2026 2026_02 - Florida Palmageddon Observations and Damage Photo Thread

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Keeping an eye on the emerging coconut frond, I'm seeing this powder substance. Is this mildew or something it's working out with fungus/sap? 

[Bazza]

3 hours ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Keeping an eye on the emerging coconut frond, I'm seeing this powder substance. Is this mildew or something it's working out with fungus/sap? 

Not mildew.

Could it be residue from something you sprayed on it?

[Bazza]

More carnage. This time from the Areca Palm that was here when I bought the house 30 years ago.

Has plenty of suckers underneath so not dead but those nice lofty swaying trunks look like they are a goner......

[Looking Glass]

47 minutes ago, Bazza said:

More carnage. This time from the Areca Palm that was here when I bought the house 30 years ago.

Has plenty of suckers underneath so not dead but those nice lofty swaying trunks look like they are a goner......

I feel like suckering palms are a great choice for borderline areas.  Suckers will likely live on and you wont have to completely replant.  Sucks to lose the tallies though.  

[Bazza]

6 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

I feel like suckering palms are a great choice for borderline areas.  Suckers will likely live on and you wont have to completely replant.  Sucks to lose the tallies though.  

Well you're in luck because I also have two Ptychosperma lineare.....and boy are they brown right now!

Terrible pre-freeze photo....they are good size......

[pj_orlando_z9b]

14 hours ago, Bazza said:

Not mildew.

Could it be residue from something you sprayed on it?

Perhaps. Somebody suggested to me it might be rot on dead tissue. That makes sense too. 

[MarceloCaramuta]

On 2/6/2026 at 4:14 PM, MarceloCaramuta said:

while I realize the topic of hardiness between Archontophoenix Cunninghameana and Alexandrae has been discussed for years, our recent extreme cold gave me the ability to take pictures of the two growing side by side in my yard.

Official Belle Isle FL (Orlando) low was 25 I live near n a large lake which creates a microclimate that has allowed Cocos Nucifera to live here without dying in the last brutal cold of 2010.  I believe we are the only spot in Orlando where Cocos Nucofera survived 2010.  

My recorded low was 28 degrees but its likely parts of the yard were a little lower.  The warmer part of the yard is the back yard near the water.

As the pictures show, even side by side, Archontophoenix Cunninghameana are undamaged while Alexandrae are completely defoliated.  

 

 

Update: it’s early still and too soon to determine full survival, but quick update.  Archontophoenix Alexandreana are showing green now from the emerging spears and one has flowered.  Still waiting to see any sign of life from the Adonidias.  To reiterate, we recorded a low of 28 here on the southernmost side of the Conway Lakes with Schefelera showing no damage and White bird of paradise showing almost no damage.  I know it was much colder elsewhere and even our front yard (farthest from the lake showed a bit more damage). 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Not my pic but somebody posted this on another forum. It's the Smashburger coconuts on Colonial Dr in Orlando.  They said the other is pushing a green spear too.  Mine has opened some green and I've seen others in Orlando and people's pictures down to Melbourne also pushing green already. Unless all these palms eventually show issues longer term, I have to admit I'm surprised because of the type of freeze. Many experienced 24F-26F. If we see decent amount of survivors this cold may need analyzed why we saw as many survivors. Kinda odd. 

[JLM]

Here is the temperatures I observed thru this event. Morning temperatures on the left side, daytime highs on the right side. Freezing hours on the far right are event total, not necessarily restricted to a specific date. For instance, the freezing hours for February 1st began when the temperature dropped below freezing the afternoon of January 31st (which was like 4 pm).


With this now in mind, the only thing I really have that feels worthy to report on is my Bismarckia nobilis.

It had a sheet that was loosely wrapped around the trunk, I say loosely because it had been there for over a week already and I did not fix it before the second hard freeze event. With the highs in the 80s recently, it has began to push some growth. The spear has remained firm, and the palm itself actually took a few weeks to completely defoliate but it finally got there.

I expected this palm to not make it, given there was no additional heat provided, but it has surprised me. Photo is from March 6th, which was 3 days ago. It has pushed more during that time. Also adding that I have not taken any measures to help the recovery of any of my palms. No peroxide, no copper fungicide, just letting nature take its course this year.


I have to say based on what temperatures were observed down south, I consider myself lucky that I only got to 20F being in one of the coldest parts of the state on average.

[Zeeth]

On 3/8/2026 at 12:16 PM, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Not my pic but somebody posted this on another forum. It's the Smashburger coconuts on Colonial Dr in Orlando.  They said the other is pushing a green spear too.  Mine has opened some green and I've seen others in Orlando and people's pictures down to Melbourne also pushing green already. Unless all these palms eventually show issues longer term, I have to admit I'm surprised because of the type of freeze. Many experienced 24F-26F. If we see decent amount of survivors this cold may need analyzed why we saw as many survivors. Kinda odd. 

I have a feeling that the late nature of the freeze will mean fewer deaths than otherwise expected. The west coast of Florida had a freeze in 1996 with very low temps, but few deaths because it warmed up so soon afterwards. Glad to see the smashburger coconut in Orlando is recovering! That green leaf opened up is highly promising. 

[junglejim]

Never knowing when to quit...

I knew some of the stuff i planted was cold sensitive and would probably die if a hard freeze came through one day, that ended up only being two years. So i didn't get bent out of shape when it happened. But now a few are growing back as suckers at the ground. The queen crepe myrtle was probably a bad idea, but i gotta say it grew there great in those two years. Even last winter wasn't particularly mild with multiple nights in a row down to 33-34. It got some leaf burn but popped back fine. What do i do in this situation? 

 

And on a positive note about the freeze, my australian bottle tree did alright. It had been infested with sri lankan weevils for almost a year. I had been battling them relentlessly with few positive results. But after the hard freeze i haven't seen any! It's very exciting to me. I dread their return. There isn't any fruit trees or edibles in the vicinity and if anyone knows of something to kill sri lankan weevils please tell me!

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, junglejim said:

The queen crepe myrtle was probably a bad idea, but i gotta say it grew there great in those two years. Even last winter wasn't particularly mild with multiple nights in a row down to 33-34. It got some leaf burn but popped back fine. What do i do in this situation? 

 

Unless hellbent on total removal ( i personally wouldn't )  If it is producing growth at the base, let that grow out, then reduce ..whatever.. amount of new growth it produces,  down to a single stem,  ..or two if preferred..  and train that like you would any other seedling / sapling -sized tree.. 

Good to know these can come back from pretty serious cold since they can tolerate our heat.  Be nice to see more of these in local landscapes. 

Bottle Tree looks 

[Jimbean]

This is what royals in the area look like.  All seem to be pushing green.  I've actually see a couple of coconuts that looked like they are recovering too.  

[Bazza]

Starting to get a better feel for things now that some time and warmer weather has gone by. This rain we are getting will also help give a push.  Everything already got a dose of granular fertilizer plus some liquid feeds here and there. Now it's mostly a waiting game.

Of my 3 big Coconuts, I'm seeing some green on at least one of them which is encouraging.

Satakentia is still an unknown.

Royals seem to be putting some green out and same with my 3 big Foxtails, thank goodness.

Archies are all doing well with a couple exceptions that are in limbo.

Still not sure of my twin trunk Hurricane palm....and the single Adonidia next to it.

My big Bottle might make it.

My Pandamus is now done.  Entire tip clusters just dropping right off.

Riding it out....

[pj_orlando_z9b]

On 3/15/2026 at 11:29 PM, Bazza said:

Starting to get a better feel for things now that some time and warmer weather has gone by. This rain we are getting will also help give a push.  Everything already got a dose of granular fertilizer plus some liquid feeds here and there. Now it's mostly a waiting game.

Of my 3 big Coconuts, I'm seeing some green on at least one of them which is encouraging.

Satakentia is still an unknown.

Royals seem to be putting some green out and same with my 3 big Foxtails, thank goodness.

Archies are all doing well with a couple exceptions that are in limbo.

Still not sure of my twin trunk Hurricane palm....and the single Adonidia next to it.

My big Bottle might make it.

My Pandamus is now done.  Entire tip clusters just dropping right off.

Riding it out....

Sounds similar to what I'm seeing around Orlando. Foxtails are doing very well. Quite a few have opened fully green fronds already. Mine is half opened. 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

The back to back days of big wind storms did a number on my coconut burned fronds. Almost all snapped! Revealed lots of promise as new green showing. You can see the newest spear on the left side is mostly green. I can see some brown mixed in which hopefully will work itself out. Still hard to look at. 

[Matthew92]

Will be interested to see what percentage of foxtails die or survive in the Orlando area.

Regarding how surprisingly some of the coconuts and foxtails are recovering: my theory has been that since these palms have had 15 years of warm winters (sans Jan 2018 which wasn't technically a hard freeze even), they are more resilient/have better recovery than if there had been more periodic cold events leading up. 

I don't think this will be the case with your palms @pj_orlando_z9b since you're in one of the warmest microclimates in Orlando: but as I'm sure many know,, damaged palms that push out green growth can still succumb later. Latent damage can show up, and while the bud may recover, areas of trunk damage can occur (I've seen this with queens in Northwest FL) and the small area of damage will grow over time/erode until the trunk is compromised. I would see this happen with queens with freezes below around 22 degrees. Since foxtails are already more tender, I wonder at what temps trunk damage occurs with them.

Even if most foxtails/coconuts recover in the warmer parts of Orlando, it'll be interesting to see how the same species do in the colder parts or north towards Sanford like what @Merlyn 's experienced.

[pj_orlando_z9b]

31 minutes ago, Matthew92 said:

Will be interested to see what percentage of foxtails die or survive in the Orlando area.

Regarding how surprisingly some of the coconuts and foxtails are recovering: my theory has been that since these palms have had 15 years of warm winters (sans Jan 2018 which wasn't technically a hard freeze even), they are more resilient/have better recovery than if there had been more periodic cold events leading up. 

I don't think this will be the case with your palms @pj_orlando_z9b since you're in one of the warmest microclimates in Orlando: but as I'm sure many know,, damaged palms that push out green growth can still succumb later. Latent damage can show up, and while the bud may recover, areas of trunk damage can occur (I've seen this with queens in Northwest FL) and the small area of damage will grow over time/erode until the trunk is compromised. I would see this happen with queens with freezes below around 22 degrees. Since foxtails are already more tender, I wonder at what temps trunk damage occurs with them.

Even if most foxtails/coconuts recover in the warmer parts of Orlando, it'll be interesting to see how the same species do in the colder parts or north towards Sanford like what @Merlyn 's experienced.

Oh I believe this is far from out of the woods. I still get at times a little seeping from the trunk. It is still very stressed. Figuring things out. 

[Merlyn]

@junglejim I'm not sure if the "Queen" version is much different than the common Crepe Myrtles.  My grandparents planted some in Austin, TX before I was born.  They outlived my grandparents and will probably outlive me.  They routinely see teens in the Hill Country.  They've been burnt to the ground a few times, but always came back.  

That bottle tree looks amazing!  For some reason I thought it was a marginal zone 10 plant.  Looks like I can use that to fill a spot with one of my (probably many) d-e-d palms.

I've been keeping an eye on a row of palms along my normal bike route.  There's 5 or 6 houses in a row with Christmas, Foxtail, and Royals, all 100% defoliated.  The Foxtails and Christmas have a bunch of bent petioles/rachis at random spots.  So far the owners haven't touched them.  

Lake Mary did cut down the big Royal on Primera Blvd just W of Rinehart.  I drove past it last Friday and it looked burnt but might recover.  Chainsawitis got it first.

I'm slowly working through my yard, with no other clear fatalities yet.  I did see that the new spear on a small Attalea Brejinhoensis (Neil at a CFPACS sale) has a rough looking spear that is actually opening up.  If that continues it'll be one of three of his Brejinhoensis that survived...the other two are still iffy.

[kinzyjr]

A quick and mostly positive update.  Hope those who have had their spirits dashed will find some ideas from the short post below for potential paths forward that doesn't involve only planting a dozen species of plants.

The pineapples didn't seem to notice we had a freeze since they were near a concrete block wall.  They're getting ready to produce fruit this year. :

If you're looking for safer options, but don't want to crimp your planting selections too much, branching and clustering palms like Hyphaene coriacea, Ptychosperma macarthurii, and Allagoptera arenaria are good options that give you more than one shot at coming back.  There should be Hyphaene seeds available at the 2026 CFPACS Spring Meeting this weekend:

Chrysalidocarpus lutescens comes back even when young.  This one is coming back and is not long from seed.

Coconuts are on the comeback trail, but aren't out of the woods yet as @pj_orlando_z9b mentioned.  Even in the better microclimates in our respective cities, they took a major hit.  The stores are running out of Copper fungicide here, so probably good to go get a few bottles of it before gas catches up to it in price.  You can see some white fungal growth on the dead tissue.  Now that the (hopefully) last cool-off is in the rearview mirror, it's probably best for me to just to remove anything damaged so it doesn't provide a breeding ground for fungus and attract white flies and other bugs.  There is another frond behind the one partially visible in the photo that has green on it as well.  The Maypan is in similar condition.

 

[Bazza]

Good to see some of your Coconuts are showing some green & signs of life. I'm still looking at my 3, and while I see a little green in the spear area, I'm remaining cautiously optimistic.

In the meantime I am giving them some liquid feedings through my hose end Miracle-Gro feeder with a 28-8-16 analysis. They all received dry fertilizer a few weeks ago....8-10-10 from Lesco.

I also plan to do another Banrot soil drench. I've already shot liquid copper fungicide up into the crown and spear areas two times and don't want to overdo it with the Copper.

I was going through a folder of older pics and ran across this one from 4 years ago.

All plants in full glory...Pandanus, Mammy Crotons, Coconut, and 'Pinot Noir' Aechmea.......those were the good old days before hurricanes and then this year's freeze came in and wrecked havoc! 

[Matthew92]

 

 

[ruskinPalms]

Update on my coconuts: finally went ahead and trimmed the fried stuff off my smaller one. My larger one is always harder to get pictures of because it is in a C. lutescens jungle. I was able to get a bit of a picture today because I’ve been trimming a lot of stuff near the house because it is getting painted a week from now. 

[ruskinPalms]

The bigger one

 

[ruskinPalms]

More general update of what things are looking like. C. macrocarpa is looking rough but is alive. Will cut its crispy fronds once it opens a spear. 

[ruskinPalms]

Maybe it is too soon to start making conclusions, but it appears C. macrocarpa is no where near as tough as even a foxtail. If you look close enough in the last picture, you can see there is a small foxtail that experienced the same brutal wind and cold that is opening a new spear. My Roystonea got a little fried on the more horizontal fronds but has already opened a couple new spears. Bismarckia did fine in my yard, but I have seen some fried not to far to the north and east of me. I have a stretched out bottle palm under foxtail canopy that prematurely dropped a couple fronds but otherwise seems ok. C. lutescens got a little toasty on top fronds but have been pushing out new fronds like nothing happened. C. probably cabidus (i ?) by the little coconut got a little crispier than lutescens but all the stems have opened new fronds. The P. elegans took a little too frond damage and maybe have prematurely dropped some fronds but all seem to have opened new fronds. R. rivularis seems like nothing happened. My last and final Adonidia still seems alive but looks like crap. I may have posted this already but I will reiterate that more wind sheltered areas of my yard somehow took more damage in this event (frost).  My back yard is wind sheltered from the north by I have no actual oak or pine canopy, only palms. Frost still seems to my biggest enemy. The north side, front yard looks like nothing happened, foxtail and C. lutescens being the canary in the mine. It has been a good learning experience. I’m probably going to try any more coconuts or Adonidia. C. macrocarpa is a letdown too, it really needs canopy here. Foxtails and Roystonea still win, C. lutescens wins too, and Bismarckia. No wonder these are the more common palms sold here. 

[JLM]

Bizzy update: We have something emerging other than brown. Its not green or silver, but at least its not brown. Continuing to monitor its progress. 

And yes, those are frisbees in the background. I will pick them up and move them, but the dogs like to put them back there, so I guess thats just where they will be lol

[kinzyjr]

It will be a long slog for a lot of this stuff.  In my mind, stuff could end up perishing due to complications as much as two years down the road.  @PalmatierMeg chronicled some of the latent palm deaths from the 2010 freezes.

[PalmatierMeg]

People will find their palms dying for many months after the freezes. I had a Pseudophoenix sargentii keel over dead 18 months after the 2010/11 freeze. Also, my Hydriastele beguinii 'Obi Isle' gave up on life 9 months from the same freeze. Lost all my young coconuts, Euterpe, Wodyetia and many more I can't recall. I'm still losing palms 3-1/2 years after Hurricane Ian. I hate to say this but for many of you the carnage has scarcely begun.

You will have to make some hard choices on how much money, treatments, time and work you are willing to invest trying to rehab some of your palms. To be honest and not being snide, pygmy dates are common, cheap and easily replaceable. I'd go that route before I bankrupted and exhausted myself trying to save them.

[kinzyjr]

An updated damage report spreadsheet is attached.

 

20260328_TentativeGardenDamageReport.xlsx

[Looking Glass]

13 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

People will find their palms dying for many months after the freezes. I had a Pseudophoenix sargentii keel over dead 18 months after the 2010/11 freeze. Also, my Hydriastele beguinii 'Obi Isle' gave up on life 9 months from the same freeze. Lost all my young coconuts, Euterpe, Wodyetia and many more I can't recall. I'm still losing palms 3-1/2 years after Hurricane Ian. I hate to say this but for many of you the carnage has scarcely begun.

You will have to make some hard choices on how much money, treatments, time and work you are willing to invest trying to rehab some of your palms. To be honest and not being snide, pygmy dates are common, cheap and easily replaceable. I'd go that route before I bankrupted and exhausted myself trying to save them.

It’s crazy how palms crump-out even a couple of years later from stuff that seemed to get better.  I agree, sometimes it’s better to cut losses and hit the reset button when practical.   Their ability to “seem to recover”, only to relapse is annoying.  Palms don’t always know when they are dead.  It can take a while for them to figure it out.  

[Bkue]

Update from Oviedo. All 400 clumps of areca’s are gone. Undergrowth is coming in strong but 10-15ft stalks breaking off dead. 😢. Bismarck burned but ok. 12or so fronds dead. 3 3 headed clusters of Christmas likely dead. A couple heads pushing green but don’t work without the others so no good. Bottle got burned inside garage. One coconut gone. 3 royals, 2 pushing green for now but one not moving. Most underlying gone. Aboricolas are coming back slowly even cut to dang near ground level. Crotons, ginger, ti, gone. Worst part of it all, knowing this would happen eventually, is I moved my nursery back out last weekend. Bottles, Bismarcks, kings, mangos, and the dang squirrels tore out and ate all the kings, ate the spear on the bottles, and generally ruined my appetite to continue on with this. 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Crotons sprouting, foxtail trying to recover, Christmas palms now sprouting green from the center, bottle 2nd spear looks good.

Coconut shooting up new growth mostly green but dead fronds all snapped jn the wind storms. Lawn guy cutting them off this weekend.

I see no growth on shrubs like clusia.