Foxtail Help Needed

[redinkyblot]

I planted this foxtail over a year ago, it seemed fine but it's started to show some strange signs. There's a big bulge in the trunk, and the latest spear has started opening before it has fully extended out from the crown. I've got half a dozen other foxtails on the property that are growing normally. Does anybody recognize or know why this is happening to this one? 

thank you!

[Harry’s Palms]

I’ve seen this before , it seems , on this forum . I believe it was something to do with an infection at the growth point. Someone should come along with better info than I have . Harry

[Merlyn]

@redinkyblot I would guess it was a shade grown palm and super stretched out.  When it goes into the sun it then tries to grow"normal" length fronds.  In this case probably several feet shorter than the old ones.  The bulge might be fronds getting "stuck" near the growing point and having a hard time growing up and out.  I'm not sure if there's a real solution to it, other than letting it keep growing out.  On bananas I have done "surgery" to open up the culm and let it grow out straight again.  I think that might be a bad idea on a palm.  Maybe some others here have good suggestions?

[JLM]

My foxtail did this last year due to cold damage from the previous winter. Got lazy towards the end of the season and it damaged the growth point ever so slightly. I got the same knot in the crownshaft and the emerging spear was opening super prematurely. I let nature take its course, and what resulted was a trunk with a slight kink in it, but it resumed growth normally.

This palm later became the victim of allocating cold protection resources to more important things, and it died in a snowstorm.

Long story short, its probably been caused by some sort of internal damage. Who knows what might have caused it. Not saying this is the reason, but it would probably help if you didnt cut fronds off the palm. These palms are self cleaning, no need to cut anything. Once the frond is brown, it should pull right off.