Why are people painting palms?

[miamicuse]

I am seeing palms getting painted white.  Used to be just the lower 2 or so feet, but now I am seeing the paint goes up ha;f way up the trunk (or more).

not just palms, but here is a Beaucarnea recurvata and the it's painted from neck to toe.

 

I don't get it, what is the thinking behind this?

I have seen folks applying varnish onto the cut leaf bases of Phoenix sylvestris, to give it a "pineapple" look, and now this I don't even know what this is.

[Phoenikakias]

Is that just color or lime or color mixed with a kind of fungicide/insecticide?

[aztropic]

4 minutes ago, Phoenikakias said:

Is that just color or lime or color mixed with a kind of fungicide/insecticide?

It is white, latex paint, used to protect plant trunks from sunburn. Like putting on SPF 50 sunscreen when you go to the beach. Very good protection in areas where lifted foliage would allow sun to directly strike a trunk, burning it.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[Phoenikakias]

1 hour ago, aztropic said:

It is white, latex paint, used to protect plant trunks from sunburn. Like putting on SPF 50 sunscreen when you go to the beach. Very good protection in areas where lifted foliage would allow sun to directly strike a trunk, burning it.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

How can sun affect negatively only trunk and not also foliage?

[aztropic]

Foliage also can get sunburned, but it is replaceable.  Once a palm trees trunk gets sunburned, there is no way for it to repair itself. An ounce of prevention is definitely worth more than a pound of cure in this case.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona