Struggling palm in Sarasota FL area. Help needed

[Dudecons]

New to the palm tree world and looking for some help with this little guy. Not sure why it has started to look like this. It was planted approx 14 months ago. Any advice is appreciated. 

[kinzyjr]

@Dudecons

It looks like a nutrient deficiency.  From the zipper leaf symptoms and some of the other necrotic leaflets, I'd say at a minimum that it's boron and potassium deficiency.  It's possible that it's also low in magnesium.  For boron, I usually recommend a light Borax drench after it warms up.  For other nutrients, a controlled-release fertilizer usually helps over time.  Most people here use either Florikan, Osmocote, or Lesco fertilizers that are 8-2-12 + micronutrients.

[Merlyn]

@Dudecons welcome to PalmTalk!  I agree with Kinzyjr, most likely boron is a problem.  Figures 10 and 11 in this link show the "accordion leaf" typical of a boron deficiency.  https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP264

I'd make sure your palm fertilizer includes boron as a minor nutrient, and also add maybe 1-2oz of borax powder to a 5 gallon bucket and pour it around the base.  Repeat in 1-2 months and hopefully the boron deficiency will go away in the next frond or two.  Usually the decaying mulch around the base will provide enough boron to make the palms happy.

[FlaPalmLover]

On 2/23/2025 at 9:36 AM, Merlyn said:

@Dudecons welcome to PalmTalk!  I agree with Kinzyjr, most likely boron is a problem.  Figures 10 and 11 in this link show the "accordion leaf" typical of a boron deficiency.  https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP264

I'd make sure your palm fertilizer includes boron as a minor nutrient, and also add maybe 1-2oz of borax powder to a 5 gallon bucket and pour it around the base.  Repeat in 1-2 months and hopefully the boron deficiency will go away in the next frond or two.  Usually the decaying mulch around the base will provide enough boron to make the palms happy.

On this note, how common is boron deficiency in palms? I was looking up some stuff regarding Bismarck palms and this issue came up, but it's obviously not limited to bismarks. It seems to really hurt the appearance of any palm that is struggling with this issue.

[SeanK]

On the plus side, warmer soil facilitates nutrient uptake. Good time of year to feed and water those palms.

[Merlyn]

12 hours ago, FlaPalmLover said:

On this note, how common is boron deficiency in palms? I was looking up some stuff regarding Bismarck palms and this issue came up, but it's obviously not limited to bismarks. It seems to really hurt the appearance of any palm that is struggling with this issue.

If you are using a fertilizer with trace amounts of boron, or the palm is sitting in a mulched area, it's probably not going to get a boron deficiency.  I read that grass around palms can also absorb all the boron, leaving none available for the palm.  I'm not sure if that's true, and don't recall where I read it.  If the soil is fairly basic then it can show up too, which is probably why you see "leaning crown syndrome" in CA but not in FL:

I've seen quite a few photos here on PalmTalk with people asking, "what's this weird thing my palm is doing?"  I've only seen maybe a couple with obvious boron deficiencies here in the Orlando area.  One was a Queen next to a big hotel, so it was probably growing in "builder's sand" and not fertilized correctly either.  It had that classic bizarre crown like figures 7 or 8 in the link I posted.