summer might be too much for a young palm. Are others in your area growing these? Mine is in full sun and we get warm summers but without summer rain or humidity. Our winters are pretty mild compared to yours . It may be that potting it up to be able to protect  it from the extremes is the answer. Harry

 

39 minutes ago, Allen said:

1-medium tug on the spears and crispy fronds and make sure they don't pull out.   Only If it pulls out treat immediately with hydrogen perozide

2-Mark the emerging spear with a sharpie to see if it is moving

Reply with watering schedule, fertilizer, etc .   

Thanks Allen I’ve heard of the peroxide trick. I’ll try that today!

[Las Palmas Norte]

I suspect that what ever is happing, is occurring in the root zone and you're seeing the end result. This is based on the statement ...

5 hours ago, Wordofadvicce said:

Hottest summer ever! I have two bigger ones in pots and they are doing just fine 

 

[SeanK]

@Allen - When mine spear pull, they've all recovered by late June. We are now early August and his is getting worse. I don't think he has enough summer left to save it outside. It will probably have to go indoors for the winter to recover.

[Allen]

Dig around the palm gently about 6" away and down and see if you have white healthy roots and see if ground is dry or wet.  Report back

[Wordofadvicce]

5 hours ago, Allen said:

Dig around the palm gently about 6" away and down and see if you have white healthy roots and see if ground is dry or wet.  Report back

Hey Allen. Just dug around and the roots look white and healthy and the soil is a little damp. Not dry and not soaking 

[Allen]

10 minutes ago, Wordofadvicce said:

Hey Allen. Just dug around and the roots look white and healthy and the soil is a little damp. Not dry and not soaking 

Well if the spear doesn't pull out just keep in ground and hopefully it will recover.

[Wordofadvicce]

6 minutes ago, Allen said:

Well if the spear doesn't pull out just keep in ground and hopefully it will recover.

Spear is stuck in there. Should I cute the leaves back since they look either droopy or stiff ? 

[Marco67]

27 minutes ago, Wordofadvicce said:

Spear is stuck in there. Should I cute the leaves back since they look either droopy or stiff ? 

When it looks like this at the end of summer it's either dead or dying. You might consider replacing it with another one. Its probably not cold damage but something else. 

[pinkpantheressfan]

13 hours ago, Wordofadvicce said:

Hottest summer ever! I have two bigger ones in pots and they are doing just fine 

it was the hottest and driest summer that i can remember (im 18), but yet so humid😩😩 

[Wordofadvicce]

32 minutes ago, parishilton said:

it was the hottest and driest summer that i can remember (im 18), but yet so humid😩😩 

Thought the palmies would enjoy that but guess not 🙄 

[Allen]

33 minutes ago, Wordofadvicce said:

Thought the palmies would enjoy that but guess not 🙄 

Heat is not the culprit.  Something else I haven't figured it out yet

[Arecaceus]

If this palm is established it should be able to handle the heat. Humid heat if any different at all should be better than dry heat for Trachies. Trachies don't like too much heat but they don't decline like that. Heat damage usually occurs if there's a severe drought or there are no cooler months like in South Florida. Damage then also looks different. From what you've described there must have been some sudden impact. Like root damaged or a fungus (but there's no visual indicator of it). The only scenario in which heat could be the culprit is when it hasn't established enough roots yet. How did you plant it?

[njpalmguy]

On 8/22/2024 at 12:54 AM, parishilton said:

i feel you, im in jersey and our summer was rough. i noticed my palm started to get a little stressed this summer so whenever it was gonna go above 92, i gave it a good water the night before. ik some say don't water at night but that did truly help them and i made sure to get no water in the spear and on the fronds 

yep. same for me. 3 separate 100 degree days where I live all in the span of about a month. now it’s supposed to be 92 where I live tomorrow.

[Allen]

57 minutes ago, njpalmguy said:

yep. same for me. 3 separate 100 degree days where I live all in the span of about a month. now it’s supposed to be 92 where I live tomorrow.

Yea it's 100 degrees here for 3 days in a row and I have Trachy in full sun.  I don't expect any damage at all.

[Arecaceus]

13 minutes ago, Allen said:

Yea it's 100 degrees here for 3 days in a row and I have Trachy in full sun.  I don't expect any damage at all.

I've never had heat damage on them. Even when we got 40°C+ (around 105F?) temps in dry sunny weather for several days. They only slow down their growth.

[Wordofadvicce]

On 8/24/2024 at 7:30 PM, Arecaceus said:

If this palm is established it should be able to handle the heat. Humid heat if any different at all should be better than dry heat for Trachies. Trachies don't like too much heat but they don't decline like that. Heat damage usually occurs if there's a severe drought or there are no cooler months like in South Florida. Damage then also looks different. From what you've described there must have been some sudden impact. Like root damaged or a fungus (but there's no visual indicator of it). The only scenario in which heat could be the culprit is when it hasn't established enough roots yet. How did you plant it?

Simply planted it in the ground two years ago and was doing great. I checked the roots and from what I saw, they looked good, but perhaps they are slowly dying 

[Arecaceus]

1 minute ago, Wordofadvicce said:

Simply planted it in the ground two years ago and was doing great. I checked the roots and from what I saw, they looked good, but perhaps they are slowly dying 

Did you prepare the planting hole in any kind? Like how big was the hole compared to the rootball and how much new soil did you use? How is the surrounding soil?

[Wordofadvicce]

5 hours ago, Arecaceus said:

Did you prepare the planting hole in any kind? Like how big was the hole compared to the rootball and how much new soil did you use? How is the surrounding soil?

Hole was much bigger than the rootball. From what I recall probably a bag of new soil mixed with dirt that I collect throughout the months. Surrounding soil is dirt/sand since I’m 1/2 mile from the beach.  I was told try organic seaweed and kelp. Mixed that with water. Im hoping for the best because I’m bummed out about this 

[SeanK]

Seaweed? Beach?

Could it be salt poisoning?

[Wordofadvicce]

3 hours ago, SeanK said:

Seaweed? Beach?

Could it be salt poisoning?

Your guess is as good as mine 😭

[Arecaceus]

6 hours ago, Wordofadvicce said:

Your guess is as good as mine 😭

I was going to say: "Sounds good..." then I saw the seaweed. It won't be the sand. My whole garden is sand after it gets 30-50cm deep and I don't have any issues. It could be the seaweed (+fertilizer?). Fertilizer often also contains salt.

[ChicagoPalma]

I HAVE AN answer! This is definitely a root zone issues, very visibly one. Now this palm looks fried as well, my best guess is constant heat and probably some type of root rot, maybe something eating at the roots, moles, nematodes, horse hair worms (type of nematode that can sometimes irritate plants & palms), or some other issue, but whatever it is, its worse with the constant heat.

[Wordofadvicce]

1 hour ago, ChicagoPalma said:

I HAVE AN answer! This is definitely a root zone issues, very visibly one. Now this palm looks fried as well, my best guess is constant heat and probably some type of root rot, maybe something eating at the roots, moles, nematodes, horse hair worms (type of nematode that can sometimes irritate plants & palms), or some other issue, but whatever it is, its worse with the constant heat.

is there any hope? Yeah, the palm leaves for sure look fried. Some are looking more fried since this post 

On 8/28/2024 at 5:45 AM, Arecaceus said:

I was going to say: "Sounds good..." then I saw the seaweed. It won't be the sand. My whole garden is sand after it gets 30-50cm deep and I don't have any issues. It could be the seaweed (+fertilizer?). Fertilizer often also contains salt.

The seaweed fertilizer was applied after this mess happened, as a last ditch effort

[Palmfarmer]

On 8/21/2024 at 10:54 PM, parishilton said:

i feel you, im in jersey and our summer was rough. i noticed my palm started to get a little stressed this summer so whenever it was gonna go above 92, i gave it a good water the night before. ik some say don't water at night but that did truly help them and i made sure to get no water in the spear and on the fronds 

who told you that? generally its best to water at night in the hot season and in the morning in winter

[SeanK]

Look, this palm will die in sitio.

Dig it out, rinse the roots, and pot it up. Completely change the soil. Leave it in morning-only sun until the cold weather returns. Then bring it indoors.

[pinkpantheressfan]

On 8/30/2024 at 7:35 PM, Palmfarmer said:

who told you that? generally its best to water at night in the hot season and in the morning in winter

the guy at my local nursery

[SeanK]

3 hours ago, parishilton said:

the guy at my local nursery

Maybe palms grow more at night. I never noticed, but with bananas it's obvious.

With lawns, better to water in the morning. You want the leaflets to dry to avoid fungus

[ChicagoPalma]

On 8/30/2024 at 6:30 PM, Wordofadvicce said:

is there any hope? Yeah, the palm leaves for sure look fried. Some are looking more fried since this post 

The seaweed fertilizer was applied after this mess happened, as a last ditch effort

Yes, best choice is to pot it up, rinse off the roots and pat out the dirt, put it in the pot with new soil, water in  the morning or when the soil is dry.