Can this palm tree be saved?

[jcvd]

Hi folks,

So this palm tree at the corner of our yard have seen better days - please see attached picture. It used to be thriving but since it's at a corner we don't visit often, I only recently paid attention found out it's state. The sprinkler around it's base was completey seized and it probably didn't get much water other than rain for may be a year or longer. All of the fronds except 2 were completely dried out and there's no visible spear. I trimmed away all of the dead fronds and that's what's left. There are some white powdery stuff that might fungus.  It's neibour just a yard away is completely fine. 

I've fixed the sprinker and poured a some hydrogen peroxide around the top near the white powder stuff (lots bubbles coming up) but before I made it worse I want to check what are my options.

 

Thanks

jvcd

 

 

[TropicsEnjoyer]

That’s really bad, I have to ask how it got so neglected. Regardless, i’m not sure if putting peroxide can save that. At this severity I would recommend trunk cutting, a method sort of like surgery where you make cuts to the growth point until you find white (live) tissue. 

Im sure others would agree, and if worse comes to worse pygmy date palms are relatively cheap anyway.

[jcvd]

I'm not sure how it got so bad. It had a lot of fronds that were brown and I probably just assumed it's fine since it's winter. Anyway, at least other plants around it are ok. 

I can research trunk cutting while giving it a few more weeks. Thanks 👍

[TropicsEnjoyer]

18 hours ago, jcvd said:

I can research trunk cutting while giving it a few more weeks. Thanks 👍

Yeah but you’ll want to act fast. You need to cut the rot out before the entire growth point dies.

[jcvd]

Ok should i cut from the bottom ? Or from the top until I hit white tissue in the middle ?

[TropicsEnjoyer]

3 hours ago, jcvd said:

Ok should i cut from the bottom ? Or from the top until I hit white tissue in the middle ?

S basically you like shave the top middle until you find white tissue. And once you do apply hydrogen peroxide daily just to avoid further infection. 

Don’t go super deep, make gradual cuts to avoid accidentally cutting too far down. I hope this is clear enough but if you’re still confused you might want to search how other people do it.

[Merlyn]

@jcvd hydrogen peroxide is a good first start, I typically do that followed by Daconil a couple of hours later.  If it really foams up then there's definitely a fungus in the crown.  At this stage it might already be dead, but there's no harm in trying to save it! 

I've read on here about people doing the top cut to get back to clean tissue.  I haven't done it myself.  You basically do a horizontal cut about an inch down, look for white tissue, cut again another inch or so down, and repeat until you find some live tissue.  Sometimes you cut down to the palm heart and all you find is black stinky mush.  If that's all you find then the palm was already dead anyway.  Here's a thread where they discuss cutting a Trachycarpus:

 

[TropicsEnjoyer]

@Merlyn thanks for finding that post, I wanted to give an example but forgot what thread it was

[jcvd]

Alright I did it - about 2 inches down I see white tissue. Everything above is dark brown with white spots. Entire spear (or rather what remained of it) was black.

I stopped here - let me know if I need to go further

 

 

With some hydropgen peroxide:

From what I read I better cover it up initially and treat it daily with hydrogen peroxide. Will report back if I see signs of life. Thanks!

 

[TropicsEnjoyer]

That should be alright. You did the right thing and found signs of life before it was too late. Just do peroxide daily, covering not really necessary unless it’s supposed to be raining soon. You should see the white part start to push up (grow) in a week or so.

[Merlyn]

@jcvd hopefully you get some new spear movement in a few days!  I agree with the above, leaving it uncovered is better unless it's supposed to be cold and rainy.  You want the top to dry out any leftover water or fungus.  Definitely water the palm...just not from above. 

[jcvd]

About month later it's making great progress. Should I trim the tips with the brown tissue or leave them alone?

[ZPalms]

11 minutes ago, jcvd said:

About month later it's making great progress. Should I trim the tips with the brown tissue or leave them alone?

It's looking great, just leave it alone and let it do its thing 

[Merlyn]

I agree, don't trim anything else off.  A random squirt of hydrogen peroxide will help prevent any secondary fungal infections.  It may take several months to grow out a full set of fronds, but it looks like it is trying!

[jcvd]

thanks! I'm still doing the daily hydrogen peroxide around , should I scale it back?

[Merlyn]

20 minutes ago, jcvd said:

thanks! I'm still doing the daily hydrogen peroxide around , should I scale it back?

I'd do the hydrogen peroxide until it stops bubbling up.  At that point there's no fungus present for the hydrogen peroxide to attack.  After that, a squirt test every once in a while is a good idea as a preventative measure.

[jcvd]

Quick update after 3+ months

Its doing ok but I thought it would be faster. Still a bit concerning since some of the tips of the fonds are browning. I haven't done the peroxide for a while but have since resumed this week and I see some bubbling. Let me know what else I can do to !

[jcvd]

Well.. I'm not sure what happened but it pretty much withered over the past few days 

Anyway I think I need to move on replace it soon

Thanks for the all the advice 

[Johnny Palmseed]

Yeah it’s done. The cut the top off method is probably only 50:50 at best. I would not recommend the same palm as a replacement. Phoenix Roebeleniis require more water than you get in San Diego via rain so irrigation is necessary. As you can see, when the irrigation breaks the plant suffers and/or dies. There are many members on here in the SoCal area and they can recommend a better replacement.