Need Some Input On New Sylvester Palms

[beastmobile]

Hello All!  I'm new to the boards as well as new to Florida and anything dealing with trees, flowers, plants, etc..  Grew up in the city up north and trying to learn as much as possible.  We recently had our landscaping redone at our home and we had 4 sylvester palms put in (2 in the front yard and 2 in the backyard).  The fronts have ~5 to ~6 feet trunks and the ones in the back have ~4 - 5 feet trunks.  We still have the fronds tied up and this is going on the 3rd week. 

The 2 palms in the front have what I think is dried out new fronds or fruit and the 2 in the back look a live and well in the same area.  Should I be concerned?  We watered it once a day for the first 2 weeks as instructed.

The first 4 pics below are the sylvesters in the front yard and the last picture with the healthy fruit(?) is from the backyard.  They both look like that.

Any info would be greatly appreciated!  Oh and I'm located in Orlando, FL

Edited February 23, 2021 by beastmobile

[PalmatierMeg]

Welcome to PalmTalk. Phoenix sylvestris is my favorite date palm (though I don't have any). They are tall and elegant with thin trunks silver green fronds - so much nicer than CIPDs and better suited to a hot, humid climate. They are used as landscape palms near the entry roads to Cape Coral and look really classy. They are totally hardy in Orlando. The biggest issue with them, as with all Phoenix, are those long, vicious spines - one reason why I don't have them here, pygmy dates are hazardous enough.

[beastmobile]

Thanks for the warm welcome! It is my wife and I's favorite palm as well as far as looks and yes those spines are definitely vicious.  I had one go half way through my finger 2 days after we planted it .  I"m much more aware around the palm now.

[sonoranfans]

yeah I used to have a couple of these, the wounding never ends it seems.  You can be cautious but trimming always puts you at risk and a greaat deal of leaves need to be trimmed each year(25?).  When they get big, you will be underneath when they fall as you trim.  I am stab wound free for 3 years and not regretting the decision.  Welcome to palmtalk, these are easy grow, just dont over water them in heavy clay soil.  Most in my neighborhood are in clay, especially around the lake where clay is everywhere.  They look yellowish and get stunted new growth that seems to take forever to open when they are too wet in clay.   

[PalmatierMeg]

Watch out for infection if those thorns stab you. I've heard that happens easily.

[beastmobile]

Thank you all.  My finger was sore for about 2 days but all back to normal now.

As far as the palm, is the dead fruits normal after transplant?  That is if those are fruits.  I'm just curious why the 2 in my front yard look like the fruits have died but the 2 in the back look healthy.  That is if they are little fruits.

I was thinking of opening them up this week?  I've read some people open them up right away and some wait a few weeks. 

[PalmatierMeg]

Stress from transplanting will probably cause a female palm to abort fruit to devote energy to establishing herself. The green fruit in one photos is unripe and may or may not survive. Can't tell if any of them are male but you need both sexes to tango, assuming you want them to do so.

[ahosey01]

2 hours ago, beastmobile said:

Thank you all.  My finger was sore for about 2 days but all back to normal now.

As far as the palm, is the dead fruits normal after transplant?  That is if those are fruits.  I'm just curious why the 2 in my front yard look like the fruits have died but the 2 in the back look healthy.  That is if they are little fruits.

I was thinking of opening them up this week?  I've read some people open them up right away and some wait a few weeks. 

Commercial date growers will often trim the spines to be able to access the fruit easier. More time consuming, but lower risk when trimming.

[redant]

Those all look fine. Welcome to PT and yes the spines on those can inflict lots of pain. Beautiful palms.

[beastmobile]

4 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Stress from transplanting will probably cause a female palm to abort fruit to devote energy to establishing herself. The green fruit in one photos is unripe and may or may not survive. Can't tell if any of them are male but you need both sexes to tango, assuming you want them to do so.

I had no idea about any of this.  I have a lot to learn.  How can you distinguish a female from a male sylvester palm?

 

3 hours ago, ahosey01 said:

Commercial date growers will often trim the spines to be able to access the fruit easier. More time consuming, but lower risk when trimming.

That makes sense.  Thank you.

 

1 hour ago, redant said:

Those all look fine. Welcome to PT and yes the spines on those can inflict lots of pain. Beautiful palms.

Phew.. Glad they look good.  And yes that didn't feel good at all but lesson learned.

Would you guys/gals recommend that I go ahead an remove the ties?

[palmfriend]

Hi,

welcome to palmtalk!

 

I also think that your palms are definitely fine. 

I can only second about being careful when trimming them. A few days ago I did

some cleaning around the trunk's base not realizing that there were still small pieces

of branches I cut off two or three weeks ago among the dirt. 

The sticking out spine of an old half rotten branch wet straight through my cotton glove

deep into my ring finger beneath the wedding ring. Result - I am still wearing the ring on

my other hand but fortunately there was no infection and the finger is already getting back

to it's normal size...

Just be careful!

 

best regards from Okinawa -

Lars

 

[Merlyn]

The commercial plantings I've seen around here either tie the fronds up for 1-2 weeks, or let them loose immediately.  It's sort of a balancing act.  If you leave them tied up for too long there's a greater risk of fungal infection, due to zero airflow around the fronds and leaves.  If you let them go too fast there's greater transpiration loss with not much in the way of roots to replace the water.  It's cool this time of year, so personally I'd err on the side of cutting them loose sooner.  Transpiration loss isn't a big concern at 75-80F with a lower sun angle.

When you do cut the ties, stay WAY back and out of range of the thorns.  Cut the top tie first, then the bottom one.  They'll probably spring down fast and you don't want your body in the way of the thorns.  The leaves are spiky too, so wear eye protection.  A long handled pruner should cut them, or maybe duct tape a serrated kitchen knife on the end of a pole...like a medieval pike!

For future pruning, I use a regular long handled bypass pruner, i.e. the "loppers" type.  The "shears" type won't cut through the stems.  Some people use a reciprocating saw with a 3TPI pruning blade.  I stab myself more often with pygmy date thorns than Sylvestris thorns.  I guess it's because the Sylvestris thorns are big, yellow-orange, and hard to miss seeing! 

[beastmobile]

3 hours ago, Merlyn said:

The commercial plantings I've seen around here either tie the fronds up for 1-2 weeks, or let them loose immediately.  It's sort of a balancing act.  If you leave them tied up for too long there's a greater risk of fungal infection, due to zero airflow around the fronds and leaves.  If you let them go too fast there's greater transpiration loss with not much in the way of roots to replace the water.  It's cool this time of year, so personally I'd err on the side of cutting them loose sooner.  Transpiration loss isn't a big concern at 75-80F with a lower sun angle.

When you do cut the ties, stay WAY back and out of range of the thorns.  Cut the top tie first, then the bottom one.  They'll probably spring down fast and you don't want your body in the way of the thorns.  The leaves are spiky too, so wear eye protection.  A long handled pruner should cut them, or maybe duct tape a serrated kitchen knife on the end of a pole...like a medieval pike!

For future pruning, I use a regular long handled bypass pruner, i.e. the "loppers" type.  The "shears" type won't cut through the stems.  Some people use a reciprocating saw with a 3TPI pruning blade.  I stab myself more often with pygmy date thorns than Sylvestris thorns.  I guess it's because the Sylvestris thorns are big, yellow-orange, and hard to miss seeing! 

Thanks so much for the detailed post.  I'll be sure to get them loose in the next day or so when my lawn guy comes.   I don't want to mess with the thorns right now and he has the proper tools to reach up and cut the strings.  I will definitely look into the pruners but I do have a reciprocating saw the the stems in the future.  Can't wait to see these palms when they are opened.  Thanks everyone for your responses!

[DonPalm]

Hi. How are your Syvesters doing?  I just planted some.