2026 2026_02 - Florida Palmageddon Observations and Damage Photo Thread

[kinzyjr]

On 4/7/2026 at 9:43 PM, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Has anybody treated a rot spot on their coconut palm trunk? Feels like a soft spot forming. Can that outer part of the trunk be chiseled away, treated, and sealed? Freeze damage is the cause. I've already applied banrot a month ago. Crown is doing fine but now concerned about the inside.

I tested any dark areas of the trunks on mine and didn't find any spots that pushed in yet.  If you remove the rotten spot, I've heard of people using all kinds of stuff to seal the wound, but you'll want to take your time sterilizing the wound.  How far does it push in?

[pj_orlando_z9b]

On 4/9/2026 at 11:14 PM, kinzyjr said:

Things were looking bleak for these Foxtails at Lake Miriam Square.  These were newly planted only months before the freeze and were totally brown only a few weeks ago.  They're coming back now.

 

 

Here at the homestead, a Veitchia X Carpentaria that was marked as dead on my spreadsheet may make me a liar.  It has a long way to go, but it was totally brown and dead only a few weeks ago.

Tropical hardwoods like Delonix regia and Bursera simaruba are coming back.

 

This is great news. I'm seeing lots in Orlando getting some green. My first foxtail spear only opened one third, all green. My second opened two thirds. The newest spear is pushing fast and seems normal. My foxtail is very large and fat...in ground for about 8 years. This pic was from March 30. The open one was the first and the spear is the one that opened 2/3.

[pj_orlando_z9b]

On 4/11/2026 at 10:50 PM, kinzyjr said:

I tested any dark areas of the trunks on mine and didn't find any spots that pushed in yet.  If you remove the rotten spot, I've heard of people using all kinds of stuff to seal the wound, but you'll want to take your time sterilizing the wound.  How far does it push in?

It's just the outer trunk. When I scraped a piece away the fiber underneath showed but nothing soft. I still have a little bleeding...same spots as before. Nothing oozing but it looks a little wet on the quarter sized spots at times.  Crown in recovery mode but doing OK. 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

On 4/11/2026 at 9:32 PM, Merlyn said:

@pj_orlando_z9b I haven't seen growth on clusia or seagrapes yet either.  If I recall correctly they didn't sprout from the ground until it started getting hot again, so maybe near the end of the month?

@ruskinPalms I've basically given up on C. Macrocarpa.  They seem very susceptible to bud rot.  I've lost about 6 or 7 of them over the past ~8 years, after frosts from 24.4 to even the upper 20s.  Before the February freeze I had 3 small ones (2-3ft tall), a trunking Watermelon (8-10ft tall) and a trunking Hookeri (6+ ft tall).  Two of the three small ones turned to mush, the third has a solid spear and has a chance.  The big Watermelon spear pulled and was super stinky, so low chances of recovery.  The bigger Hookeri seems to have a solid spear but no motion yet.

On good news, I have new spears opening on three Attalea Brejinhoensis, one of three Arenga Pinnata (hard to tell on the others), my Triangle spears are opening but burnt at the ends...and the tiny Arenga Westerhoutii just opened up a new leaf.  The trunk cut Bottles seem to be growing a new frond...the non-cut ones are all D-E-D. 

Along my bike route two homeowners cut out a group of 4 Christmas palms and replaced them with 2 Sylvesters.  The other cut down 4 Foxtails.  Next door there are still 4 bedraggled Foxtails.  And 2 doors down two tall Royals just opened up 2 short but decent looking fronds.

My dwarf clusias have sprouts from about 1 inch above the ground. Big clusia I'm still waiting. 

[JLM]

On 4/10/2026 at 8:50 PM, JLM said:

Update 4/10/26: The newest spear that was starting to emerge pulled. Poured some H2O2 in the crown and dried it out as good as I could. Will continue to monitor. No rain in the forecast for the next 7 days and likely beyond, so little to no risk of water getting into the crown aside from H2O2 if I decide to do that again. Might do the H2O2 + Daconil next time.

Update 4/16/26: I have no evidence to prove it other than it getting easier to shine my phone flashlight down and see how it looks inside, but it seems to me that it is pushing at a steady rate. Still a good ways before anything actually emerges, but at least the bits that have emerged that were previously yellow have now started turning green. Just little signs. Odds gradually increasing that this survives though. Will continue to monitor.

[kinzyjr]

The Atlantic Tall officially has a shot as it is putting out its first full-sized frond

[pj_orlando_z9b]

On 4/16/2026 at 10:43 PM, kinzyjr said:

The Atlantic Tall officially has a shot as it is putting out its first full-sized frond

Awesome. I have noticed a small growth spurt with this hot weather. 

[Scott W]

On 3/28/2026 at 5:05 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

People will find their palms dying for many months after the freezes. 

Yep...just pulled spear on six three gallon potted mules and two more schizzophylla.  These will be treated of course and I'll hope for the best.  

Still no sign of life from my three Beccarriophoenix alfredii...

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Royal palm recovery on Orange Ave south of city.  This is Belle Isle area but away from lake influence. 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Drove by the I-drive coconut today to see progress. It was removed. The tallest coconut in Orlando is gone. Ashane they didn't give it a chance to reciover. FWIW, the foxtail is doing quite well. 

[kinzyjr]

28 minutes ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Drove by the I-drive coconut today to see progress. It was removed. The tallest coconut in Orlando is gone. Ashane they didn't give it a chance to reciover. FWIW, the foxtail is doing quite well. 

Sad - the end of an era. 

🙏

It looks like it is up to us and the other I-4 denizens like @Plantking165 to keep the dream alive.  We still have the former Smashburger coconuts too, at this point.

I took a short ride to see if any of our long-term Adonidia merrillii are making a comeback.  I did spot a few, but some of the other larger ones in the area are in doubt.  It's hard to make out the new, half damaged fronds, but they have a shot.  The bottle palm on the left and the Traveler's Palm on the right next to them is recovering as well.

[FlaPalmLover]

The one (formerly) nice coconut here that I was aware of and posted here previously is totally dead. I drove by today out of curiosity and it looks doomed. Owners haven't removed it yet but it doesn't look promising. They didn't protect it whatsoever, so not too surprising. Would've been interesting to see how it would've done with some protection. Another home nearby had its young foxtail likely killed - I see they've left it for now but bought a replacement foxtail that they planted in another spot in their yard. 

[Plantking165]

Recovery has been good so far, this fiji dwarf is on its way back with its second frond opening up with a 3rd spear behind it and some pics of what it previously looked like before this freeze.

[Bkue]

Sad day for me. Took out 400 plantings of areca’s to the base. Likely 2k individual stalks from 6ft to 15ft. Years to recover. Birds gone, 3 triple Christmas over 12ft of wood, trimmed the Bismarcks, ribbons and sabals at the same time. I feel naked. The inner fence of jasmine looks simi bare now without the backdrop. 😢 

[MarkC]

The only coconuts I have found that are still alive in my Orlando stomping grounds are the coconuts adjacent to the Sapphire Falls hotel by the man-made lagoon. Basically every other zone 10b palms are dead. Most foxtails are dead, kings all dead.

[kinzyjr]

22 hours ago, FlaPalmLover said:

The one (formerly) nice coconut here that I was aware of and posted here previously is totally dead. I drove by today out of curiosity and it looks doomed. Owners haven't removed it yet but it doesn't look promising. They didn't protect it whatsoever, so not too surprising. Would've been interesting to see how it would've done with some protection. Another home nearby had its young foxtail likely killed - I see they've left it for now but bought a replacement foxtail that they planted in another spot in their yard. 

It sucks they lost it.  There are a surprising amount of coconuts coming back.  I'd stop short of saying a majority just yet, but there are parts of town where there are more of them than crownshaft palms.

19 hours ago, Bkue said:

Sad day for me. Took out 400 plantings of areca’s to the base. Likely 2k individual stalks from 6ft to 15ft. Years to recover. Birds gone, 3 triple Christmas over 12ft of wood, trimmed the Bismarcks, ribbons and sabals at the same time. I feel naked. The inner fence of jasmine looks simi bare now without the backdrop. 😢 

Very sad.  Keep your chin up, though.  We have a long growing season ahead of us.  With a little luck, hopefully the drought will break and everything will leaf out quick to give you some cover again.

3 hours ago, MarkC said:

The only coconuts I have found that are still alive in my Orlando stomping grounds are the coconuts adjacent to the Sapphire Falls hotel by the man-made lagoon. Basically every other zone 10b palms are dead. Most foxtails are dead, kings all dead.

The herd was officially thinned.  It looks like the building might have blocked some of the wind.  I've seen a few photos of crownshaft palms coming back at Leu Gardens, if you ever go up that way.

[MarkC]

On 4/23/2026 at 8:54 PM, kinzyjr said:

It sucks they lost it.  There are a surprising amount of coconuts coming back.  I'd stop short of saying a majority just yet, but there are parts of town where there are more of them than crownshaft palms.

Very sad.  Keep your chin up, though.  We have a long growing season ahead of us.  With a little luck, hopefully the drought will break and everything will leaf out quick to give you some cover again.

The herd was officially thinned.  It looks like the building might have blocked some of the wind.  I've seen a few photos of crownshaft palms coming back at Leu Gardens, if you ever go up that way.

It’s safe to say that Royals have visibly outperformed Foxtails by quite a wide margin. Having said that, the amount of devastation was worse than I expected.

Animal Kingdom will take many years(if ever) to look like its former glorious, sprawling self. Many of my favorite tropicals and trees in the area have been reduced to rubble.

I can’t even begin to fathom what would have happened if 1980’s type cold events would have hit…

 

[kinzyjr]

9 hours ago, MarkC said:

I can’t even begin to fathom what would have happened if 1980’s type cold events would have hit…

@Eric in Orlando had a quote that summed it up pretty well.  Paraphrased: In 2010 (and 2026), tender stuff died.  In 1989, hardy stuff died.