Issue with newly planted foxtail palms

[bucsgirl6612]

Good morning! New member here. I live in SWFL, and I recently had two double foxtails planted in my yard. When planted they were full and green, but now the tips are turning brown on the three lower-most fronds. I have been watering 2x/day for 15 minutes because it's been dry. The palms had those little green fertilizer balls, but I have not done any fertilizing as I figured it needs to become established first.  When searching for answers on the internet, it seemed that this could be a result of either overwatering or underwatering. I'm hoping to get help for what I'm doing wrong!  Palms are planted in full sun, and it's been pretty dry here, as we are in dry season. There was one evening where temps dropped to high 40s, but otherwise it's been warm and sunny.  Thank you!

[Phoenikakias]

Post a picture with both plants.in whole-body. It is possible that this is a post greenhouse premature death of older leaves. If plants have and keep having a healthy root system they will promote soon new growth and with time become increasingly vigorous. A whole-body picture often reveals a lot about the root system.

[Merlyn]

@bucsgirl6612 welcome to PalmTalk!  It's common for palms to get "transplant shock" going from a nursery into the ground.  If it's the lower fronds that are browning out then it's probably fine.  You could mark the new spear horizontally with a sharpie against the frond bases next to it.  That way you can see if it's growing slowly but steadily. 

For watering, I'd do a "deep watering" every other day or put the hose on it on a trickle for an hour or so.  That's probably more effective then a light watering 2x per day.  And it gives a 'water cycle" that will help prevent root rot.  Generally speaking:

• Underwatering brown tips at the edges first, later followed by yellowing of the whole leaf.
• Overwatering can be drooping fronds turning yellowish and losing color

From visual symptoms it looks more like underwatering, but it's also normal for palms to "eat" the oldest fronds to power new root growth.  Don't cut them off until the old fronds are dried out and dessicated.  Foxtails are self-cleaning, so the old fronds will dry out and fall off by themselves.

As far as fertilizer, usually waiting 1-3 months after planting is a good rule of thumb.  I typically throw them a small amount of fertilizer (i.e. a small part of a handful) after a few weeks from planting.  You just don't want to burn the new roots.  The best options are probably PalmGain or Florikan, though I typically use Sunniland Palm 6-1-8.

[bucsgirl6612]

Thank you both so much! Here is the full shot of both double trees. 

[Merlyn]

@bucsgirl6612 overall that looks pretty typical for a recent planting.  The oldest leaves tend to brown quickly as the palm "eats" them to power new root growth.  There's also usually some physical damage to random leaves, as it's nearly impossible to put a palm into a truck, haul it over and plant it without damaging a few leaves.  

The only odd thing I see is that the color of the old dying leaves is typically a light brown color.  It looks more dark brown/black in those.  But that could just be transient as the leaf dies off.  As long as it's not slimy then it's unlikely to be a fungus. 

I'd mark the new spears horizontally with a sharpie and keep an eye on the growth rate and rate of old frond browning.  If the old fronds are browning but the new spear is growing reasonably fast (maybe an inch per day?) then they are probably growing just fine.  I'd expect fairly slow growth until maybe mid April when it's consistently in the 80s.

[bucsgirl6612]

Thank you so much!!! Yes, it's an odd color, which is why I was concerned too. My phone also has a little bit of a tendency to "oversaturate" photos, so they look a little darker then real life. They definitely do not feel slimy. Just "crispy". I will mark the spears!

[Phoenikakias]

They look quite pristine! A bright future for them lies ahead.