I have lost 3 Sabal minors this month. This is a native species and each palm has been in the ground for at least 3 years.

In each plant, the first sign of trouble is a bleaching of the fronds, progressing to spear pull and finally death.

Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone know what the problem is?

 

So sorry , that is a terrible sight. I can only guess it and I’m afraid it would be inaccurate. Has the temperature or watering changed dramatically ? Harry

5 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

So sorry , that is a terrible sight. I can only guess it and I’m afraid it would be inaccurate. Has the temperature or watering changed dramatically ? Harry

It has been hot and dry for the past month, but that is normal for South Texas.

I generally only water these plants once or twice a year and these palms were actively growing through July.

1 minute ago, amh said:

I generally only water these plants once or twice a year.

Are there any big trees nearby? I have 4 similarly small minors, 2 on each side of the yard. This year I noticed the two on one side of the yard both started looking crispy. There are big trees on the neighbor's side of the fence and that area very stays dry even if it rains. The damage on mine looked similar to what you show but not at all to that extent. No spear pull. I ran a drip line to each of them and they're still crispy. Too little too late? Time will tell.

2 minutes ago, 5am said:

Are there any big trees nearby? I have 4 similarly small minors, 2 on each side of the yard. This year I noticed the two on one side of the yard both started looking crispy. There are big trees on the neighbor's side of the fence and that area very stays dry even if it rains. The damage on mine looked similar to what you show but not at all to that extent. No spear pull. I ran a drip line to each of them and they're still crispy. Too little too late? Time will tell.

There is a line of photnia on my neighbors side of the property line as well as a 40ft cedar elm near by. I hope this is a watering issue, so I'll start irrigating the area.

Both my Sabal , one Riverside  and one Mauritiformis , get regular water . We only get rain for a short rainy season so about 8 months of the year it is dry. Irrigation on a weekly basis is necessary. Harry

My area usually gets between 35" to 40" of rain and in the past, I have only watered when the period between rains exceeded two months. It is possible that a crust has formed or that the ground has completely dried. 

Mine lives if FULL SUN on the west side of O`ahu.  Only watered it for a few years after planting it 25 years ago.

It lives on rain water which averages about 25 inches a year mostly during the winter.

I'll try to get a photo.

It looks like goifrom high temperatures to cool temperatures dramatically, the way the first couple leaves and spear do the same, I get it with my Johannesteijsmannia and Kerriodoxas desiccating like they have had no water and they do it quite fast noticeable with the temperature fluctuating with highs and lows.

Thank you all for the input.

I'm just hoping this is a drought issue and not disease.

On 9/13/2025 at 3:42 AM, amh said:

I have lost 3 Sabal minors this month. This is a native species and each palm has been in the ground for at least 3 years.

In each plant, the first sign of trouble is a bleaching of the fronds, progressing to spear pull and finally death.

Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone know what the problem is?

 

A friend of mine who lives in the valley in Valais near Sion had exactly the same thing this year—according to him, it was woolly aphids or mealybugs.

Like the rest of central Valais, Sion enjoys a very mild climate, as it is surrounded by the high mountain ranges of the Valais and Bernese Alps. This results in hot, dry summers and cold, dry winters. The climate is steppe-like, which is why various species of cactus thrive here alongside grapevines.

That's sad, Aaron.
I'm very sorry for you.

On 9/15/2025 at 11:04 AM, Mazat said:

A friend of mine who lives in the valley in Valais near Sion had exactly the same thing this year—according to him, it was woolly aphids or mealybugs.

Like the rest of central Valais, Sion enjoys a very mild climate, as it is surrounded by the high mountain ranges of the Valais and Bernese Alps. This results in hot, dry summers and cold, dry winters. The climate is steppe-like, which is why various species of cactus thrive here alongside grapevines.

That's sad, Aaron.
I'm very sorry for you.

Thankfully, no other palms have died since I started this thread.

I haven't seen any insects besides the occasional grasshopper on any of my palms. 

I have S. uresana, S. brazoriensis, and S. miamiensis nearby, but so far, the problem has just occurred in the S. minors.

8 hours ago, amh said:

Thankfully, no other palms have died since I started this thread.

I haven't seen any insects besides the occasional grasshopper on any of my palms. 

I have S. uresana, S. brazoriensis, and S. miamiensis nearby, but so far, the problem has just occurred in the S. minors.

Yes, at least everyone else is fine.

Still, it hurts a lot when one or more of them die ☹️

Hi Aaron,

In your area, I think S. minor is native to wet microhabitats.  If your S. minor are planted in a more well-drained, upland habitat, then I think they might benefit from fairly continuous watering.

It is not a water issue.

The process is starting on another palm now.

Is this fusarium wilt?  Something else?

I really need an answer because I've wasted far too much time and money if I cannot grow palms on my property.

I don't have any answers and Google led me down some wild rabbit holes which I'm sure you've already gone down. Would it hurt to use copper fungicide or h2o2 as a preventative? 

3 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I don't have any answers and Google led me down some wild rabbit holes which I'm sure you've already gone down. Would it hurt to use copper fungicide or h2o2 as a preventative? 

It won't hurt to try.

I've been trying to find any description of diseases that would match the symptoms, but nothing fits.

The bleaching, not yellowing or browning starts at the lamina and progresses to the petiole, while the tight spear appears to be actively growing, then suddenly the spear pulls.

I have some hope for the plant in the first photograph because its appearance has not changed.

6 hours ago, amh said:

It won't hurt to try.

I've been trying to find any description of diseases that would match the symptoms, but nothing fits.

The bleaching, not yellowing or browning starts at the lamina and progresses to the petiole, while the tight spear appears to be actively growing, then suddenly the spear pulls.

I have some hope for the plant in the first photograph because its appearance has not changed.

I found an old thread on here from either 2006 or 2008 from someone in San Antonio describing the same exact problems but no follow up as to what happened. She had saved parts of the tree and was sending them off to A&M for testing but that was the end of the thread. And it was also just Sabal Minors while other Sabals in the yard were unaffected. I would have saved the link if it was useful, but there's a pretty good chance you read that one already. 

6 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I found an old thread on here from either 2006 or 2008 from someone in San Antonio describing the same exact problems but no follow up as to what happened. She had saved parts of the tree and was sending them off to A&M for testing but that was the end of the thread. And it was also just Sabal Minors while other Sabals in the yard were unaffected. I would have saved the link if it was useful, but there's a pretty good chance you read that one already. 

I saw that earlier, but the member hasn't been active in the past few years, but I'm looking through her activity to see if there is any more information.

I lost another minor today and the palm in the top picture is dead.

5 minutes ago, amh said:

I saw that earlier, but the member hasn't been active in the past few years, but I'm looking through her activity to see if there is any more information.

I lost another minor today and the palm in the top picture is dead.

Bro I'm sorry. I know that's time and effort, a lot of people don't realize some of these move at an absolute glaciers pace. I wish I had answers. 

Just now, JohnAndSancho said:

Bro I'm sorry. I know that's time and effort, a lot of people don't realize some of these move at an absolute glaciers pace. I wish I had answers. 

Thank you.

I'm still digging through the old post, but it appears that she was having trouble with rhinoceros beetles.  In many ways, I hope my problem is something as simple as insect damage.

I'd treat with a fungicide -- it won't hurt if that's not the problem, and could solve it if it is.

I have a rare fan palm that suddenly went crispy in the leaves, almost overnight. Treated with Banrot (expensive) and it is recovering.

20 minutes ago, amh said:

Thank you.

I'm still digging through the old post, but it appears that she was having trouble with rhinoceros beetles.  In many ways, I hope my problem is something as simple as insect damage.

This won't help much, but I've had some Minor seeds marinating for a few months now and they're finally starting to pop. I can send you a few when they get a little bigger, I just potted up 6 with their nubs and put the rest back in the baggie to cook a little longer. They're from I think Washington County TX, so hopefully they don't have too much Aggie contamination. It's only fitting that they go back to the motherland. 

13 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

This won't help much, but I've had some Minor seeds marinating for a few months now and they're finally starting to pop. I can send you a few when they get a little bigger, I just potted up 6 with their nubs and put the rest back in the baggie to cook a little longer. They're from I think Washington County TX, so hopefully they don't have too much Aggie contamination. It's only fitting that they go back to the motherland. 

Thank you for the offer, John. I have replacements, for these, but I think I will plant sagos in their place.

I just discovered my problem.

The rocks that I use for keeping the armadillos at bay have obscured the holes created by the ox beetles. I'll spray some yellow jacket killer in the hole and the ground around the palms today, then buy an insecticide drench tomorrow. for my surviving palms. I am crestfallen at the loss, but I take solace in the fact that the palms did not die from a pathogen.

 

6 minutes ago, amh said:

The rocks that I use for keeping the armadillos at bay have obscured the holes created by the ox beetles. I'll spray some yellow jacket killer in the hole and the ground around the palms today, then buy an insecticide drench tomorrow. for my surviving palms. I am crestfallen at the loss, but I take solace in the fact that the palms did not die from a pathogen.

 

I propose that if the beetles come out, you hit them with the rocks. I guess this is better than having contaminated soil though. 

I watered all of my in ground palms and then applied liquid carbaryl to and around each plant. I'll do some more research, but I think I will use both pea gravel and chemical controls.