Hi guys I’m in the Sacramento, CA area and recently got my king palm planted on Friday. Looks like it is experiencing some transplant shock, and I just wanted to see if this amount is to be expected. Palm was in 30” box and transported from San Diego last Tuesday and planted in the ground on Friday. It’s been hot (90-100) here and during the open air trailering from San Diego. First picture is how it looks today, second yesterday, third on Saturday, and fourth on Friday. Current watering schedule is Monday, Wednesday, Friday with 90 minutes on 5 gph worth of drippers. On Friday and Saturday I also manually gave the tree bigger waterings. Tree was planted in a 36x36x30 hole with Kellogg palm mix soil and a light application of Sunniland slow release fertilizer. I also planted an 18’ coconut queen hybrid the same day with the same setup. It doesn’t look like it’s affected by transplant stress as much as the king palm.

I’d like to know if this is normal or if I should adjust anything to help out the king.

It should be fine, just let it get used to its new home. It does look like a couple of leaves have a little sunburn. It will sulk a little but it should be fine and in a year or so you won’t even notice it had sulked. You may lose the odd lower leaf. From what I can see is that the top crown of growth and new leaf is ok.

Water water water. King palms are semi-aquatic and are literally impossible to overwater but very easy to underwater, especially in hot weather. Daily watering would not be out of the question. Wood mulch would be much better and healthier for the palms than the icy white rock mulch.🙂

The Archontophoenix palms are very root sensitive . Most times new plantings can show a bit of struggle , especially in sunny , hot weather. They are water lovers , for the most part , so keep them hydrated . They will adapt , eventually. Some are faster than others , many factors determine how rapidly. Yours look healthy so , with time , should be beautiful there . I agree that the wood chips would be beneficial , rather than the highly reflective white rock . Harry