Need advice on a windmill palm

[c2arch]

Planted this windmill palm about 3 weeks ago, and it's not looking good.  Existing fronds are yellowing/browning and new growth looks like it's starting to wilt.  Was watering every other day for about 2 weeks after planting and have changed to watering every day for the last week.  Does anyone have an idea about what is going on and how to help the tree?  I'm not getting clear answers from anywhere online, and I don't want to lose the tree.  Thanks!

[Allen]

Was the palm potted or field dug?  Where did you buy it?  it looked to be in poor condition.  What soil is it planted in?  Keep moist and give it a year or 2.  fertilize in a month.

[D Palm]

May be transplant shock. Try using liquid Fertilome Root Stimulator to help reduce.

[squiggly001]

The inner leaves don’t look too bad, as long as the center newest leaves looks decent and doesn’t pull out it should survive. It may lose some of the lower leaves but I’ve seen windmill palms recover from looking a lot worse than yours does. Probably some transplant shock. I use superthrive every two weeks on my newly transplanted palms and it seems to help reduce shock. If it was field dug and the roots were cut too short that could be a issue. 

[Las Palmas Norte]

Spears should never open that close to the emerging point. There's always or should be, much more petiole visible. The last one I saw that looked like that, inexplicably died over the course of two years.

[oasis371]

I wonder if it had some cold-related bud issues before you got it. As said above, that emerging leaf without a petiole does not seem normal. Then, there is the added potential issue of transplant shock. Mostly, mine are grown in partial sun (either containerized or in-the-ground),  The one time I planted one in full sun (in the ground), started dying almost immediately. leaves all started to fold.  I would still give it some time. Palms can grow out of funky states given time.  I would also ease up on the watering, everyday watering sounds a bit much.

[BeyondTheGarden]

Fronds seem to open early like that, after exposure to serious cold.  In the summer mine push out well clear of the trunk prior to opening but right now I've got a bunch that are opening prior to clearing the trunk.  That one is really bad though.  It looks like that one has probably had a rough life, the old petioles are fairly stretched out but the newer ones are very short.  You may have several issues going on all at once.  

If it was transplanted or field-dug, the roots aren't able to intake enough water and I would continue watering heavily.  And, if the roots are damaged, you don't want to apply fertilizer for quite some time.  If you can throw some shade cloth over it that may help. 

[c2arch]

On 4/21/2022 at 10:32 PM, Allen said:

Was the palm potted or field dug?  Where did you buy it?  it looked to be in poor condition.  What soil is it planted in?  Keep moist and give it a year or 2.  fertilize in a month.

Allen, I believe the palm was field dug.  It came in a trapezoidal wooden container and had a root ball that looked small for the tree's size.  I bought it from a local large nursery.  It did look a little tepid when we bought it, but we liked the size and overall form.  We thought it would do well once we planted it.  It came in a loose sandy soil.  I planted it with a 2"-3" gravel base, sand, and planting mix.  We have clay soil here.

Thanks for the tips.

[c2arch]

On 4/22/2022 at 12:37 AM, squiggly001 said:

The inner leaves don’t look too bad, as long as the center newest leaves looks decent and doesn’t pull out it should survive. It may lose some of the lower leaves but I’ve seen windmill palms recover from looking a lot worse than yours does. Probably some transplant shock. I use superthrive every two weeks on my newly transplanted palms and it seems to help reduce shock. If it was field dug and the roots were cut too short that could be a issue. 

New leaves look OK and are green.  Pulled on leaved in the crown and they are very solid.  Nothing pulled out.  I was suspecting some transplant shock.  Thanks for the tip.

[Allen]

6 minutes ago, c2arch said:

Allen, I believe the palm was field dug.  It came in a trapezoidal wooden container and had a root ball that looked small for the tree's size.  I bought it from a local large nursery.  It did look a little tepid when we bought it, but we liked the size and overall form.  We thought it would do well once we planted it.  It came in a loose sandy soil.  I planted it with a 2"-3" gravel base, sand, and planting mix.  We have clay soil here.

Thanks for the tips.

It will take a year to regrow roots.  If you have room for another and can find just a 3-4 foot tall overall potted one in your area like a garden center it will root and grow surprisingly fast.  Sometimes a potted one will do better in long run with a fuller top but that one you have will get better just give it time and keep watered.  Almost all plants need to get thru the 1st year planted to start doing good.  

[c2arch]

Update: talked with the specialist at the nursery, and he said the pictures and description of the palm suggested we were overwatering.  We have turned off all irrigation but just got a long soaking rain last night (ugh, just what we didn't need).  Any suggestions to dry out the soil ASAP?

[Allen]

36 minutes ago, c2arch said:

Update: talked with the specialist at the nursery, and he said the pictures and description of the palm suggested we were overwatering.  We have turned off all irrigation but just got a long soaking rain last night (ugh, just what we didn't need).  Any suggestions to dry out the soil ASAP?

Well you don't want to spray the crown area with water daily but a Trachy can take water at roots pretty good.  I think it just took a while for the damage from digging it up to show.  Let it brown off the old fronds and it will slowly put up new fronds after the roots regrow.  It won't grow full till next year IMO.  You should keep the palm watered so the soil is moist not soupy or anything IMO.  Did roots appear white/firm when you planted or were they brown and mushy?

[jons0027]

curious how this one is doing?