Transplant Shock Pictures

[rkulp89]

Hi Everyone!

I've been lurking this forum the last couple months and have learned a lot ... maybe a little too late. This is my first house and my only experience with any sort of planting so bear with me. The palms were put in just over 6 weeks ago and they keep looking worse and worse. I'm not sure what to do at this point, the fonds on both look sun burnt and wilted. They are still growing and all new growth is still green but the rest looks pretty bad.

I've been checking the moisture with a meter and they are staying wet. For the first week they were watered every day, now they are getting watered every other day. Temps shot up to 110+ a couple days after planting and has not dropped much since. Also, no fertilizer has been used yet but I did give them both a watering with some plant tonic formula the local nursery sells to prevent transplant shot. Is it safe to fertilize yet? I've read not to fertilize for the first few weeks after planting to help prevent shock, but now that its been several weeks and my palms are looking sick I'm not sure if they are lacking nutrients. I bought palm food from the local nursey and attached a picture for reference. The windmill has a layer of worm casting as a mulch under the rocks, I plan on doing the same to the fan palm. 

One more note: I checked the pH of my soil AFTER I planted and found it is very alkaline I think its at least 8.0. I put down 5lbs of elemental sulfur so far to help lower the pH to a more desirable level. I didn't think to check this before planting due to seeing several other palms planted in local landscaping. 

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Palms4Steve]

Welcome to Palm talk. 

I don't think that they are looking that bad. The new fronds are looking good. I think it's just getting used to full some. 

[velutina]

11 minutes ago, rkulp89 said:

the fonds on both look sun burnt and wilted. They are still growing and all new growth is still green but the rest looks pretty bad.

I think this is key and suggests this is simply sunburn of foliage that is not acclimated to full sun. I would expect this when planting a windmill during the summer in Las Vegas. I would not be too alarmed at this point. 

I lived in Las Vegas and grew just about every palm I could... except windmills. They never seemed to look great IMO. 

[rkulp89]

39 minutes ago, Palms4Steve said:

Welcome to Palm talk. 

I don't think that they are looking that bad. The new fronds are looking good. I think it's just getting used to full some. 

Thank you for the replies! I feel better now, I was worried they might be dying. The fan palms in the front of my subdivision look so much better than mine. Would you suggest fertilizing now or wait for them to acclimate? 

31 minutes ago, velutina said:

I lived in Las Vegas and grew just about every palm I could... except windmills. They never seemed to look great IMO. 

Yeah I'm king of regretting the windmill, it gets beat up pretty bad when the wind gets going. I just didn't want anything that would get too tall because of the size of my yard. Did you have issues with the pH of the soil? I'm not sure how big of a deal that is. 

 

 

[Palms4Steve]

5 hours ago, rkulp89 said:

Thank you for the replies! I feel better now, I was worried they might be dying. The fan palms in the front of my subdivision look so much better than mine. Would you suggest fertilizing now or wait for them to acclimate? 

Yeah I'm king of regretting the windmill, it gets beat up pretty bad when the wind gets going. I just didn't want anything that would get too tall because of the size of my yard. Did you have issues with the pH of the soil? I'm not sure how big of a deal that is. 

 

 

I think some fertilizer would be good. That fertilizer you bought looks good it's hard to find a good Palm fertilizer here.

[velutina]

I used the same fertilizer you have with good results. I also used the general purpose one from Star nursery too. I agree about the size issue. My favorite small palms were probably blue Chamaerops humilis. Another good one is Butia or Brahea. They are slow growers in Vegas and stay small for a long time. I never had issues with pH. I added lots of the manure from Star (Stinkin Rich) around most of my palms. I had others with rock like yours and just added fertilizer. I think adding a small amount at planting time is okay. 

 

My Butia I had in Vegas 

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by velutina

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Same as everyone else. It looks like a windmill that was planted in July in full sun.  Nothing to worry about.  Transplant shock on Windmills will result in a brown spear.

[Las Palmas Norte]

Windmills grow to near perfection in the PNW. I couldn't imagine them being subjected to prolonged searing heat, arid winds and looking their best. Try a Brahea armata.

Cheers, Barrie.

[kirkhutch]

Replace with two mules and you are done. 

[rkulp89]

Well I'm glad they aren't dying but now I'm regretting plant choice  I almost got a pindo but the ones at star nursery didn't look at that great. I love queen palms but a couple people at work said they've had issues in the winter. The mule would have been great but I didn't know it even existed.... at least I still have my backyard to do! 

 

From what I've seen the windmills are good to zone 11. They are planted in zone 9 so I didn't think the heat would be an issue. Will it green up once acclimated or will it always look like this?

[PalmTreeDude]

22 minutes ago, rkulp89 said:

Well I'm glad they aren't dying but now I'm regretting plant choice  I almost got a pindo but the ones at star nursery didn't look at that great. I love queen palms but a couple people at work said they've had issues in the winter. The mule would have been great but I didn't know it even existed.... at least I still have my backyard to do! 

 

From what I've seen the windmills are good to zone 11. They are planted in zone 9 so I didn't think the heat would be an issue. Will it green up once acclimated or will it always look like this?

Once established they are very green! Just keep them watered. They actually get pretty tall after awhile. Look up tall Windmill Palms. It takes them time to get there but they look really cool once they grow! But if you really don't like them there, you can always replace them.

Edited August 3, 2016 by PalmTreeDude