What’s going on with my Mediterranean fan palm? Fungus?

[Shea]

So, I noticed my med fan has these wavy fronds and a white residue around the edges and on the leaves. Some of my new fronds are dying from the leaf and then going down to the frond.

im very new to palms and have only had them about a year around my pool. 

Please, any advice to help!

thanks in advance 

-Shea

Edited April 5, 2019 by Shea

[Allen]

I think this may be scale (A small bug).  Google palm scale.  I don't have experience with it on larger palms.  But my smaller ones (Sabal Minor)  I treated mine with a systemic pesticide on amazon called Compare-N-Save Systemic Tree and Shrub Insect Drench.   Get another opinion before using the tree drench.  

[Shea]

12 minutes ago, Allen said:

I think this may be scale (A small bug).  Google palm scale.  I don't have experience with it on larger palms.  But my smaller ones (Sabal Minor)  I treated mine with a systemic pesticide on amazon called Compare-N-Save Systemic Tree and Shrub Insect Drench.   Get another opinion before using the tree drench.  

Thank you. I’ll see what others say before I buy the pesticide. 

[RyManUtah]

I agree with @Allen. Fungus is usually yellow/orange/brown or the like. White is typically from insects in my experience. 

[Jeff985]

Looks like scales. I’ve had problems with it on one of my Sabal palmettos. I tried horticulture oil and it didn’t seem to do anything. I went to Lowe’s and bought an insecticide that listed scales as one of the bugs it kills. Mixed it as directed in a pump sprayer and it seems to have worked. I had to apply it two or three times about a week apart. 

[UK_Palms]

That white residue is a natural glauca and is no cause for concern. I have it present on my Chamaerops specimens as well. It's the same stuff that is present on the undersides of the leaves/fronds, or at least I think it is. So I don't think this is the issue.

The bigger concern is the distorted growth and what looks like decaying fronds. I'm guessing the spear or growing point must have got damaged, which has caused the new growth to come out deformed and in poor health. This might then make the newly emerged, damaged growth, prone to disease and a lack of vigour. My guess is that it will grow out of it in time, unless the damage around the growing tip is permanent, or some kind of obstruction has formed, affecting any future growth, making it look distorted and in poor health like that.

Has there been any blunt force trauma to the growing tip, or any severe freezes, hail stones etc that may have caused some kind of damage to the growing tip? That would affect new growth for a while, causing it to look distorted and possibly prone to infections. From what I can see, the central spear does look okay though, so it might already be growing out of it. Can you check it further to make sure the most recently emerged central spear is free of any distortion and infection?

I have had a similar looking issue with a Trachycarpus that had blunt force trauma to its growing point which caused a number of newly emerged fronds to look distorted and be prone to disease/infection and lack of vigour. That is why I suspect this to be a similar instance to that. But as others have said, there is a possibility it is the result of insects and may require an insecticide treatment.

I'm not convinced you would have an insect problem like this in March though, in Dallas, as the frosts and colder weather would have kept the insects in check up until now. And that damage looks to have occurred during the winter on older fronds, not the most recent growth. So it has been going on for a while. But it is still confined to the more recently emerged fronds, so it has to be some kind of damage to the growing tip, surely...?

[Shea]

9 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

That white residue is a natural glauca and is no cause for concern. I have it present on my Chamaerops specimens as well. It's the same stuff that is present on the undersides of the leaves/fronds, or at least I think it is. So I don't think this is the issue.

The bigger concern is the distorted growth and what looks like decaying fronds. I'm guessing the spear or growing point must have got damaged, which has caused the new growth to come out deformed and in poor health. This might then make the newly emerged, damaged growth, prone to disease and a lack of vigour. My guess is that it will grow out of it in time, unless the damage around the growing tip is permanent, or some kind of obstruction has formed, affecting any future growth, making it look distorted and in poor health like that.

Has there been any blunt force trauma to the growing tip, or any severe freezes, hail stones etc that may have caused some kind of damage to the growing tip? That would affect new growth for a while, causing it to look distorted and possibly prone to infections. From what I can see, the central spear does look okay though, so it might already be growing out of it. Can you check it further to make sure the most recently emerged central spear is free of any distortion and infection?

I have had a similar looking issue with a Trachycarpus that had blunt force trauma to its growing point which caused a number of newly emerged fronds to look distorted and be prone to disease/infection and lack of vigour. That is why I suspect this to be a similar instance to that. But as others have said, there is a possibility it is the result of insects and may require an insecticide treatment.

I'm not convinced you would have an insect problem like this in March though, in Dallas, as the frosts and colder weather would have kept the insects in check up until now. And that damage looks to have occurred during the winter on older fronds, not the most recent growth. So it has been going on for a while. But it is still confined to the more recently emerged fronds, so it has to be some kind of damage to the growing tip, surely...?

 

This is great information. We didn’t have a bad or long freeze this year and I had the trees and leaves wrapped in winter plant protection bags so they didn’t have any ice or recieve any damage. For the past year I’ve had my palms, it hasn’t had any trauma. It’s unknown what may have happened before then. 

 This med fan has 3 large trunks and the other two don’t have the weaving problem. 

I’ll put some incesticide on them anyway to make sure there’s nothing infecting it. 

What would I look for when looking into the crown for damage?

Thank you!

[RyManUtah]

3 minutes ago, Shea said:

 

This is gorgeous. Congratulations! 

[UK_Palms]

Okay, now that you have mentioned you wrapped the palm during winter, I am beginning to think the decaying/diseased looking fronds is the result of that. Wrapped palms have a tendency to have fungal issues due to a lack of airflow, especially if they are wrapped when damp, or are kept wrapped in high humidity. 

The distorted growth is also possibly the result of being wrapped, if the growing tip was pressed down and obstructed, due to where it was wrapped. Or if the foliage was bent from being wrapped. That would explain a lot of things! And if this is the case, the damage shouldn't be permanent and it should grow out of it now, over the next month or so.

I wouldn't worry about it too much and just monitor things over the next few weeks. As long as the newly emerged fronds are not distorted in shape, growing abnormally, or looking diseased, the palm will be fine. Which I suspect it will be now. I am pretty sure this is just a temporary issue which was caused by it being wrapped. 

Nice yard by the way! I am extremely envious!

 

[Shea]

2 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

Okay, now that you have mentioned you wrapped the palm during winter, I am beginning to think the decaying/diseased looking fronds is the result of that. Wrapped palms have a tendency to have fungal issues due to a lack of airflow, especially if they are wrapped when damp, or are kept wrapped in high humidity. 

The distorted growth is also possibly the result of being wrapped, if the growing tip was pressed down and obstructed, due to where it was wrapped. Or if the foliage was bent from being wrapped. That would explain a lot of things! And if this is the case, the damage shouldn't be permanent and it should grow out of it now, over the next month or so.

I wouldn't worry about it too much and just monitor things over the next few weeks. As long as the newly emerged fronds are not distorted in shape, growing abnormally, or looking diseased, the palm will be fine. Which I suspect it will be now. I am pretty sure this is just a temporary issue which was caused by it being wrapped. 

Nice yard by the way! I am extremely envious!

 

Awe! So, that makes sense for the pressure from the other fronds since they were squeezed together to fit in the wrap. I put the copper fungalcide on the trees in the fall and the winter bags were breathable, but I guess it’s possible it still kept some moisture. 

Ya’ll have been very helpful!! Thanks to everyone who commented. 

[kinzyjr]

@Shea Welcome to PalmTalk!

[Allen]

Look at the white stuff with a 10x magnification to see if it's bugs or not.  Like I said I'm not sure.   A "jewelers 10x loop" or a iphone magnification app might get it done.

[NC_Palms]

9 hours ago, Allen said:

Look at the white stuff with a 10x magnification to see if it's bugs or not.  Like I said I'm not sure.   A "jewelers 10x loop" or a iphone magnification app might get it done.

A few years ago I bought myself a microscope for this exact reason. Probably one of the best purchases I’ve made. 

[Merlyn]

27 minutes ago, NC_Palms said:

A few years ago I bought myself a microscope for this exact reason. Probably one of the best purchases I’ve made. 

Yep, I bought several of these a few years ago and they work great for checking out possible bugs or fungal infections.  I'm sure there's a generic eBay alternative too:

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/aven-tools/26034/243-1021-ND/600975

I'd bet UK Palms is correct, you can end up with fungal infections if they are wrapped for a long period of time, even with a breathable wrap.