How long does it take Sabal Palm to fully regrow crown after hurricane cut?

[jdl]

How long does it take Sabal Palms to fully regrow their crowns after transplanting when they cut all the fronds off? Also, what would happen if you transplanted it without hurricane cutting it?

[NOT A TA]

1-2 years. Because all the roots are typically removed, chances of survival are much much lower if the crown is left in place when it's dug up..

[Merlyn]

@jdl you should see 3-6 good leaves at the end of the first summer, assuming it is planted in the spring.  It might take 2 years, as Not a TA said, to get a full crown.  But it should start looking pretty decent by the end of the year. 

Highway contractors in FL generally lose 10-20% of transplanted Sabals.  If you transplant a Sabal with a full crown it'll probably die.  It will have no roots and lots of leaf surface area.  So the leaves lose a LOT of water in transpiration, and the palm ends up drying out and dying because it can't get enough water input to match the output.  That's why they cut off 90% of the fronds when transplanting Sabals. 

Other palms retain roots better after transplants.  I recently transplanted a sort-of-trunking Sylvester and cut off about 1/3 of the fronds.  The plant "ate" another 1/3 of the fronds quickly while regrowing roots, and it looks pretty stable now with about 1/3 of the original crown.  By the end of the summer mine should look fine.

[DAVEinMB]

@jdl here is mine just before being planted in April 2019. The 2nd and 3rd pics are from February 2022 and June 2022

they grow slow

[mnorell]

It's pretty well known but worth repeating that Sabals must go through a protracted and systematic root-pruning procedure before this type of transplant operation. Typically half the roots are severed; and then once new roots are growing from the base (a few months later), the other side is cut. This gives the palm some roots to live on in its new home. This is because Sabals cannot branch a cut root (as can Cocos nucifera, for example). It must start a new root from the base of the trunk, and this takes time. Also, remember that a hurricane-cut Sabal (and this is more a maintenance issue rather than pertaining to transplant) will be slowed down tremendously by removing most of its fronds. Each of those "solar panels" are what power the photosynthesizing abilities of the plant...hence an active, green leaf should never be cut. This also robs the plant of its micronutrients such as Potassium and Manganese (which the palm extracts from the older leaves during the senescence period). It is a great shame that this "hurricane cutting" (a misnomer in that it gives no assistance to the palm in a storm) goes on to the benefit of the landscape companies and to the detriment of the customer's plant (and bank account)...also requiring lots of fertilizer to replace all the material that has been hauled away after the cut.