Spear pull in summer? Mediterranean fan palm

[palmaddict83]

Hey all - I planted this 25 gallon plant 2.5 months ago.

For soil, I mixed the native clay with compost and miracle grow palm soil (I'd say it's 35-40% clay soil).  Not the best combo looking back but I thought med fan palms can tolerate some clay soil. 

I water twice a week. Gets full sun from 9 to 5

Used slow release palm fertilizer and also added some moon juice stimulator once a month.

2 weeks ago starting seeing some brown tips on this full green palm on 1 of the 2 main stumps then turned into whole fronds being dark brown and withered. Then I ended up cutting 3 fronds off that were a mix of older and new fronds on the trunk. 

Few days ago saw some of the youngest fronds in the spear also dry looking, so I tugged and it pulled. 

My moisture meter says its always 90% moist about 6 inches deep (seems excessive to me as the soil doesn't feel "wet"). Does this look like root rot symptoms? Perhaps it's not draining well? But I would think a root rotted palm would have multiple fronds turn yellow then brown, not straight to brown in a single trunk (the suckers and other stump appear healthy). I shot a bunch of copper fungicide into the spear area after the pull.

You could see the night shots had green baby fronds in the spear, a week later it's now brown and dry (you can also see I cut some full brown fronds off near the center) 

[KPoff]

1 hour ago, palmaddict83 said:

Hey all - I planted this 25 gallon plant 2.5 months ago.

For soil, I mixed the native clay with compost and miracle grow palm soil (I'd say it's 35-40% clay soil).  Not the best combo looking back but I thought med fan palms can tolerate some clay soil. 

I water twice a week. Gets full sun from 9 to 5

Used slow release palm fertilizer and also added some moon juice stimulator once a month.

2 weeks ago starting seeing some brown tips on this full green palm on 1 of the 2 main stumps then turned into whole fronds being dark brown and withered. Then I ended up cutting 3 fronds off that were a mix of older and new fronds on the trunk. 

Few days ago saw some of the youngest fronds in the spear also dry looking, so I tugged and it pulled. 

My moisture meter says its always 90% moist about 6 inches deep (seems excessive to me as the soil doesn't feel "wet"). Does this look like root rot symptoms? Perhaps it's not draining well? But I would think a root rotted palm would have multiple fronds turn yellow then brown, not straight to brown in a single trunk (the suckers and other stump appear healthy). I shot a bunch of copper fungicide into the spear area after the pull.

You could see the night shots had green baby fronds in the spear, a week later it's now brown and dry (you can also see I cut some full brown fronds off near the center) 

That is odd, I hope they pull through it. What area of Texas are you in? I planted two 15 gallon ones last spring in similar conditions in clay soil and I amended with compost and sand instead of potting soil. The soil always drains very well though. It could be transplant shock. I hope it pulls through so it can be ready for winter.

[Fusca]

Chamaerops are tough palms but they take time adjusting to full Texas sun.  I planted one in all day sun about 15 months ago and it still looks stressed today.  I think yours will be fine.

[Toddmin]

I planted one in my front yard when I lived in Austin.  It took a while to adjust but eventually did well.  I have 5 here in ATL.  One of them did a spear pull this spring but has since thrown out several nice looking fronds.  I agree, I think it should be fine.  Does it have any side shoots at all?  

[jwitt]

native clay with compost and miracle grow palm soil (I'd say it's 35-40% clay soil). 

 

Used slow release palm fertilizer and also added some moon juice stimulator once a month.

Since the leaf you presented does not look anything like sunburn, I am going to go out on a limb and say it(roots) may be "burned" due to over fertilization. 

Compost, miracle grow soil, moon juice, and palm fertilizer might be a tad much within a couple months on a new palm.

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

2 hours ago, jwitt said:

Since the leaf you presented does not look anything like sunburn, I am going to go out on a limb and say it(roots) may be "burned" due to over fertilization. 

First thing I thought of too. I tend to not fertilize newly planted palms until they get a season in the ground. I have some fertilizer I really have to apply sparingly. I seen frond spotting, summer spear pull if I apply a smidge too much.

[palmaddict83]

I checked and the rest of the spear pulled out. The rest of the plant looks great, but this trunk has all the fronds dying. The suckers and other trunk are doing great. I just poured some hydrogen peroxide down it and hope for the best. Annoying because it would have been a perfect 2 trunk palm the way it was going.

regarding fertilizer, the only fertilizer I had for th first month was the miracle grow mix. Then I added some slow release about a month after then the moon juice to help stimulate it to grow. Maybe it was too much.

Also it occured to me I had lots of nutsedge and other weed/grass growing in the rock bed, so I applied a good amount of non selective herbicide to the rocks trying to avoid all the plants... Might have drifted on this trunk accidentally...

[jwitt]

Med palms are one species that can survive the harshest conditions without much intervention(think PHX/LAS VEGAS).  

If it were mine, I would lay off any intervention(fertilization), other than proper watering,  roots settle in, and grow.  It might take 2-3 years. 

Then I might fertilize. 

It is a species that can survive on near total neglect,  once established(takes time). 

Depending on where you are in Texas, it may be important that the palm is not actively growing (fertilization may encourage growth), heading into, or during winter. 

Not sure where in TX you are, but there are probably other posters in your area that can give great insights on the species in your local conditions. 

[JeskiM]

I've had random spear pull in the mid summer on this species and a Brahea. In both cases it was shortly after a very wet and humid spell. I have a small Brahea that just did it within the last 10 days ... which was shortly after getting 7.5 inches of rain over a two week period.

I am just letting the plant sort itself out on it's own for now. I check in on it every few days. I suspect it push a new leaf in the next couple weeks.

-Matt

[palmaddict83]

2 hours ago, JeskiM said:

I've had random spear pull in the mid summer on this species and a Brahea. In both cases it was shortly after a very wet and humid spell. I have a small Brahea that just did it within the last 10 days ... which was shortly after getting 7.5 inches of rain over a two week period.

I am just letting the plant sort itself out on it's own for now. I check in on it every few days. I suspect it push a new leaf in the next couple weeks.

-Matt

I can see that. But we've had only 2-3 days of rain in the past 6 weeks. We shall see, I'm going to lay off of it and just water once in a while and hope it turns out well in a year. If not, I'll plant a more mature one.

[palmaddict83]

2 hours ago, jwitt said:

Med palms are one species that can survive the harshest conditions without much intervention(think PHX/LAS VEGAS).  

If it were mine, I would lay off any intervention(fertilization), other than proper watering,  roots settle in, and grow.  It might take 2-3 years. 

Then I might fertilize. 

It is a species that can survive on near total neglect,  once established(takes time). 

Depending on where you are in Texas, it may be important that the palm is not actively growing (fertilization may encourage growth), heading into, or during winter. 

Not sure where in TX you are, but there are probably other posters in your area that can give great insights on the species in your local conditions. 

The only word thing is that literally only one trunk is suffering. All of the suckers and the other main trunk have lush green fronds. That's the head scratcher. If it were the whole plant I'd be more comfortable almost... 

[KPoff]

52 minutes ago, palmaddict83 said:

The only word thing is that literally only one trunk is suffering. All of the suckers and the other main trunk have lush green fronds. That's the head scratcher. If it were the whole plant I'd be more comfortable almost... 

I would just leave it alone. I know how one can obsess over a palm not growing well after planting as I’ve done it myself. I killed a Trachycarpus last year by over intervening by thinking it had a fungus. 1/2 of my chamaerops had some decent winter damage and I cut off about 1/2 the fronds. It had rebounded very nicely this spring with only water and one light fertilization.

[JeskiM]

One a different twist to this species :  I have a good sized blue one that lost it's central leader in the 2021 deep freeze / blizzard.  All the suckers that were at the base survived. This year I noticed that one of them seems to be becoming much more vertical in it's growth compared to the rest. It's possible that this plant may have a new central leader develop from what was a side shoot.

I wonder if your plant could do the same eventually ... produce a new central leader from one of it's side shoots. Though it may take a few years.

Anyways, just a thought considering that your plant seems healthy in all other respects.

- Matt

[GregVirginia7]

This palm likes things dry. I go so far as to cover mine in the winter with a golf umbrella to keep the cold winter wet a bit at bay. You have a somewhat new planting but I’d watch your moisture meter and keep it on the dry side. Clean out the spear pulled hole with some hydrogen peroxide and spray in a little fungicide in there as well. Let it sit a while, then dry out the whole with a chopstick and paper towel. Hopefully you’ll see some success soon. I know I did when I nearly let mine freeze into oblivion.

Nearly frozen to death with spear pull:

After a little care:

 

[KPoff]

5 hours ago, GregVirginia7 said:

This palm likes things dry. I go so far as to cover mine in the winter with a golf umbrella to keep the cold winter wet a bit at bay. You have a somewhat new planting but I’d watch your moisture meter and keep it on the dry side. Clean out the spear pulled hole with some hydrogen peroxide and spray in a little fungicide in there as well. Let it sit a while, then dry out the whole with a chopstick and paper towel. Hopefully you’ll see some success soon. I know I did when I nearly let mine freeze into oblivion.

Nearly frozen to death with spear pull:

After a little care:

 

@GregVirginia7 yours are beautiful, especially considering you are growing them in zone 7!

[MarcusH]

Funny thing I was just experiencing the same situation with my Sabal Minors . Planted 2 plants about 2 months ago . Few days ago I wanted to cut off some of the brown fronds and to my surprise I was able to pull out a spear from one of the suckers on each plant. Each plant has still healthy looking green spears left. Wondering if it's just part of the transplant shock.

[WSimpson]

A Mediterranean climate is pretty dry so maybe just a good soaking every couple to 3 weeks   during hot weather would be good .