Bought a house this year - Need help correctly identifying the few palms on the property.

[floridaPalmMan]

Hey everyone, as the title says I purchased a home in early 2020 and it has a few palms on it which I think I've identified correctly but maybe not. 

Confirmation from the palm experts here would be greatly appreciated.

My guesses:

1. Sabal palmetto
2. Sabal minor
3. Washgintonia robusta
4. Washingtonia not-so-robusta
5. Washingtonia robusta
6. Unknown possible palm?

1. Sabal palmetto

 

2. Sabal minor

 

3. Washingtonia robusta

 

4. Washingtonia no-so-robusta

Looks like this palm has been through some trials and tribulations. Not sure if from cold damage or fungal infection but it looks like pieces of the trunk were rotted out (or cut out?), the crown is still putting out spears but tiny spears & fronds in comparison to the size of the tree.

It had almost no fronds on it in Feb when I bought the place so everything you see is new growth after I began fertilizing and watering.

Anyone know what happened to it or what I can do to help this guy out a bit?

 

5. Washingtonia robusta

 

6. Unknown possible palm?

No idea what this is but it looks like it could possibly be some kind of palm maybe?

 

 

[Reyes Vargas]

Number two looks like some kind of livistona possibly livistona chinensis.

[Fusca]

I'd say you did a pretty good job of IDing.  #2 looks more like a very stretched out Livistona chinensis multiple - definitely not Sabal minor.  They're often sold in groups of 5+ palms in a single container.  #4 and #5 are probably hybrid Washingtonia filibusta.  They're tough - don't think there's much more you can do with #4 but I think it's fine.  Looks like it was bumped into by a car a few times!  #6 is definitely unknown palm!  Probably a Sabal seedling. 

[floridaPalmMan]

12 minutes ago, Reyes Vargas said:

Number two looks like some kind of livistona possibly livistona chinensis.

 dang... that means they'll eventually grow up and get taller?

I love sitting in my hot tub being engulfed in giant palm fans... it makes me feel like a king.

Oh well I probably have what... 10-15 year before they're too tall and the effect is gone? I suppose I can live with that.

[Reyes Vargas]

Honestly you might get a little more than 15 years since it looks like they are growing in fairly deep shade.  Livistona are slow growing to begin with. They tend to grow a lot slower when they are in shade.

[floridaPalmMan]

29 minutes ago, Fusca said:

I'd say you did a pretty good job of IDing.  #2 looks more like a very stretched out Livistona chinensis multiple - definitely not Sabal minor.  They're often sold in groups of 5+ palms in a single container.  #4 and #5 are probably hybrid Washingtonia filibusta.  They're tough - don't think there's much more you can do with #4 but I think it's fine.  Looks like it was bumped into by a car a few times!  #6 is definitely unknown palm!  Probably a Sabal seedling. 

Thanks for the help. 

Something really interesting to me is that if #2 is in fact a group of livistona chinensis, & the other well established and healthy looking washingtonia palm is a robusta, this means I've got a couple hearty zone 9a palms growing in a zone 8b climate. Granted I'm only a 20 minute drive away from zone 9a.

But this gives me hope that I might be able to line the front of the property with sylvestris palms!

Edited December 31, 2020 by floridaPalmMan
grammar

[Merlyn]

I'd agree on that clump.  There are probably at least 5 palms in that cluster, and Chinensis normally will take a while to start trunking.  Even one with a foot or two of trunk will have a nice broad canopy, so you'll get an overhang on the hot tub for many years.  Sometimes clusters will choke out one or two of the clump as they grow.

The last picture looks like some of my volunteer sabal palmetto seedlings that pop up randomly. 

Check the trunk on the Washingon Not-So-Robusta and make sure it's not soft and rotting at the dents.  If it is that could be a sign of Thielaviopsis or Ganoderma rot, which may be treatable at this stage with a soil drench of a systemic fungicide like Banrot.  If it's firm then just keep on fertilizing it, and it should recover.  A little extra dirt at the bottom may help, since the base looks constricted.  See this article on palm "mounding" for reference:

http://www.marriedtoplants.com/palms/palm-tree-growing-tips-mounding/

[Merlyn]

1 hour ago, floridaPalmMan said:

Something really interesting to me is that if #2 is in fact a group of livistona chinensis, & the other well established and healthy looking washingtonia palm is a robusta, this means I've got a couple hearty zone 9a palms growing in a zone 8b climate. Granted I'm only a 20 minute drive away from zone 9a.

But this gives me hope that I might be able to line the front of the property with sylvestris palms!

Sylvestris is a pretty solid 9a palm, with variable damage down to around 20-23F.  They don't seem to be hardy below 20 at all, with numerous reports of death under 20F.  So if your temps generally don't go below 20 it seems like a reliable choice.  Livistona Chinensis seems to be similar, with some damage around 20-22F and severe damage or death by about 17F.  Washingtonia Robusta seems about the same.

You can check out the recent cold history on Wunderground, Gainesville is the closest with history:

https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/fl/lake-city/KGNV

One of the biggest recent cold snaps was January 18th 2018, it hit 25F here in the Sanford area for 1 hour and torched all the local nurseries.  Gainesville was 22-23F for about 5 hours.

Kinzyjr has collected a huge amount of cold damage observations into a single spreadsheet, probably the biggest single reference in the world.  You can get it here:

 

[floridaPalmMan]

1 hour ago, Merlyn said:

Check the trunk on the Washingon Not-So-Robusta and make sure it's not soft and rotting at the dents.  If it is that could be a sign of Thielaviopsis or Ganoderma rot, which may be treatable at this stage with a soil drench of a systemic fungicide like Banrot. 

So I went outside and starting poking around. 

The large dents in the previous image seem to be solid now but on the other side there are more dents which seem to have not been "cleared out" like the dents in the first picture. Meaning there is still loose bark which is soft that I can just pull off but if I push inward I hit solid trunk.

There is also a very large dent seemingly 'fresher' than the others which looks horrible.

Some of this damage seems old, some newer. 

Should I blast this palm with Banrot? Will it do any harm?

[floridaPalmMan]

@Merlyn Also, the large hole feels a little more tender than the "normal", solid bark surrounding it.

Meaning it compresses slightly when I apply pressure but it's not nearly as soft as the other dead bark. There's definitely solid trunk underneath... but does this simply mean it's rotting away slowly?

Edited December 31, 2020 by floridaPalmMan

[The7thLegend]

Your IDs are good.  #2  Livistona Chinensis, #3-5 Robustas, #6 probably Sabal Minor

[Merlyn]

My best guess on that one is old cold damage on the trunk.  I haven't had any personal experience with it, or any treatments for it.  But I recall seeing similar photos of old Pindo/Butia trunks that had been cold damaged.  Given the shape and size and location, it doesn't look like it was a car bumper. 

If the damage or soft areas are in the outer woody areas, then a systemic fungicide won't do anything.  That only works on live tissue.  You could try posting photos of that trunk in the "Cold Hardy Palms" forum and see if anyone else has better ideas.