Help. Bottle Palm tree looks dead or is it possible to make healthy again?

[Elliotness]

Hello. Im new to planting and I dont know what Im doing wrong that all my palm trees all have black/white spots on the leaves. Also my Bottle Palm Tree looks dead. I don't  think I have a water issue as I have a water sprinkler that turns on every day... Soil always feels a bit moist. I live in zone 9B. Gets plenty of sunlight here in Florida. Maybe its my cheap soil thats bad?

I had no ide about "root flare" until I googled and used youtube. Turns out  I was planting them wrong. I used too much rubber mulch and had covered the roots completely, So I just fixed them all until I saw some roots, exposed to the air. Not sure if I did it right but im sure its way better than before.

 

 

2) I also noticed when exposing some roots of the palm trees, I saw tiny white bugs, Almost look like fleas around the roots, and like 3 red roached hiding inside my rubber mulch. Dont know if those critters mean anything but thought I mention it anyway. 

 

3) If you believe its most likely nutrient deficiency, Could you please recommend a brand that has all the nutrients it needs? I used Miracle grow palm food 1 time only when I planted the palm trees... but dont think thats good enough going by the shape of the palm trees? I saw on Amazon they have a bunch of different palm fertilizers such as

    a)  Dr. Earth 749688750646 75064 1 lb 5-4-6 MINIS Exotic Blend Palm, Tropical and Hibis

      b)  Jobe’s Organics 09126 Palm Tree Granular Plant Food, 4-2-4

  c) Jobe's, 01010, Fertilizer Spikes, Palm Tree, Includes 5 Spikes, 1lb, Brown 05101, (10-5-10)

   d)  Palm Fertilizer by E Z-GRO | Our 17-5-24 is Specially Formulated for Your Indoor Palm Tree and Your Outdoor Palm Trees | Our Palm Tree Fertilizer is Enhanced with Extra Micronutrients 

 

4)  I attached photos of how my 4 palm trees look now. If you could please recommend me the best solution, 1) Christmas Palm 2) Bottle Palm 3) Two Areca Palms in Planters

 

 

Also most importantly if you believe the Bottle Palm is completely dead? 

[kinzyjr]

@Elliotness Welcome to PalmTalk!  I'm assuming you mean Central Florida since you recorded 30F this winter.  Either way, the bottle palm took damage because of cold, and that is likely the case with the other two species.  They will likely recover in the coming warm months, provided we don't get any "March Madness" cold fronts.  Moving the mulch away from the trunks is OK, but it didn't cause the damage on the leaves.  At this point, I don't think you need to start hitting them with a fertilizer that will potentially burn the roots.  If you want to put a fertilizer down that is slow release, Florikan 8-2-12 + micronutrients is about the best you can do.

[Elliotness]

8 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

@Elliotness Welcome to PalmTalk!  I'm assuming you mean Central Florida since you recorded 30F this winter.  Either way, the bottle palm took damage because of cold, and that is likely the case with the other two species.  They will likely recover in the coming warm months, provided we don't get any "March Madness" cold fronts.  Moving the mulch away from the trunks is OK, but it didn't cause the damage on the leaves.  At this point, I don't think you need to start hitting them with a fertilizer that will potentially burn the roots.  If you want to put a fertilizer down that is slow release, Florikan 8-2-12 + micronutrients is about the best you can do.

Thank you so much for the response! Longwood FL, 32750 to be exact. You have the same zone as me too. But yes exactly we had those cold fronts. I appreciate the recommendation. I will try that. You also mentioned micronutrients,.. Do you have a brand that you use or is that included in  Florikan 8-2-12 already

[Jim in Los Altos]

None of your palms are even close to being dead. Any green at all shows some life. Your Bottle palm suffered some freeze damage. They are better suited to zone 10a and up but will grow in your zone with occasional frost/freeze damage. I’d leave some mulch around the roots of all your palms. It’s beneficial. You just don’t want it piled up onto their trunks but roots should not be exposed to the open air. Your palms will all look great going into summer. 

Edited February 18, 2023 by Jim in Los Altos

[Elliotness]

Thank you so much for the advice! I must be reading "Root flares" wrong. Thought it meant to expose some of the roots. It must be the stem like sticks around the roots? I will add mulch back in the area. 2 of you guys mentioned the cold messed it up. Thats a good sign its not dead and can wait it out during summer weather~ Appreciate you

[kinzyjr]

5 minutes ago, Elliotness said:

Do you have a brand that you use or is that included in  Florikan 8-2-12 already

If I use anything, I use Florikan here.  Most of the time it is unnecessary since the soil here is extremely rich and dark, especially for Florida.  The City of Lakeland uses Lesco 8-2-12 on their palms.  It seems to work well since everything is so well kept in their gardens.  Lesco is a bit cheaper than Florikan if you can find it.  The links below will show you what you're looking for, but you may want to shop around to see if you can find these products closer to where you live.

• Florikan: https://www.cypresscreeklandscapesupply.com/product/florikan-8-2-12/
• Lesco: https://tinyurl.com/3tzckbkr

[Merlyn]

The best instructions on palm planting is to cover just up to the base of the palm.  Some trees need to have the "root flare" exposed, I think Magnolias are one of them.  But palms you just want up to the base.  Here's a great tutorial by an IPS director and Palmtalk member.  

http://www.marriedtoplants.com/uncategorized/palm-tree-growing-tips-mounding/

In pots I use Osmocote or Nutricote, they are controlled release and won't burn roots.  The micronutrients are Magnesium, Manganese, Iron, Copper, Zinc, etc.  Some fertilizers are just the NPK and nothing else.  Florikan and Lesco 8-2-12 are good too.  Home Despot dropped the 8-2-12 and started carrying the 13-13-13 crap, which has waaaay too much Phosphorus for Florida.  Smallish doses in pots at more frequent intervals is a good choice.

Your palms look good considering the Christmas weekend long freeze and the second one a couple of weeks ago.  I am about 10 or 20 miles north of you and my Bottles and Areca are 100% burnt to a crisp.  One trick you can do is mark horizontally across the new spear and adjacent olfer fronds with a Sharpie.  That way you can see if they are growing.  

[Elliotness]

On 2/17/2023 at 8:23 PM, Merlyn said:

The best instructions on palm planting is to cover just up to the base of the palm.  Some trees need to have the "root flare" exposed, I think Magnolias are one of them.  But palms you just want up to the base.  Here's a great tutorial by an IPS director and Palmtalk member.  

http://www.marriedtoplants.com/uncategorized/palm-tree-growing-tips-mounding/

In pots I use Osmocote or Nutricote, they are controlled release and won't burn roots.  The micronutrients are Magnesium, Manganese, Iron, Copper, Zinc, etc.  Some fertilizers are just the NPK and nothing else.  Florikan and Lesco 8-2-12 are good too.  Home Despot dropped the 8-2-12 and started carrying the 13-13-13 crap, which has waaaay too much Phosphorus for Florida.  Smallish doses in pots at more frequent intervals is a good choice.

Your palms look good considering the Christmas weekend long freeze and the second one a couple of weeks ago.  I am about 10 or 20 miles north of you and my Bottles and Areca are 100% burnt to a crisp.  One trick you can do is mark horizontally across the new spear and adjacent olfer fronds with a Sharpie.  That way you can see if they are growing.  

Thank you for all the advice. Good to know cold fronts is probably why they look burnt and Im not alone.  So I can prepare myself next time. What type of cloth do you recommend to cover up the palms next time we get a warning about another cold front

[Tomas]

Hi,

you mention the use of sprinklers, I personaly do not use them to water plants, but it is often said here that the use can be damaging to palms.

In the picture #4 it seams you have an infestatin of scale insects, I personaly use a white (mineral) oil but hopefully somebody can resomend an insecticide available in your country. Look also to the centre of your palms, that is the place the scale prefers

Tomas

[Merlyn]

8 hours ago, Elliotness said:

Thank you for all the advice. Good to know cold fronts is probably why they look burnt and Im not alone.  So I can prepare myself next time. What type of cloth do you recommend to cover up the palms next time we get a warning about another cold front

Cold fronts are my biggest problems here, even though I'm not too far North of you.  If the Sanford airport records 32F I am generally 2-4F colder.  Last year I lost about 50 plants/palms to freeze damage at the end-of-January cold front.  It hit 24.4F in my backyard with a decent layer of frost.  Losing 50 plants seems like a lot, but I have almost 1000 individual plantings so the survival rate was pretty good.  Unfortunately a lot of them looked ratty for 6 months after that freeze.  The Christmas freeze here wasn't nearly as bad, but it was fairly long and I had 4 cold nights in a row with highs barely into the 50s:

Your palms look really good in terms of cold damage from surviving December and that frost in mid-January.  Here's my front walkway Bottle.  It had just managed to grow a decent set of fronds after last year's defoliation, and I suspect that it won't live through this one...

I will probably prune off the dead stuff next week.  As far as protecting palms I've used a couple of random big cardboard boxes for some sensitive (and rare) palms and cycads.  I haven't used frost cloth, but @palmsOrlprobably has some good suggestions.

I agree on the scale insects, it looks like the Areca/Lutescens probably has a mealybug infestation.  I spray them with Malathion mixed with a couple of drops of Dawn dish detergent.  The soap helps break down the insect's waxy protective coating.  I'd do that and a soil drench of Bioadvanced Tree & Shrub, which has Imadicloprid systemic and a tiny bit of fertilizer.

[Elliotness]

On 2/19/2023 at 9:07 AM, Merlyn said:

Cold fronts are my biggest problems here, even though I'm not too far North of you.  If the Sanford airport records 32F I am generally 2-4F colder.  Last year I lost about 50 plants/palms to freeze damage at the end-of-January cold front.  It hit 24.4F in my backyard with a decent layer of frost.  Losing 50 plants seems like a lot, but I have almost 1000 individual plantings so the survival rate was pretty good.  Unfortunately a lot of them looked ratty for 6 months after that freeze.  The Christmas freeze here wasn't nearly as bad, but it was fairly long and I had 4 cold nights in a row with highs barely into the 50s:

Your palms look really good in terms of cold damage from surviving December and that frost in mid-January.  Here's my front walkway Bottle.  It had just managed to grow a decent set of fronds after last year's defoliation, and I suspect that it won't live through this one...

I will probably prune off the dead stuff next week.  As far as protecting palms I've used a couple of random big cardboard boxes for some sensitive (and rare) palms and cycads.  I haven't used frost cloth, but @palmsOrlprobably has some good suggestions.

I agree on the scale insects, it looks like the Areca/Lutescens probably has a mealybug infestation.  I spray them with Malathion mixed with a couple of drops of Dawn dish detergent.  The soap helps break down the insect's waxy protective coating.  I'd do that and a soil drench of Bioadvanced Tree & Shrub, which has Imadicloprid systemic and a tiny bit of fertilizer.

Wow thats a lot of trees. Sorry about all the damage to them. Now I know how important it is to watch out for cold temps. Ty so much .I will try the dish soap and malathion method and hope your bottle recovers. My favorite looking palm