Prepare to say goodbye? (potentially dying Alexandra palm - Archontophoenix alexandrae)

[lafifille]

Hello all,

I'm beginning to wonder if this whole palms thing is for me. Although most of my palms are alive, only one (my bottle) is truly thriving.  At least my struggling foxtail has grown a beautiful new frond finally! The purpose of this post though is to ask whether anyone sees any hope for this poor alexandra palm. Some info:

Planted late November 2025.
Subject to a lot more cloud and rain than usual (we got 90mm one day, but most days were more like 10mm) starting about 2 weeks ago.
Temperatures have been fairly consistently around 19-23 min and 33-37 max.
The frond tips have been dark for a while, but the stem was green just a few days ago.

I just can't figure out why it's carked it like this when the other palms have been enjoying the extra water, even the foxtail you can see just off the side of the first pic...

The small bit of green at the base is the only thing giving me hope but I fear it's time to say goodbye

[Johnny Palmseed]

Sorry but it looks like it will not make it. Palms that are recently transplanted need water but it sounds like maybe it was too much water. It really would depend on the soil. Is your soil clay like or dense? That could have played a part in the decline. Also, perhaps you planted it too deep? Palms generally prefer to be planted at a similar depth as they were growing. In other words, the top of the soil from the pot would be the top of the soil in the ground. If you planted it too deep and received large amounts of rain, it could have rotted out the roots. Another typical culprit is planting into direct sun. It looks like you have some shade and you said it has been cloudy, but a lot of palms are grown in pots in partial sun or shade conditions. When you move them into direct sun it will burn the leaves. It’s hard to say at this point because the damage can look similar in pictures.

[Harry’s Palms]

Most Archontophoenix palms are a bit root sensitive and must be planted with care not to massage or disturb the root ball when planting . Even with care , they can stall for a while before showing growth. If the soil is not draining well or becomes dry between rain events , that can cause problems as well. My “Archie’s” are almost constantly watered , even in winter . They are water hogs once established. 
     It could still push a spear out , watch for it before giving up . As long as there is green , there is hope. Harry

[Jim in Los Altos]

It could possibly be a severe sunburn that started the palm’s downturn. These palms do best in partial to full shade when young. They need lots of water as well. You can’t overwater them even in clay soil. They will happily grow in swampy conditions. 

[Than]

How did you plant it? Bare rooted? How much were the roots disturbed? Any chance there's concrete or building materials thrown inside the soil? Did the soil dry out between rains? Was it in shade at the nursery but under the sun in your garden? Did you fertilize when you planted it? Many things might have happened. 

You live basically near its natural habitat so normally it should thrive there but make sure it is in shade all day long, roots are minimally disturbed and the soil is always moist or wet. Don't fertilize until you see visible growth 

[lafifille]

2 hours ago, Than said:

How did you plant it? Bare rooted? How much were the roots disturbed? Any chance there's concrete or building materials thrown inside the soil? Did the soil dry out between rains? Was it in shade at the nursery but under the sun in your garden? Did you fertilize when you planted it? Many things might have happened. 

You live basically near its natural habitat so normally it should thrive there but make sure it is in shade all day long, roots are minimally disturbed and the soil is always moist or wet. Don't fertilize until you see visible growth 

Unfortunately disturbed the roots quite a bit - 3 came in one pot and I teased them apart (and by 'teased' I mean 'caused major violent trauma'). The other two are also struggling to establish, though they're south facing. Ironically this one pictured gets partial sun and is fairly sheltered but seems to be faring the worst

It's also been fertilised a couple of times O_O I didn't realise that was a no-no... 

Soil should be good though, but may have stayed quite wet for a 2-3 day period if that's enough to do any damage? No longer than that though.

[lafifille]

19 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Most Archontophoenix palms are a bit root sensitive and must be planted with care not to massage or disturb the root ball when planting . Even with care , they can stall for a while before showing growth. If the soil is not draining well or becomes dry between rain events , that can cause problems as well. My “Archie’s” are almost constantly watered , even in winter . They are water hogs once established. 
     It could still push a spear out , watch for it before giving up . As long as there is green , there is hope. Harry

I'm thinking it might be latent root damage as I was pretty rough with the poor thing when planting? I'm amazed that we might be seeing damage only now though given it's been 2 months... it's turned so suddenly

[Than]

35 minutes ago, lafifille said:

Unfortunately disturbed the roots quite a bit - 3 came in one pot and I teased them apart (and by 'teased' I mean 'caused major violent trauma'). The other two are also struggling to establish, though they're south facing. Ironically this one pictured gets partial sun and is fairly sheltered but seems to be faring the worst

It's also been fertilised a couple of times O_O I didn't realise that was a no-no... 

Soil should be good though, but may have stayed quite wet for a 2-3 day period if that's enough to do any damage? No longer than that though.

Aha, so now we know the reasons. It's OK, we all made these same mistakes when we started. Now you know that when we transplant a plant we try not to disturb the roots at all. Keep the soil intact. Also, never fertilize after transplanting, until you see the plant has started growing, maybe a couple of months later.

What happened is that you damaged the roots during the transplant and then the fertilizer damaged them even more. Basically the fertilizer burned the roots. 

Water is not the problem with Archontophoenix. You must give them loads of water and it will not be a problem. Honestly I don't think this one will make it but you never know. Keep watering it; this will also flush the fertilizer out of the soil and you never know.

Some more things to remember: always give a lower dose of fertilizer than it says on the bottle. Better to fertilize less than more. Fertilizer can burn the roots. 

If you get a plant from a nursery ask if it was in the sun or shade. If it was in shade, don't put it straight in sun; that will burn the leaves. You must acclimatise it gradually. First one hour per day under sun, then 2.. it may take a month until it's ready.

 

[happypalms]

Yep time for great compost heap in the sky iam afraid. 
Fear not we have all had a palm or two succumb to the compost heap. Dont give up palms are one the greatest garden sentinels around, get it right and your dream of a paradise is eternal. 

[Harry’s Palms]

I would not separate Archontophoenix , it can be done but it is very difficult. If they come three in a pot , plant them that way. Other palms can handle being separated without much problem . I hope the other two that are doing better survive for you . Harry

[meridannight]

On 1/23/2026 at 11:54 AM, Harry’s Palms said:

I would not separate Archontophoenix

 , it can be done but it is very difficult. 

I have always separated mine successfully. They might be a bit root-sensitive but they're nothing like Johannesteijsmannia! I had a container of A. alexandrae where there were 4 of them started from seed and they spent 2 years in there and then I separated them. Roots were all tangled up, but not so much I had to break anything. And I haven't had issues separating doubles. I usually plant 2-5 seedlings per container after they germinate to save space. And separate them after a year or two, depending on how fast they grow. But of course, roots must be disturbed as little as possible with any palm tree.  I currently have a container of 6 that I gotta do in the coming days.