European fan palm appears to have black mold/ fungus growing on it.

[3beerslater]

Can I spray this with fungicide or what should I do to tell help it? The growth has been very very slow the past year, but it has some new growth at the bottom. The top of the plant hasn't really changed in a very long time.

Thanks

[happypalms]

It’s difficult to see what’s really going on with those pictures. Get in there with the hose and give it a good blast of water and wash away whatever you can. It appears to be a big scale infestation and the mould is called sooty mould from the ants that farm the scale. An insecticide spray in combination with a fungicide will work fine. You can do cocktail mixture of both chemicals but do it on a cool day in the morning or late evening. But a close pictures will help with a better diagnosis, if it is another mould then you will need a systemic fungicide in combination with a foliar fungicide. But yes you can spray your palm follow the chemical manufacturers instructions and away you go. 

[Cannonball]

Further to Richards advice, a horticultural soap like Eco Soap and or Eco Oil will help too used regularly. You could even try spraying milk on it once a week for two or three weeks.

[Merlyn]

@3beerslater Euro fans do tend to get some mold in the summer here.  If you can mark the new spears horizontally with a sharpie, that would help see if they are growing.  Just be careful of the huge thorns!

• Hydrogen peroxide is a good antifungal.  I've used it successfully for crown rots.  A good squirt into the crown may help if there is an infection.  If it bubbles up in there, squirt some Daconil in there a couple of hours later and repeat a few times per week untii it stops bubbling up.
• Cutting off the lower brown fronds will help with airflow.  I'd cut off anything below horizontal.  Leave anything that sticks out pointing above horizontal.  Just clean your loppers before cutting. I wipe mine down with rubbing alcohol.  This helps to prevent accidental transfer of fungi and bacteria from plant to plant.

[Cannonball]

Yes Hydrogen Peroxide at about 3%, its a fabulous sanitiser.