Silver Saw Palmetto. White powdery mildew, or something else?

[Sardines_4_Dinner]

Serenoa repens cinerea. Hollywood, Fl. Zone 10b. Sandy soil and planted in a shady area. 

 

Good afternoon, this is my first post here. My silver palm that I planted last month looks sick, it is covered in a white dust and the leaves are starting to shrivel up, some are looking like they are dying. I made a tank of neem oil mixed in water and completely saturated the leaves and plant thoroughly. I think this is white powdery mildew I have?   Was neem the right thing to do?

 

I have some pictures of my palm after I sprayed them with neem, the white powdery look was lessened after the wash down from the neem solution. https://imgur.com/a/fC50KdO

Edited September 30, 2021 by Sardines_4_Dinner
pictures

[Merlyn]

I'm not sure what to suggest on the powdery mildew.  Neem oil won't help with mildew unless the cause is an insect like aphids or other sucking insects.  If it is just a fungal infection due to shade or something else you'd need a general purpose fungicide like Daconil, or a copper-based one.  I'm not sure I see anything that looks like a leaf fungus.

Generally Serenoa Repens is a full sun plant, though they can tolerate lots of shade too.  If it was planted last month it could be transplant shock, but to me it looks more serious.  Do you water it?  Fertilizing too soon can burn the roots on new plantings, and neem oil can burn leaves in the sun.  Possibly it was planted too deep and has a root rot?

[aztropic]

Just planted last month indicates 'something' happened to the roots. That is why it is drying up. No bugs. No mildew. This species is VERY root sensitive. Almost impossible to transplant that size from the wild. If it came from a pot and soil fell off the root ball during planting,that could kill it too. Also, adding fertilizer in the planting hole could be a problem. It's only got a 50% chance of survival by the pictures. Should be cheap to replace, if necessary, as it's a common,native species.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona

[D Palm]

I bought 1 that size around $50 at Home Depot this summer.  The roots are sensitive, I sprinkled rooting powder in my planting hole for mine this summer, looks fine. I would try fertilome root stimulator, I use it on all of new plantings/transplants.  

[Looking Glass]

5 hours ago, aztropic said:

Just planted last month indicates 'something' happened to the roots. That is why it is drying up. No bugs. No mildew. This species is VERY root sensitive. Almost impossible to transplant that size from the wild. If it came from a pot and soil fell off the root ball during planting,that could kill it too. Also, adding fertilizer in the planting hole could be a problem. It's only got a 50% chance of survival by the pictures. Should be cheap to replace, if necessary, as it's a common,native species.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona

It’s common, and it’s native, but they aren’t exactly cheap.  I think because they have to be grown from scratch, and they aren’t fast.  Love the silver form though. 

I agree though.  That looks like a “do-over”.  

Plant it in full sun, if possible.  Keep it on the dry side.  Cut the pot like a banana peel, if it doesn’t just fall out.  
If I had a big yard with dry spots, I’d put these in.  Love um.  
I’d probably kill my first try, with kindness, though.  

[Sardines_4_Dinner]

Thank you all for the help, I'm going to keep an eye on it and see if it survives.  

[sonoranfans]

I have six of these, they are tough as nails in sandy soil.  They are a pain to trim(this is where you find out why they call them "saw" palmettos).  They hate being continually wet and lower grow points may die back in incessant moisture conditions.  I have seen lower leaves on a single grow point shrivel up and die with spear pull in the wettest time of the year especially if there is no airflow.   That grow point dies unless you apply fungicide aggressively.  Most of mine are large now, some with overall height of 8-9'.  My observations on these are that they like sandy soil.  Those planted in heavier soil were stunted.  I did move 2 small ones successfully with no problem.  These may be root tender but they aren't nearly as tender as cuban copernicias for example.  They do fine in shade but they will grow more leaves in sun, more dense a barrier.  This pic I just took, sun in the wrong direction for pics at this time of day.  But these are nice and blue serenoa repens that I bought mail order from a nursery in south(?) carolina.   They start slow, but I now have to cut them back so they dont eat my yard up.  One little plant ten years ago is up to 15'+ wide now.  I would say that this palm should NOT be planted near frequently irrigated moisture loving plants.  Watering those plants frequently will kill the small saw palmetto.  

[sonoranfans]

this palm may die.  I would try another but make sure the conditions are right.  Sun, airflow, high drainage sandy soil, away from those water loving plants, palms.  By the way, in the right soil these are are bulletproof low maintenance palms.  I use light fertilization, they don't need much.  When a palm is native to high rain climate with sandy soil it will not need a lot of fertilizer as it has genetically adapted to less fertilizer requirements.

[Sardines_4_Dinner]

Thanks again folks, I appreciate all the help and advice you've given me.  

[D Palm]

If you want it to survive in that spot, check out the green variety. My green Saw Palmetto is native to the property and thrives under a large maple. They grow all over the swamps with dappled sunlight in S. Ga and N. FL. I have attempted germinating seeds from it but have failed the last 2 years so I understand the high price.

[Sardines_4_Dinner]

Well, I checked my plant this morning and it's dead, the center is soft and mushy and the fronds just slide out with ease....RIP lil' buddy, you left this earth way too soon!

 

When I come back from vacation I am going to look for a green saw palmetto rather than this silver palmetto, hopefully the green will do better in that space.  I received a lot of good tips in this thread, I will be gentler with the root ball when I replant from the pot to the ground, and I will use some root stimulator too. I am also going to clear some brush away from the area so that more sunlight will hit the plant. I will try again in the future with another silver saw palmetto, but in an area in my yard where it will receive more sunlight. 

 

 

 

 

[Kailua_Krish]

8 minutes ago, Sardines_4_Dinner said:

Well, I checked my plant this morning and it's dead, the center is soft and mushy and the fronds just slide out with ease....RIP lil' buddy, you left this earth way too soon!

 

When I come back from vacation I am going to look for a green saw palmetto rather than this silver palmetto, hopefully the green will do better in that space.  I received a lot of good tips in this thread, I will be gentler with the root ball when I replant from the pot to the ground, and I will use some root stimulator too. I am also going to clear some brush away from the area so that more sunlight will hit the plant. I will try again in the future with another silver saw palmetto, but in an area in my yard where it will receive more sunlight. 

 

 

 

 

Sorry to hear  The silver ones really are great plants, its funny because they grow so well in those hydrophobic nutrient poor sands you cant get anything else in FL (non native) to grow in. They are set um and forget um there. If its a shadier/wetter area you may want to try a needle palm instead. Its another great native that has a bush like structure but the leaves are more of a dark emerald rather than the light green of the green saw palmetto. Growth rate I would say is slightly faster than saw palmetto in good conditions.