Windmill palm fronds drying up

aurelius · Post by **aurelius** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 12:14 pm

I purchased a small windmill palm in the spring and it was doing great until late last month where I noticed the newest fronds were drying up but the other older ones were ok. This week I actually pulled out the newest (dried up) fronds out of the tree and the spear as well I noticed the ends that were in the tree were black like they had rotted. I regularly water the tree as well. As this is the end of summer/early fall weather the reason for this happening can't be cold weather as we haven't had any. Anyone know why this is happening and what I can do to fix the problem?

Here are 2 pictures of the tree:

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 3:53 pm

You state you water it regularly but is it in good-draining soil, or in a low spot where all water sits? or clay (which is bad).

Jim, chime in here please. (Jim's our spear pull king).

Barb

seedscanada · Post by **seedscanada** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:19 pm

uh oh the spear pull signifies rot...... clay?

aurelius · Post by **aurelius** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:50 pm

I do have clay around here however I don't think that the tree is sitting in it because it is further down then where I planted it. But if I am wrong and somehow it is sitting in clay would the solution simply be to dig out as much clay as I can and replace it with regular top soil? or is it already too late? Any suggestions on what I can do to help the tree would be appreciated.

seedscanada · Post by **seedscanada** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:30 pm

I suggest trying what I did for my Sabal. Refer to this thread:
viewtopic.php?t=4477&highlight=
Good luck.

Stevea07 · Post by **Stevea07** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 9:30 pm

It looks like phytophthora rot. The simplest treatment is to pour 3% hydrogen peroxide into the crown and repeat after every rainfall.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 7:27 am

You do need to treat the spear-socket as Steve mentioned......

The closed leaf blades mean it is not getting water-now you know what to look for.

It has some root issues going on(that is my guess as thats what the leaves say).....

you could leave it and the roots should come back-if it's going to live.

Heres what I would do

if it was just spear-pull and the leaves were all
l
healthy,I would leave it and give it extra special care over winter-the hospital tent...

but...

since this is most likely a root issue and you have spear-pull you may want to consider
lifting it-either way..winter/potting up it will have it's challenges.

Potting up and bringing inside could encourage root development because of the warm temps inside
leaving in the cold ground outside may make the damage worse....if you are in zone 8 or something
just leave it and protect from moisture....and as mentioned-treat the socket where it pulled.

aurelius · Post by **aurelius** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:48 am

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I will dig it up and pot it for the winter seems like the best thing to do considering I live in a zone 5b where the winter would only put more stress on it (even in the palm put) and if it comes back to a good healthy state I will put it in the ground next year and amendment the soil even more which will(hopefully) avoid this issue. If anyone could tell me how much hydrogen peroxide to add to the spear socket that would be great. Thanks again to everyone for your responses.

Stevea07 · Post by **Stevea07** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:28 pm

Just add enough hydrogen peroxide to fill up the hole. If you pour too much, runoff will not damage the roots.

aurelius · Post by **aurelius** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:51 pm

Thanks Steve and to everyone else who replied. Your help is much appreciated!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 11:56 am

While there's no indication in your first pic that this may be the case....

is it also planted too deeply?

Barb

aurelius · Post by **aurelius** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:42 pm

I don't think it is none of the trunk is buried

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:52 pm

Good...

Had to ask though.

hasty22 · Post by **hasty22** » Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:23 pm

I have planted a couple of new palms in the last 2 years. I always dig a hole, put gravel in bottom of hole, and then add good soil or potting soil with good drainage. I also live in zone 5b in canada. I agree that is rot or too much water. I am not sure about moving inside for winter. The problem I find about being inside is that you look at it and say it needs water which leads to rot. I will leave my palms out for winter, wrap the trunk with burlap and heat tape , wrap the fronds with burlap and insulation of some kind. I will cover so they get no moisture all winter. As long as trunk survives palm will survive. I am new at this but this is what has worked for me. I also like the peroxide thing that steve recomended.

PalmsNorth.com

Windmill palm fronds drying up

Windmill palm fronds drying up

dry fronds