Copernicia Fallaensis problem, deficiency, water or normal?

[sonoranfans]

6 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

Do you use any dolomite in you potted Copernicia?  

No, I havent used dolomite in potted ones.  In the ground yes, but dolomite will dissolve very slowly and the water rinses any dissolved material pretty rapidly, so I haven't put any in the pots.  Maybe it could help a little, but the potting soil is fast draining, notably faster than the ground, so I figured it was not going to help much.  Epsom salt is acidic so I have not put that on my cuban copernicias which want neutral to slightly alkaline pH.  If your soil is already alkaline, epsom salt will probably not turn your soil acidic, but in sandy or neutral soil its a bad idea in my estimation.  Its a cheap way to get instant Mg, but the balance with calcium and potassium might be disrupted by epsom salts.  In florida I expect K deficiency to occur a bit before before Mg deficiency so if Mg deficiency is there, K is already deficient.  

[Mandrew968]

One day, you will get here, if your climate is conducive. Talking about the palm in center stage, obviously. 

[Frond-friend42]

On 9/9/2022 at 10:59 AM, Frond-friend42 said:

According to the above thin seems to fit manganese and magnesium, with both yellow stripes most prominent mid-leaf and necrotic spots. I had tried to boost potassium by adding miracle gro palm fertilizer and some charcoal but the problem has persisted.

I have my fingers crossed that this is fallaensis since my fallaensis seeds sat for so long and may have gotten mixed up with some others so I'm not 100%. 

I've decided this is most likely livistona chinesis.  Very embarrassed😳. I think i wanted it to be fallaensis so bad just kept hoping it would right itself with the next leaf and had myself convinced.

[potey13]

Hi - I’m having similar problems recently with both my fallaensis (smaller) and Bailey (the larger of the two). I recently moved and have relocated these palms twice now. I figured it’s from all the movement but it’s been a while since I’ve seen any actual growth. Not sure if they’re getting too much water or not enough light? They get 6-8hrs of direct each day the rest filtered.

[sonoranfans]

On 4/1/2025 at 9:06 AM, potey13 said:

Hi - I’m having similar problems recently with both my fallaensis (smaller) and Bailey (the larger of the two). I recently moved and have relocated these palms twice now. I figured it’s from all the movement but it’s been a while since I’ve seen any actual growth. Not sure if they’re getting too much water or not enough light? They get 6-8hrs of direct each day the rest filtered.

Digging and moving these cubans can lead to a slow decline.  The roots are quite sensitive and you must root prune them, a gradual process, before moving them.  Among palms these are probably in the top 5% of palms in root sensitivity.  

[FlaPalmLover]

Sorry to hear/see your copernicias are looking like that. I wouldn't recommend this type of palm to hardly anyone other than experienced palm growers, just based off of my experience. You about have to get one when you're at a forever home when it's young and healthy with no signs of infection and plant it well/carefully to have a chance of success. I got one and relocated it halfway across the state of Florida, and then planted it out after I thought it'd recovered from an infection it got while it was in a pot, and it did OK for a bit but never really grew out full-sized fronds again following the infection. That was after giving it several months to recover. I think it was already infected with something when I got it, sadly. It's technically still in my yard but I'm planning to dig it up and throw it out in the mulch pile soon unless someone on here asks if they can take it and try to save it before then (they're pretty expensive so I wouldn't blame someone if they wanted to try). I would get any number of different palms before getting a copernicia again. Even beccariophoenix alfredii seems like a much stronger and more resilient palm.

[potey13]

That’s exactly what happened with mine. Bought them in Miami and had them in a pot for about a year then moved across the state to my forever home and placed them in the ground but relocated once as I was still figuring out a spot they’d have adequate room to grow. Looks like I’ll give some more time and let them be and see if they can recover before moving on with replacements or other palm ventures. Thanks for the responses!

[Merlyn]

@potey13 my original palms in the first post ended up just fine.  It was just a temporary deficiency that cleaned up after being in the ground for a few months.  I am pretty sure that I snipped the pot off when I planted them, to avoid any root disturbance.  I have not ever attempted to transplant a Copernicia, as I read on here that they are super root sensitive.

I did notice that they were ok in pots.  I have had several Fallaensis, Baileyana, Hospita and Macroglossa in seedling up to 3g pots.  They didn't seem to care if I picked up and moved a pot with roots through the bottom into the ground.  

 

[sonoranfans]

Cuban copernicias I find easy, but then I have learned NOT to dig them up.  I am at 50% kill rate digging them and I have been growing palms for 27 years.  Since they are expensive palms and take a root pruning skill to dig successfully, I do not attempt them any more.  I dug up (2) and killed one.  But the survivor was stunted for 2-3 years, dropped 3/4 of the leaves before going into recovery.  I use florikan, a controlled release fertilizer.   Release is controlled by osmotic membrane potentials of the various nutrients, much more effective in time release than a dissolving coating used in slow release fertilizers.  Maybe these palms are harder with the slow release fertilizers and they must be really tough with liquid fertilizers in rainy Florida.  I am impressed that my two large copernicias have grown 4-5 leaves each since getting hit by miltons 110mph gusts last october.  They have thick spear bundles waiting to open as well.  They are carribean palms so I expect they do recover from hurricanes well.  Like all my other taller palms, they took lots of damage from milton, but the recovery seems like they may be growing leaves even faster than before the hurricane.

[Merlyn]

So after almost exactly 6 years in the ground, this Fallaensis is now about 7 feet tall overall.  As you can see it still gets Magnesium deficiencies after winter.  I also forgot to fertilize in early December, so it didn't have any supplemental Magnesium over the winter.

The Baileyana is about 6 feet tall overall, also with mild Magnesium deficiency yellow tips.  This one was in a lot of shade for a couple of years, and is still being shaded by the monster Cycas Diannanensis behind it.

[sonoranfans]

Copernicias exhibit potassium deficiency from leaf tip down.  Spotting yes, but leaf tip goes yellow first and the veins also go yellow.  With Mg deficiency, there is interveinal chloriosis where leaflet veins stay green.   Here is a hospita with a potassium deficiency on one of the oldest leaves.  Note spotting and chlorotic(yellow) veins.  It is easiest to see with the leat between you and the sun.  This hospita is planted with a good ammendment of dolomite so no Mg issues.  K deficiency is easily the most common deficiency in Florida due to sandy soils and rain and the fact K is the most soluble nutrient so it washes away easily.  

 

[FlaPalmLover]

Went out to mine today and the latest spear pulled out. The existing stunted fronds are still mostly green even though I have accepted that the palm is probably a goner. I put some peroxide down the center and on the old boots and it did bubble up a good bit. I’d assume if the spear pulled there’s not much hope for it. I didn’t see a separate growth/spear. I’m about ready to pull it and plant something else.