Transplant stress on a mule palm

[Surat Smile]

Hello everyone, I would love some of the communities advice and thoughts on this newly transplanted Butiagrus (Mule) transplanted 2 weeks ago on April 2nd. It was from a large 25 gallon with about 5 foot of trunk and another 5 or 6 feet of fronds. Arrived with what appeared to be a mild nutrient deficiency showing on lowest fronds, but otherwise all fronds were green enough, with the core inner fronds being deep green. It was planted on a 4 inch mound, soil is kept moist but not soaked, I amended my socal clay soil with a bit of Pummice and a small amount of organic compost, though not much. The weather has been anywhere from highs in the low 80s these past 2 weeks, to highs in the low 60s, with the average being about a high of 75f. I'd say. Winds have been more frequent and stronger than ideal these 2 weeks, with some days being up to 20 to 30 mph, but not every day. This is normal for out here in spring. It is planted near a wall and home for some protection. Now, that I have gotten all of that out of the way, my butiagrus looks quite rough from the combination of these winds and the temperature swings combined with the expected transplant shock. Anyone have experience with these and transplanting medium to large sized potted specimens? It's turgor is good, it's holdong shape fine, inner 3 fronds are still 95% deep green with some dessication on tips, but the rest of it is beginning to look quite rough, especially the mid and lowest layer of fronds. It has 2 spears which seem strong and unaffected. I'm just getting a bit of anxiety seeing that yellowing and dessication/crisping beginning to creep into the mid layer of fronds as next is the 3 inner/top fronds and spears. Is this normal for butiagrus transplants of this size? I am trying to postpone hitting the panic button, but this has been quite stressful for me. I expected transplant shock, but I've never had a palm shock this bad. Even my large coconut I planted when I was in Florida and not California didn't shock nearly this bad and it was a similar gallon size, granted, different palm, different state, different conditions, etc, but it's my only closest reference. Any advice or encouragement would be really welcomed as the wife and I were starting to feel a bit defeated tonight. I keep holding onto the fact that at least the spears look great. Thank you all for your opinions, suggestions or encouragement.

[awkonradi]

Doesn't look too bad to me!  You obviously know more about caring for palms than I do, so all I can offer is support.  Hang tight!

[Allen]

13 hours ago, Surat Smile said:

Hello everyone, I would love some of the communities advice and thoughts on this newly transplanted Butiagrus (Mule) transplanted 2 weeks ago on April 2nd. It was from a large 25 gallon with about 5 foot of trunk and another 5 or 6 feet of fronds. Arrived with what appeared to be a mild nutrient deficiency showing on lowest fronds, but otherwise all fronds were green enough, with the core inner fronds being deep green. It was planted on a 4 inch mound, soil is kept moist but not soaked, I amended my socal clay soil with a bit of Pummice and a small amount of organic compost, though not much. The weather has been anywhere from highs in the low 80s these past 2 weeks, to highs in the low 60s, with the average being about a high of 75f. I'd say. Winds have been more frequent and stronger than ideal these 2 weeks, with some days being up to 20 to 30 mph, but not every day. This is normal for out here in spring. It is planted near a wall and home for some protection. Now, that I have gotten all of that out of the way, my butiagrus looks quite rough from the combination of these winds and the temperature swings combined with the expected transplant shock. Anyone have experience with these and transplanting medium to large sized potted specimens? It's turgor is good, it's holdong shape fine, inner 3 fronds are still 95% deep green with some dessication on tips, but the rest of it is beginning to look quite rough, especially the mid and lowest layer of fronds. It has 2 spears which seem strong and unaffected. I'm just getting a bit of anxiety seeing that yellowing and dessication/crisping beginning to creep into the mid layer of fronds as next is the 3 inner/top fronds and spears. Is this normal for butiagrus transplants of this size? I am trying to postpone hitting the panic button, but this has been quite stressful for me. I expected transplant shock, but I've never had a palm shock this bad. Even my large coconut I planted when I was in Florida and not California didn't shock nearly this bad and it was a similar gallon size, granted, different palm, different state, different conditions, etc, but it's my only closest reference. Any advice or encouragement would be really welcomed as the wife and I were starting to feel a bit defeated tonight. I keep holding onto the fact that at least the spears look great. Thank you all for your opinions, suggestions or encouragement.

Maybe was greenhouse grown and not sun acclimated?

[Surat Smile]

1 hour ago, awkonradi said:

Doesn't look too bad to me!  You obviously know more about caring for palms than I do, so all I can offer is support.  Hang tight!

Thank you, just nervous is all! It's the largest palm I've ever planted. And it's showing considerably more shock than I've ever dealt with during the establishment phase.  Appreciate the encouragement!

[Surat Smile]

1 hour ago, Allen said:

Maybe was greenhouse grown and not sun acclimated?

Now that you mention it, it was wedged between two other larger palms in at the nursery that were probably giving it substantial shade. It was outdoors, but I didn't think about how much shade it was probably receiving prior to being moved from the nursery to my yard!

[Allen]

55 minutes ago, Surat Smile said:

Now that you mention it, it was wedged between two other larger palms in at the nursery that were probably giving it substantial shade. It was outdoors, but I didn't think about how much shade it was probably receiving prior to being moved from the nursery to my yard!

Well all new fronds will be ok.  Make sure it gets a good palm fertilizer when it settles in in a month or so as these are potassium hogs 

[Scott W]

I just had a mule spear pull after upsizing from a 7 gallon to 15 gallon.  Very little root disturbance, noted yesterday the new growth was a lime yellow.  Gave it a gentle tug and it came out easy.  I've had pure Butia transplant similarly.  Fingers crossed on this one for me, same for you.  If the spear pulls you'll need to treat it then hope for the best...

[Surat Smile]

Noted. Sorry to hear about yours. What a bummer. Didn't know their root balls were more fragile than other palms.  From what I remember we were careful putting it in, but you never really know. Reminds me of what I've heard about parajubea. I planted one of those recently and it seems the consensus is those absolutely hate root disturbances. So far so good on that one. 

This mule is confusing me because it seems otherwise stable and I just got this picture of the crown and it does seem the spears (it has 2) are pushing, albeit slowly now at day 16 in ground. I just wish the fronds would stop getting cannabalized. It seems to be stabilizing, but I don't want to get my hopes up just yet. 

 

Anyway, thanks for your input. It's good to know going forward. Sorry again about yours. 

[Surat Smile]

2 hours ago, Scott W said:

I just had a mule spear pull after upsizing from a 7 gallon to 15 gallon.  Very little root disturbance, noted yesterday the new growth was a lime yellow.  Gave it a gentle tug and it came out easy.  I've had pure Butia transplant similarly.  Fingers crossed on this one for me, same for you.  If the spear pulls you'll need to treat it then hope for the best...

Oh and I forgot to ask also, did your Butia that transplanted similarly pull through?

[Surat Smile]

Definitely have some spear movement as of April 18 (17 days post transplant). That gap in the center of the spears was definitely not there 2 weeks ago. 🤞🏻 

[Merlyn]

It sure looks stretched out to me, maybe being stuck between other palms at the nursery was just enough shade.  I don't know anything about planting in clay other than sometimes a new planting hole can act like a "big bucket" and fill up with water and not drain.  A common recommendation here is to leave a hose soaking on a trickle for 30 minutes every other day.  I'm not sure if that applies to CA clay.  It's been hot and dry recently, so some fast burn on old fronds seems "normal" for a stretched out new planting.  The new spear growth looks encouraging!

Hopefully you didn't put fertilizer in the hole when you planted it.  That is a common way to burn new roots.

[Surat Smile]

26 minutes ago, Merlyn said:

It sure looks stretched out to me, maybe being stuck between other palms at the nursery was just enough shade.  I don't know anything about planting in clay other than sometimes a new planting hole can act like a "big bucket" and fill up with water and not drain.  A common recommendation here is to leave a hose soaking on a trickle for 30 minutes every other day.  I'm not sure if that applies to CA clay.  It's been hot and dry recently, so some fast burn on old fronds seems "normal" for a stretched out new planting.  The new spear growth looks encouraging!

Hopefully you didn't put fertilizer in the hole when you planted it.  That is a common way to burn new roots.

Ah okay, that makes sense to me. It has been dry and quite windy these past few weeks. We had one day with gusts up to 45mph! Granted it's against a neighbors wall/home so it has somewhat of a wind break, but the fronds were still getting battered a decent bit. 

As for fertilizer, none yet! The only thing added at planting was mykos beneficial fungi to the root ball. 

[Scott W]

On 4/17/2026 at 7:25 PM, Surat Smile said:

Oh and I forgot to ask also, did your Butia that transplanted similarly pull through?

Two eventually did and are growing fine.  Two started producing new growth but spear pulled a second time.  I took a more aggressive approach and crown cut them, to which both again started pushing new growth and I thought they'd be good.  Then one took a turn for the worst and died.  The other one continued but yet again pulled spear last year.

This is how it looks today and appears to be pushing new growth.

 

And this is how it should look, as this one was transplanted at the same time from the same grower to my yard.  It had pulled spear once and has recovered nicely.

Both were fruiting at the time and it's why I selected these, as the intent is for them to be future mule producers.

[Hu Palmeras]

Nice palm tree, friend. Apply neem oil to the bud, right in the center where the new leaves emerge. 1 cup or a large bowl.

Shalom!!!