Trachy fronds suddenly dying

[BeyondTheGarden]

T nainatal (I believe), purchased about a month ago.  Fronds were very yellow when I bought it.  It's been very happy where I planted it, greened up nicely.  Then yesterday I noticed the lower fronds were browning a little on the tips.  Today it's much worse.  These are the freak heat-wave days where it's been well over 100F for 3 days now, which is very rare up here.  None of my other trachy's show any sign of heat damage so it seems hard to believe it's just heat damage.  

New growth looks great.  Maybe it's a doubled effect of having recently recovered from the stressed yellow fronds, plus the heat, and not having established roots? 

[oasis371]

When did you transplant it, it could be heat stress in your freakish heat.

All my Trachys (containerized or planted), are in partial to full shade, even in NJ Zone 7.

P.S., We have the freakish heat here too, but it's a humid/wet heat.

 

[BeyondTheGarden]

It went from pot to ground about 6 weeks ago.  The pot was pretty small in relation to the trunk size.

[Chester B]

I think it’s that stress from the extreme heat exacerbating the stress of recently being planted. As long as it’s the older fronds dying and the new ones look good I wouldn’t be concerned. I have seen this sort of thing before. 

[Allen]

Soil looks dry.  And Trachy fronds may shock when planted coming from greenhouse.

[BeyondTheGarden]

Thanks Ryan. That's what I was hoping, rather than some kind of wilt or fungus or pathogen or something.  

Soil may look dry up top, I didn't have any mulch when I planted.  But this garden gets watered quite heavily, daily.  Oscillating sprinkler for 20-30 minutes, by the time I shut it off there's standing water in the low places.  I also wondered if the overhead water may somehow be a problem, I know that affects desert natives sometimes.  Which of course this is not.  

[Chester B]

I’ve never had an issues with trachys getting wet crowns. When I water them in the summer I actually hose the whole palm down fronds and all. I truly think these are water living palms from areas with regular precipitation. Other palms of mine I try to take care to keep water out of the crown when watering. 

[Jimhardy]

Its not a good idea to get water in the crown area during a true heat wave.

I have seen Trachys spear pull from this... 

[Chester B]

3 hours ago, Jimhardy said:

Its not a good idea to get water in the crown area during a true heat wave.

I have seen Trachys spear pull from this... 

I know it goes against conventional wisdom but no issues so far. It’s not a regular practice just on occasion. When you go weeks without rain I like to wash the dust off the fronds and such. I don’t see how this is any different than those of you who get rain in summer. In actuality your palms get much more water in the crown in warm and hot weather.  
 

I’m going to throw it out there to everyone. -Don’t do as I do. 

Edited June 29, 2021 by Chester B

[jwitt]

Looks like sunburn/heat.  Those leave will be forever damaged, but new leaves will be fine. My opinion.

[Paradise Found]

It's not how much you water during a heatwave. It's the time of day you water thats important.

Early mornings are good before the sun light hits your palms, and evening give the palm and exotic more time to absorb the whole night and start the day off right. 

But to tell you the truth I've never had any problem with watering palms in the daytime when they were little.  

I did water a small agave during this big heatwave and it got water damage right away so it can happen on some plants. As a rule I try not to water unless the plants are in the shade. One thing you have to watch out for when watering in the evening is some plants (not palms) can get powdery mildew from being wet to long. 

I think its the stress of planting and the heatwave but your palm should recover with new fresh growth.  do not fertilize till next spring, unless you want to give it a root fertilizer in late summer. 

T. nainatal is an awesome palm tree, I have a mature one and its the biggest of all of my trachy, I call it the Woolly mammoth since it fibers are so long and thick, lol.

Edited June 29, 2021 by Paradise Found