Dying Christmas Palm?

[Msbroker911]

Hi…

I have a newly planted Christmas Palm in my yard. As soon as it was transplanted from a pot, the leaves started yellowing and turning brown.  It rained for about a week straight shortly after planting.  The trunks still seems to be green.  Is there any hope for this one?  Should I be removing the dead leaves?  Any input is greatly appreciated 

Edited January 2, 2022 by Msbroker911

[Billeb]

It’s grim. Gotta look at the emerging spears and mark them with a sharpe to see if they are moving first. No movement after a couple days or a week max is not a good sign. 
 

-dale

[Jim in Los Altos]

Badly sunburned shade grown palm. Christmas palms are not very well suited to California’s climate. They’re great in humid hot summer climates with warm winters like South Florida. They usually languish in California. 

[Johnny Palmseed]

2 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Badly sunburned shade grown palm. Christmas palms are not very well suited to California’s climate. They’re great in humid hot summer climates with warm winters like South Florida. They usually languish in California. 

@Msbroker911 Welcome to the forum. Are you in California? I was thinking sunburn too. Potted palms are frequently grown in shade houses and need to be stepped up to full sun conditions. Although they might not know, it’s best to ask the garden center what conditions the palms were growing in. And like @Jim in Los Altos said, Adonidia palms do not prefer dry, sunny conditions. They can tolerate full sun in a warm, humid climate like Florida which usually has some cloud cover. Also, you can frequently buy plants that are not suitable for your area. Did you happen to get it at HD or Lowes? You can return it under the guarantee. If not, you can put it back in a pot and move it to a shadier spot to recover. It will take some time though and might not make it. 

[Msbroker911]

I am in California.  Although I understand, it rained here for a week with very little Sun shortly after planting.  It’s not like it’s been sunny at 90 degrees the whole time.  I’m apt to think it might have been frost more than anything else as it got down to the 30’s a few times.  I purchased it online and they are sending a replacement.  They’re adamant the tree can grow in my zone 9-10.  Thanks for your help.  

[Palm Tree Jim]

Adonidia merrilli will be a very tough grow in CA. Even in some of the best micro climates in Southern CA, it's rare to succeed.  Who is telling you this can grow here?

As for this one, maybe remove from the ground and place in a pot and then place it inside to see if it recovers.

Hope this helps.

[Merlyn]

@Msbroker911 it could be part frost burn, but typically you'd see the top fronds burned badly and bottom ones still green.  That's because only the top ones are directly exposed to the frost.  In your photos it looks like the burn is pretty much on every leaf, which makes me think sunburn is the primary culprit.  I did okay here in Florida with Adonidia, but they'd burn below 30 (with or without frost) and took 2-3 months to grow back and look ok.  I had them in full sun here, but that's humid full sun with daily afternoon thunderstorms.  It's totally different than dry CA full sun. 

[NickJames]

I would ask how exactly this was being grown. If absolutely looks like photo bleaching from going from a full shade situation to suddenly being exposed to massive amounts of solar radiation. In Florida, frost damage usually shows up on my palms first as almost like a bronzing effect. 
 

Check out this d. lutescens at my old house last January - after extreme frost - any part of the palm facing the sky turned a bronze color, not a pale cream color. 

[BigFrond]

Definitely frost burn.  Xmas palm is a no go in Socal.  Mine survived for over 3 yrs in the ground.  It could have lived 4 yrs but I spared it the extra suffering and took it out.

[Jim in Los Altos]

On 1/3/2022 at 1:43 PM, BigFrond said:

Definitely frost burn.  Xmas palm is a no go in Socal.  Mine survived for over 3 yrs in the ground.  It could have lived 4 yrs but I spared it the extra suffering and took it out.

I doubt frost burn in San Clemente. We haven’t even had frost in my Northern CA location and San Clemente is warmer. I think sunburn is more likely due to the way the bleaching isn’t just on upper leaves. It’s a nearly impossible palm species to grow well in California anyway.