Bismarckia problems

[96720]

One of my Bismarckia palms puts out petioles without a frond I can’t figure out if something is eating them or what any help appreciated!!!

[Jim in Los Altos]

It’s common for the species to send out multiple spears before one opens. That’s what appears to be what yours is doing. 

[Merlyn]

@96720 that's super weird!  I take it they are way too high to see if the ends are eaten or rotten?

[96720]

Yes it is pretty tall but from where I can see they don’t look eaten and the very highest one almost looks like the frond part is all fused together just have to wait to see what happens!!

[96720]

You can see the ones circled are just petioles!!

[sonoranfans]

Might be a boron deficiency problem.  Your Biz looks like its been in strong winds and low water conditions from the pic.  If the spears that do have leaves ready to open are stunted in apparent leaf size, boron deficiency becomes more of suspect.  Got an overall pic from further away?  I do remember growing these in AZ, dang spears just seem to rise and wait for the monsoon season where humidity goes from 10-20% to 45-55% RH and they open in rapid succession a few weeks apart once the monsoon hits.  If its been real dry and your water regimen short, it could also contribute to stunting of newest growth.  The deformed petioles are a riddle, never saw those on any of my (4) bizzies in AZ, but mine never had a boron issue.  I never saw a pest eat bismarckia leaves, the weevils go for the grow point first.  I see hundreds of bizzies here in public landscaping along roads and highways, and sometimes they get bad boron deficiencies(1/50 palms).   This year in our drought the crowns appear to be shrinking and in some cases bronzing.  If the recent growth seems to have increasing ratio of petiole length to leaf length as a spear, I am suspecting micro nutrient uptake issues.  DO you know soil pH or if the soil is highly calcareous.

Soil pH significantly impacts boron (B) availability, with deficiencies most common in alkaline soils (pH > 7.5) and highly acidic, sandy soils. Boron becomes bound to iron/aluminum oxides or calcium in high pH soils, making it unavailable. Ideal pH for boron availability is generally 5.0–7.0

 

If your soil pH is over 7.5 I would add 10 lbs sulfur pellets and a few tablespoons of borax around the root zone.

Bizzies are generally not susceptible to  nutrient deficiencies, but boron is the one deficiency case I've seen over and over here in our sandy soils.  I had alkaline soil(7.8-8pH) when I was in arizona, but I put down several hundred pounds of elemental sulfur pellets around palm root zones to deal with pH deficiencies of other palms.  Sometimes you can have just a bad spot of high pH due to construction debris and the rest of the yard is not high pH so dont think because one spot is OK and another nearby Biz is affected that its not a pH/boron issue.   

[96720]

That sounds interesting I have probably 15 bizzies and no problems with any but this one I’m not a fertilizer guy but I will try the borax that makes since!!! Definitely not a water problem as I’m a water nut my water bills make your head spin!!!

[sonoranfans]

20 hours ago, 96720 said:

That sounds interesting I have probably 15 bizzies and no problems with any but this one I’m not a fertilizer guy but I will try the borax that makes since!!! Definitely not a water problem as I’m a water nut my water bills make your head spin!!!

 There would be the question why B deficiency.  Its either very high drainage or soil channeling local to that spot or its a pH issue.  If its a pH issue, adding borax should be done with a some epsom salt to ensure the uptake.  This is because as stated previously, boron binds with Ca at alkaline pH.  Epsom salts will cause a more rapid(and likely temporary) change in local soil pH.  The sulfur pH adjustment is slow due to the need for microbe activation of the sulfur.  Hence you can put a bunch of sulfur down and not worry about pH shock.

[96720]

It may also be a water issue as I don’t know the exact time but 5-7 years ago I removed a lot of grass to help my water bill the grass used to be right to the edge of the palm after I removed it though I did add palms with drip so it’s not like it’s getting no water just not as much as it was!! 

[sonoranfans]

12 hours ago, 96720 said:

It may also be a water issue as I don’t know the exact time but 5-7 years ago I removed a lot of grass to help my water bill the grass used to be right to the edge of the palm after I removed it though I did add palms with drip so it’s not like it’s getting no water just not as much as it was!! 

Yeah a water issue in the arizona desert will take down all but 2-3 palms I know of.  W Filifera and P dactylifera can exist without regular irrigation.  Bismarckia cannot deal with a water shortage in the desert.  In florida they do fine without irrigation, though this years drought is testing them good, I see bronzing and shrinkage of crowns in some along the highways.