Help Please - My new Windmill Palm is really struggling

[Steve C]

Hello.  My 20 year old palm was killed in the Dallas Snowpocalypse of 2021.  I just replaced it this Spring (March) with a new Windmill.  It looked pretty good for a month or two, but as we got into the hot part of Dallas Summer, it has really struggled with severely browning frowns.  I read that you are not supposed to cut of brown frowns until they are 100% brown, so I have followed that guidance.  I have fed it some Palm food a couple of times. I suspect that I am over or underwatering.  I just don't know which it is and hoping for some help from this group before it dies.  Pictures attached.  Thank you in advance.

[Las Palmas Norte]

Established, these don't like relentless heat. Most places in Texas have been over 100 every day in August, so newer plantings will show their dislike more readily. There could be other factors too. What did you have prior to this that died?

[JohnAndSancho]

My guesstimation is it's a greenhouse grown plant that went into full, violent sun and these guys aren't big fans of relentless, brutal, dry heat like we've had this year 

[JLM]

As long as more fronds dont die or the spear doesnt die, then it should be fine. To monitor for growth, i would take a sharpie and mark about where the pink line is. This line should be marked on the older frond and center spear in order for this to work. Although, it looks like the spear is currently opening, so you could probably hold off on marking until its fully opened, which at that point you know its growing so spear marking may not be necessary.

[Collectorpalms]

Looks like desiccation from not enough water and too high of heat. Also you said you fed it, what did you use? It could begin to grow again until the temperatures drop below  70F. I would use a special liquid feed and hand water (fertigation) it almost every day now.

[Steve C]

15 hours ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

Established, these don't like relentless heat. Most places in Texas have been over 100 every day in August, so newer plantings will show their dislike more readily. There could be other factors too. What did you have prior to this that died?

It was a 20 year old Windmill

[Steve C]

8 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

Looks like desiccation from not enough water and too high of heat. Also you said you fed it, what did you use? It could begin to grow again until the temperatures drop below  70F. I would use a special liquid feed and hand water (fertigation) it almost every day now.

Miracle Grow for Palms

[maxum2610]

I have quite a few of these in my garden in Belgium. Two points to remember here. One, they don’t like extreme heat and two these palms need clay soil. Looks like the soil yours are in is good compost soil (from what I can tell from the pictures). That’s not gonna work for these guys. I also live in Spain part time (south Spain costa Blanca) and the searing heat is not to their liking. They mostly look like yours. If you want to grow it in Dallas Texas, your going to put it in clay soil for sure and give it a lot of water. More high heat means more water. These are great palms for the north but difficult for warmer regions. Good luck.

[Allen]

Go out to the edge of the rock circle and dig down 6 inches to a foot with a small hole and look for white roots and check soil moisture.   Don’t fertilize any more this year.  As poster above said on soil try to take out the potting soil as much as possible by hand and return some loose clay soil.  Keep watered well and I suggest you protect this winter in a covered dry structure if temps go into low 20s because this palm is going to be weak and will spear pull risking death.  You are going to be a year reviving it.  Also what is the green drain?

Edited August 24, 2022 by Allen

[Steve C]

9 minutes ago, maxum2610 said:

I have quite a few of these in my garden in Belgium. Two points to remember here. One, they don’t like extreme heat and two these palms need clay soil. Looks like the soil yours are in is good compost soil (from what I can tell from the pictures). That’s not gonna work for these guys. I also live in Spain part time (south Spain costa Blanca) and the searing heat is not to their liking. They mostly look like yours. If you want to grow it in Dallas Texas, your going to put it in clay soil for sure and give it a lot of water. More high heat means more water. These are great palms for the north but difficult for warmer regions. Good luck.

 

10 minutes ago, maxum2610 said:

I have quite a few of these in my garden in Belgium. Two points to remember here. One, they don’t like extreme heat and two these palms need clay soil. Looks like the soil yours are in is good compost soil (from what I can tell from the pictures). That’s not gonna work for these guys. I also live in Spain part time (south Spain costa Blanca) and the searing heat is not to their liking. They mostly look like yours. If you want to grow it in Dallas Texas, your going to put it in clay soil for sure and give it a lot of water. More high heat means more water. These are great palms for the north but difficult for warmer regions. Good luck.

So this may be a problem.  Our soil naturally here is firm so Id say has some clay in it.  When I dug the old palm out I dug the hole big enough for the 30 gallon container the new one was in and a few inches bigger and deeper.  To get it to the right height and fill in the sides and top, I added potting soil, bagged garden dirt and a little sand.  The plant ball in the container looked like potting soil - not clay, so I just tried to match that with the few inches of fill in.  Is that an issue?  Once the roots grow a couple inches in each direction they will get to the natural soil that probably has some clay.  In total I doubt I added more than a five gallon bucket of fill to the new install.

[Steve C]

7 minutes ago, Allen said:

Go out to the edge of the rock circle and dig down 6 inches to a foot with a small hole and look for white roots and check soil moisture.   Don’t fertilize any more this year.  As poster above said on soil try to take out the potting soil as much as possible by hand and return some loose clay soil.  Keep watered well and I suggest you protect this winter in a covered dry structure if temps go into low 20s because this palm is going to be weak and will spear pull risking death.  You are going to be a year reviving it.  Also what is the green drain?

 

1 minute ago, Steve C said:

 

So this may be a problem.  Our soil naturally here is firm so Id say has some clay in it.  When I dug the old palm out I dug the hole big enough for the 30 gallon container the new one was in and a few inches bigger and deeper.  To get it to the right height and fill in the sides and top, I added potting soil, bagged garden dirt and a little sand.  The plant ball in the container looked like potting soil - not clay, so I just tried to match that with the few inches of fill in.  Is that an issue?  Once the roots grow a couple inches in each direction they will get to the natural soil that probably has some clay.  In total I doubt I added more than a five gallon bucket of fill to the new install.

 

1 minute ago, Steve C said:

 

So this may be a problem.  Our soil naturally here is firm so Id say has some clay in it.  When I dug the old palm out I dug the hole big enough for the 30 gallon container the new one was in and a few inches bigger and deeper.  To get it to the right height and fill in the sides and top, I added potting soil, bagged garden dirt and a little sand.  The plant ball in the container looked like potting soil - not clay, so I just tried to match that with the few inches of fill in.  Is that an issue?  Once the roots grow a couple inches in each direction they will get to the natural soil that probably has some clay.  In total I doubt I added more than a five gallon bucket of fill to the new install.

 

1 minute ago, Steve C said:

 

So this may be a problem.  Our soil naturally here is firm so Id say has some clay in it.  When I dug the old palm out I dug the hole big enough for the 30 gallon container the new one was in and a few inches bigger and deeper.  To get it to the right height and fill in the sides and top, I added potting soil, bagged garden dirt and a little sand.  The plant ball in the container looked like potting soil - not clay, so I just tried to match that with the few inches of fill in.  Is that an issue?  Once the roots grow a couple inches in each direction they will get to the natural soil that probably has some clay.  In total I doubt I added more than a five gallon bucket of fill to the new install.

The green drain is just an overflow for that planting area so during heavy rain, water cant overflow into the pool, but it is above the dirt level of the palm so not stealing its water.  When you say add in clay soil, what kind?  Can I buy something like that at Lowes or Home Depot?

 

1 minute ago, Steve C said:

 

So this may be a problem.  Our soil naturally here is firm so Id say has some clay in it.  When I dug the old palm out I dug the hole big enough for the 30 gallon container the new one was in and a few inches bigger and deeper.  To get it to the right height and fill in the sides and top, I added potting soil, bagged garden dirt and a little sand.  The plant ball in the container looked like potting soil - not clay, so I just tried to match that with the few inches of fill in.  Is that an issue?  Once the roots grow a couple inches in each direction they will get to the natural soil that probably has some clay.  In total I doubt I added more than a five gallon bucket of fill to the new install.

 

[Allen]

8 minutes ago, Steve C said:

 

The green drain is just an overflow for that planting area so during heavy rain, water cant overflow into the pool, but it is above the dirt level of the palm so not stealing its water.  When you say add in clay soil, what kind?  Can I buy something like that at Lowes or Home Depot?

I suspect it is too dry in the potting soil type soil.  Clay would be soil from your yard or a planting bed you have in your yard if you have a spot.  Dig it up and put the potting soil or something else there to steal some dirt.  I don’t know what the dirt is like in your yard.

[Collectorpalms]

5 hours ago, Steve C said:

It was a 20 year old Windmill

Look like your last windmill was undernourished or just over pruned... In Texas they go into decline. Hotter it is the quicker those minerals are used up, and never look good as cooler places like the PNW or Atlanta. What you don't want is a cheap fertilizer high in chlorides or salts.. that just kills the roots.