Failing needle palm

[KPoff]

Question for the group, see attached pictures below. I planted this needle palm in March and it’s done great all season until about a week ago. It looks like the leaves are drying out very quickly. It gets a deep watering 1/2 times per week and also gets some water from the sprinkler system twice per week. The ground is consistently moist but not soggy. The soil drains very well and everything around it is growing amazingly, even the agave next to it which oddly doesn’t hate all the water. There are two other needle palms in ground to the left in same conditions in the ground since last spring and summer that are doing great. The holly fern by it seems very happy too. These are on the west side of the house with a large red oak over the yard so they get dappled light throughout the day and then a few hours of full sun at the end of the day. In peak summer and heat the sun never bothered it and doesn’t bother the other two. So far the spear looks ok and the sucker looks ok. Zone 8a west Texas. I’m baffled.

[PAPalmtrees]

5 minutes ago, KPoff said:

Question for the group, see attached pictures below. I planted this needle palm in March and it’s done great all season until about a week ago. It looks like the leaves are drying out very quickly. It gets a deep watering 1/2 times per week and also gets some water from the sprinkler system twice per week. The ground is consistently moist but not soggy. The soil drains very well and everything around it is growing amazingly, even the agave next to it which oddly doesn’t hate all the water. There are two other needle palms in ground to the left in same conditions in the ground since last spring and summer that are doing great. The holly fern by it seems very happy too. These are on the west side of the house with a large red oak over the yard so they get dappled light throughout the day and then a few hours of full sun at the end of the day. In peak summer and heat the sun never bothered it and doesn’t bother the other two. So far the spear looks ok and the sucker looks ok. Zone 8a west Texas. I’m baffled.

Is there a chance it could be some little animal or a mole messing around with the roots underground?

[KPoff]

1 minute ago, PAPalmtrees said:

Is there a chance it could be some little animal or a mole messing around with the roots underground?

@PAPalmtrees that is a good point. I’ll have to pull back the mulch and look for holes. I had some hens and chicks next to it that mysteriously got pushed up. I thought maybe it was a rabbit that was feasting on my grass. If it was a mole how do I get rid of it? I don’t want it migrating over to the healthy plants and not too far away on the south side of the house I have some established chamaerops.

[PAPalmtrees]

2 minutes ago, KPoff said:

@PAPalmtrees that is a good point. I’ll have to pull back the mulch and look for holes. I had some hens and chicks next to it that mysteriously got pushed up. I thought maybe it was a rabbit that was feasting on my grass. If it was a mole how do I get rid of it? I don’t want it migrating over to the healthy plants and not too far away on the south side of the house I have some established chamaerops.

I'm not sure how to get rid of them your gonna have to look it up I've never had moles before

[SeanK]

This looks like Sabal minor, not Rapidophyllum.

[KPoff]

23 minutes ago, SeanK said:

This looks like Sabal minor, not Rapidophyllum.

It’s definitely needle palm. If you zoom in you can see the needles on the trunk and it has a sucker which Sabal minor don’t have.

[SeanK]

13 minutes ago, KPoff said:

It’s definitely needle palm. If you zoom in you can see the needles on the trunk and it has a sucker which Sabal minor don’t have.

Okay. I see that the mulch and trunk are the same color. I think it's planted too deep.

[SeanK]

Here are two planted at the depth they chose for themselves.

[Chester B]

That sort of look to the leaf to me is too much water/fungal issues.

Small needles sometimes just up and die.  I planted 5 needle palms last year maybe a bit bigger than yours.  They all were doing well and actively growing.  Mid summer one turned crispy like that, spear pulled a couple days later and never recovered.  My remaining four,  will often have the offsets die and spear pull on me.  No idea why.

[KPoff]

1 hour ago, Chester B said:

That sort of look to the leaf to me is too much water/fungal issues.

Small needles sometimes just up and die.  I planted 5 needle palms last year maybe a bit bigger than yours.  They all were doing well and actively growing.  Mid summer one turned crispy like that, spear pulled a couple days later and never recovered.  My remaining four,  will often have the offsets die and spear pull on me.  No idea why.

@Chester B you aren’t the fro say that. It seems that although they are super cold hardy and tough plants they are pretty finicky until fully established which I’ve read can take a few years. If this one dies I’ll just put a minor or Louisiana there.

[JohnAndSancho]

3 hours ago, KPoff said:

 If it was a mole how do I get rid of it? 

Drive to Mississippi and get some cats from me. I'm not saying it'll work, but every cat comes with 2 free cats. I'll even tell you which ones are friendly and which ones are super feral. It's a bargain. 

[Zone7Bpalmguy]

I've had more problems with needle palms over the years than any other palm. They are the most finicky palm I believe. I agree in that once they get some size to them, they should be fine. I would also suggest (not for the original poster but just putting the info out there for anyone else) planting as big of a needle palm as possible, like a 3-5g plant. 

[KPoff]

4 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Drive to Mississippi and get some cats from me. I'm not saying it'll work, but every cat comes with 2 free cats. I'll even tell you which ones are friendly and which ones are super feral. It's a bargain. 

@JohnAndSancho if cats could only dog for miles.

[KPoff]

7 minutes ago, Zone7Bpalmguy said:

I've had more problems with needle palms over the years than any other palm. They are the most finicky palm I believe. I agree in that once they get some size to them, they should be fine. I would also suggest (not for the original poster but just putting the info out there for anyone else) planting as big of a needle palm as possible, like a 3-5g plant. 

@Zone7Bpalmguy they really are one of my favorites but if this one kicks it I’m replacing with a sabal or possibly a cycad. I have two in the ground close by that have survived a winter and look great but one did have spear pull last winter. It wasn’t even that cold, normal zone 8A lows. But it’s grown out of it and has a few suckers now as well. 2 is good enough for me but 3 would be more fengshui I suppose.

[Fusca]

Most young palms will struggle with full or direct afternoon Texas sun - especially with a brick wall adding extra heat.  I have lost far more palms to the sun/heat in Texas than freezes although I've not lived further west of San Antonio.

[CTX Palm King]

Do you have a hole in the ground at the base of the plant? If yes… then the culprit is the OX beetle. They dig at the base of the palm and burrow into the plants soft base to lay their larvae. It essentially kills the palm. You will never have growth or a spear again. I’ve been through this several times. :( 

[Chester B]

19 hours ago, CTX Palm King said:

Do you have a hole in the ground at the base of the plant? If yes… then the culprit is the OX beetle. They dig at the base of the palm and burrow into the plants soft base to lay their larvae. It essentially kills the palm. You will never have growth or a spear again. I’ve been through this several times.  

Another good point.  They are serious MoFos.  I had my one needle attacked twice by the beetles. If you didn’t see the hole and address the issue this could be damage showing up later on. 

[Zone7Bpalmguy]

@CTX Palm King Is this beetle in all of the southern states or is this just a Texas thing? Thanks.

[Chester B]

18 hours ago, Zone7Bpalmguy said:

@CTX Palm King Is this beetle in all of the southern states or is this just a Texas thing? Thanks.

They have a wide range but only seem to go after palms along the Gulf Coast and further south.  At least that's where the reports of damage come from.  All descriptions of the beetle say they are harmless to plants and eat decaying matter - Totally wrong.  They start showing up in May and end in June in my area.  I haven't seen burrows outside of this time frame.

Scientific name is Strategus aloeus.  

[KPoff]

2 hours ago, Chester B said:

They have a wide range but only seem to go after palms along the Gulf Coast and further south.  At least that's where the reports of damage come from.  All descriptions of the beetle say they are harmless to plants and eat decaying matter - Totally wrong.  They start showing up in May and end in June in my area.  I haven't seen burrows outside of this time frame.

Scientific name is Strategus aloeus.  

I never looked for a hole around the base. I did see some hens and chicks close by duh up.

[SeanK]

Chickens are good for eating bugs on the ground, FYI