Did I save or destroy my new foxtail palm by pruning it?

[PhilippineExpat]

I found an about 3.5 foot foxtail palm for only $4. The trunk (or maybe just a crown shaft at this height?) looked a bit rough, but price was too good to pass up. After a few days I realized the trunk looked rough because there was a thick layer of dead fronds on it. I'm guessing they accumulated because the vendor was pruning the foxtail instead of letting it clean itself. Well, today on a whim I tried peeling off the outermost dead frond, but thedead fronds were all stuck together and I ended up pulling all of them off. Is my palm better off for it or did I doom it? I wasn't able to remove the bottom most portion.

The pic with the coke bottle is the before pic. Just ignore the bottle lol. I originally took that pic for a different purpose and it's the only before pic of the trunk I have.

Edited March 14, 2020 by PhilippineExpat

[Merlyn]

As long as you didn't peel off into live tissue, taking off old fronds shouldn't be too much of a risk.  I bought several 4-6' tall skinny ones like that from Green's nursery in the spring of 2018.  They all survived fine and the bases are really starting to thicken up now.  I'd bet yours will follow the same sort of pattern, it likely won't grow a lot taller for a year or so while it "fattens up."

[The Germinator]

They usually come off like that due to a dry spell causing the the trunk to contract.. I had one do the same, it had been stressed out from lack of watering and the old petioles just came right off when I went to clean it.. Yours looks healthy.

[PhilippineExpat]

9 hours ago, Merlyn2220 said:

As long as you didn't peel off into live tissue, taking off old fronds shouldn't be too much of a risk.  I bought several 4-6' tall skinny ones like that from Green's nursery in the spring of 2018.  They all survived fine and the bases are really starting to thicken up now.  I'd bet yours will follow the same sort of pattern, it likely won't grow a lot taller for a year or so while it "fattens up."

Thanks that's good to know about how yours grew! Knowing me I'd be worried if it didn't grow taller even if it was growing fatter. Now I'll know to be patient. I'd actually rather see it get fatter than taller at this point because it's so skinny. 

3 hours ago, The Germinator said:

They usually come off like that due to a dry spell causing the the trunk to contract.. I had one do the same, it had been stressed out from lack of watering and the old petioles just came right off when I went to clean it.. Yours looks healthy.

Yeah I bought this one from a pretty neglectful seller so it was in rough shape. Hopefully things will work out better for it in the coming months. Do you think I should remove that bottom section of the old fronds I wasn't able to remove? Or should I just leave the section be and hope it eventually comes off on its own? It doesn't look like a trunk. 

[Merlyn]

I wouldn't mess with the remains of the old fronds, the last little bit at the bottom will wear off naturally over time.  Mine looked kinda rough like that but are becoming smooth over the last year.