Largest Bizzie destroyed by palm weevil

[Phoenikakias]

Besides they help to the pollination of various palm flowers...

[Mohsen]

Besides they help to the pollination of various palm flowers...

Now I feel more guilt ...Hopefully we don't have rpw here ?

[Walt]

This morning I had my bismarckia palm cut down and removed. I also had one mature queen palm dying of ganoderma butt rot  cut down and removed. And, further, I had a 75 feet tall slash pine cut down and removed, killed by the pine bark beetle. So, I'm not exactly a happy camper right now. I can only hope my root drenching with Dominion 2L (and planned subsequent treatments) will prevent my othe bismarckia palms from becoming infested with the dreaded Palmetto weevil. The upper trunk and meristem area were totally infested with large grubs. However, I saw no adult weevils.

 

 

[Walt]

Disgusting palmetto weevil grubs noted by red arrows in first pic. Second pic of grub in my hand.

[akaranus]

Walt for years i folow your posts about your bismarckias, its so sad to see this 

[Phoenikakias]

Fry them and make out of them an oriental delicassy!

[Palmfan]

Walt, I am sorry to see yet another Bismarkia succumb to the evil weevil. I initially wanted to place some weevil traps around the property, but was advised by the local extension agent that they are primarily used to monitor weevil populations. They could just attract more weevils to my property. Makes perfect sense.

[Beach palm]

I thought about attracting more of them as well when I put my traps out. The problem Is they are already there. I need to kill them. If I attract a few more and kill them too then so be it. I have two traps on my property. During the spring I have to dump them every couple of weeks with about 10-15 in each trap. The lures only work for a small area. Therefore any that I am attracting are close by anyway. If you google weevils you will find many commercial growers with groves of dates use them as the main method of getting rid of them. If it works for them, it works for me. I definitely kill a lot of them. I really think no I kill more than the extra ones I may attract. I do think you have to have a multi pronged attack. Lures, systemic insecticide, proper pruning, and soap in the palm head not to mention stepping on one if you can.

 

[PalmatierMeg]

"soap in the palm head"

What is your procedure for the above? What kind of soap and how much do you use?

We have drenched the crowns of our 6 remaining Bizzies with insecticide and are open to any means of warding off these pests.

[Bazza]

"soap in the palm head"

What is your procedure for the above? What kind of soap and how much do you use?

We have drenched the crowns of our 6 remaining Bizzies with insecticide and are open to any means of warding off these pests.

Hi Meg,

I'm not sure the soap treatment works but I like the whole concept of it so here's my suggestions. You can purchase bars of soap and cut them up into slivers and toss the slivers into the growing point down in between the leaf bases. The strongest scent soap would probably work the best.

That said....I just use the small remains of bar soap leftover from my bathroom. I use bar soap in my shower and you always get down to such a small piece it's not practical to use so I save those and sprinkle them into the palm's meristem area.

Worth trying....good luck!

On another note.....I see you're in Cape Coral. I lived in Ft.Myers and Lehigh Acres for a few years back in the early 90's. I really enjoyed it there. The Octoberfest sponsored by the German American Club on Pine Island Rd. was a blast! 

 

[Beach palm]

I use a bar of ivory soap. I put two or three in the head of the Palm. I just jam it down in between the new growth stem and the leaf next to it. The soap breaks down over time drenching the head with soap. The idea is to make it uninviting for the weevils. I would not rely on this alone as I do several procedures as discussed above. I learned this trick from a local nursery. They do this for all Canary Islands that they install in our area. 

Edited November 2, 2015 by Beach palm
Typo

[PalmatierMeg]

"On another note.....I see you're in Cape Coral. I lived in Ft.Myers and Lehigh Acres for a few years back in the early 90's. I really enjoyed it there. The Octoberfest sponsored by the German American Club on Pine Island Rd. was a blast!"

I've played in it for the past 21 years as part of the "house" band. Truly an experience.

Thanks to you & Beach Palm for your tips. I will look into doing that. I've been using castile soap (from coconut oil) to wash off scale and mealy bugs. But Ivory might also do the trick.

[PalmCraze]

On 10/21/2015 at 7:42 PM, Palmfan said:

Walt, Sorry to here about your Bismark. If your crown is leaning, i suspect the entire crown is rotted. As soon as the crown collapsed on my tree, i knew it was a goner. At that point i was just breeding weevils that could attack my other trees. The good thing is that it wasn't ganoderma and i can replace, probably another Copernicia.I am not going to plant anymore Bismarks. I also am going to treat my remaining Bismarkias with 75% Imidacloprid once a month. 

 

On 10/21/2015 at 7:42 PM, Palmfan said:

Walt, Sorry to here about your Bismark. If your crown is leaning, i suspect the entire crown is rotted. As soon as the crown collapsed on my tree, i knew it was a goner. At that point i was just breeding weevils that could attack my other trees. The good thing is that it wasn't ganoderma and i can replace, probably another Copernicia.I am not going to plant anymore Bismarks. I also am going to treat my remaining Bismarkias with 75% Imidacloprid once a month. 

Totally depressing comments.. unfortunate part of palm living. rm This morning, I discovered one of our 15ft bizzies have the dreaded symptoms of that evil weevil. Crown is leaning bout 40%.   Two months, I noticed symptoms like frongs weren't as healthy looking.  So I asked a well known fertilizer supplier wholesale sales in Sanford said they needed more water.  I flushed them both with coppercide to be safe...and threw down some commercial pesticide.   I think what happened in this case is Hurricane Irma and the following winter freeze of a day or two made them vulnerable to this monster.

Today I spent most the day in the trees pouring gallons and gallons of Dominion 2L down the crowns of several palms and drenching.. I'll be drilling holes and injecting same tomorrow.   Hoping I don't have to use my chain saw. If so, I guess I'll use some deisel fuel to burn the remains of the trunk and their offspring.

Palmfan,  I've never seen 75% imadacloprid. 

Dominion 2L is 21.4%

Can you share that information please.?.name brand.  Thanks

And to all those experiencing this now or in future..I wish you and your tree the best health!

[PalmCraze]

On 10/22/2015 at 10:36 PM, Bazza said:

Just scanned through the thread briefly and wanted to convey my condolences to those who lost (and/or are in the process of losing) their Bizzies.

I can relate as I lost 3 of mine this year - two of which I planted 10 years ago from 45 gallon containers and were quite large signature trees in my front yard.

To be honest, although I tried to save them with various insecticides and cultural endeavours....I was tired of dealing with the messy flower and fruiting branches anyway and was after removing them I gained space for two new palms - a large FG Livistona saribus and a 65 gallon Bottle Palm, so perhaps a silver lining (?)

Regarding control of the Palmetto Weevil.....you may want to consider the beneficial (parasitic) nematode known as Steinernema carpocapsae. Here is one supplier - (no affiliation).

I've been in the green industry for many many years and the Palmetto Weevil problem is worse now than ever before. The Bismarck used to be one of my go-to signature palms to use in my landscape designs but unfortunately I am now reluctant to include them in future projects.

Good luck to all - I still have one Bismarck and one CID left on my property - for now. Very sad and frustrating situation.

Couple pics from '08 couple years after planting - my front yard was anchored by my Bismarcks....

 

 

 

 

 

Bazza. Awesome landscape design. How did you get that clean edge on the grass with what at least appears to be no landscaping border edge?

[PalmatierMeg]

Merit 75% imidicloprid granules. A 2 oz bottle makes 100g of solution. I get mine from a seller in Punta Gorda, FL who sells mail order. I pick mine up to save shipping, pay ~$40. Also, check Amazon and eBay. You can also get larger quantities.

http://www.pestproducts.com/merit.htm

BTW, we buy multiple bars of Ivory soap from a dollar store for my husband to cut up and insert into meristems of all our remaining Bizzies several times per year. Haven't had palm weevils since. We use Ivory because it is soap, not a detergent full of perfumes and additives that might cause damage to the palm.

[Palmfan]

You can find 75% imidacloprid at domyown.com , Imidacloprid 75 WSB in water soluble packets. About 4 years ago one of my other large Bismarkias actually had palm weevils, with two boreholes beneath the leaf bases. I did a root drench and dumped some down the crown. Luckily i caught it in time. Once the crown is leaning, its too late. Today the tree is thriving. I do a yearly root drench on all my Bismarkias now.