How to apply hydrogen peroxide without hurting a palm

[idontknowhatnametuse]

My Areca Catechu had been dormant for 3 months. It's starting to grow again but it has a dry emerging leaf. To prevent fungus I want to put hydrogen peroxide. Do I apply it on the emerging leaf and apply normal water after that or do I apply it and leave it there?

Edited March 2, 2023 by idontknowhatnametuse

[kinzyjr]

For tight spaces, it is sometimes helpful to use a medical dosing syringe to drop a little at a time down the side of the spear with the most space first.  Leave it sit and look/listen for fizzing.  Using these, you don't have to dump it from the bottle and end up getting a lot of it on the ground.

[sonoranfans]

easy, add the 3% solution to the bud and rinse after half an hour with 3x diluted(1%).  1% wont be a problem left on.  Remember that Peroxide is consumed in the digestion reaction.  I would never add more than 3% to anything though.  If you can  add a fungicide (Ive used daconil) about 2-3 hrs after the peroxide it will work better than peroxide alone.  Repeat both 2 weeks later.

[realarch]

Not so disciplined here, just turn the bottle over and aim for the growing point. Been using peroxide for years and have not noticed any damage to the plant or surrounding soil. I apply ample doses three or four times over the course of a week or two. Results using this method have been surprisingly positive. 

Tim

[BayAndroid]

I pour it on without any concern. I have even been spraying around the base of the pam in the soil (hopefully not a mistake on my part, I don't know if it's a good idea or not). So far, so good. 

[byuind]

H2O2 turns to water in atmospheric conditions. Its actually a process that gets sped up significantly with the introduction of heat.  So in Florida I have assumed that i can just go to town with a $1.50 bottle of that stuff. 

[sonoranfans]

1 hour ago, byuind said:

H2O2 turns to water in atmospheric conditions. Its actually a process that gets sped up significantly with the introduction of heat.  So in Florida I have assumed that i can just go to town with a $1.50 bottle of that stuff. 

even 10% can give you a bad burn and damage tissue.  That is exactly what is happening to the fungus its getting ripped apart.  Yes over time oxygen is evolved and it turns to water but a 10% solution can burn your skin before you can wash it off and 30% will give you a bad burn if touched.  3% is pretty safe (except for eyes) and its only 3% for a short time as its pretty unstable.  Old peroxide bottles are likely very low in H2O2.  The kicker is that H2O2 is consumed in the reaction and 3% is consumed rapidly.  

[James B]

Been using on my palms for 5 years to handle a variety of fungal issues between fronds coming out from the crown that aren’t healthy to pink rot under leaf bases especially in slow growing understory palms like Chambeyronia.

Never had any issues with it. For things that look worse I bring in the liquid copper fungicide as well.

And I’m using 3% solution. I like to get spray bottles so I can spray it on to apply.

[Merlyn]

8 hours ago, realarch said:

Not so disciplined here, just turn the bottle over and aim for the growing point. Been using peroxide for years and have not noticed any damage to the plant or surrounding soil. I apply ample doses three or four times over the course of a week or two. Results using this method have been surprisingly positive. 

Yup, same here.  I have the big 32oz bottles from Sam's Club and just tilt, aim, and squirt.  Sometimes my aim sucks, but it doesn't hurt anything as long as you aren't emptying a whole bottle slowly into one plant crown.  I've started adding 4tsp of Daconil to my H2O2 bottles, for a little redisual fungicide action.

[mnorell]

When I was trying to save mule palms and others after bad freezes at my old garden in Natchez I would first manually clean and flush with water and then just use 3%, poured down into the bud, and never rinsed it out. It did really help but I also usually would do surgery down into the bud until I hit live tissue, then make some kind of an angled cut or channel to allow drainage of any water/moisture away from the meristem area and allow drier air to circulate there. Important to debride the interior of the crown after a bad event IMHO, even though cleanup crew of isopods and earwigs et al usually find their way in quickly and do a pretty good job of removing down to live tissue, but I think air exposure and lack of standing moisture is uber important. 

[Patrick]

19 hours ago, Merlyn said:

Yup, same here.  I have the big 32oz bottles from Sam's Club and just tilt, aim, and squirt.  Sometimes my aim sucks, but it doesn't hurt anything as long as you aren't emptying a whole bottle slowly into one plant crown.  I've started adding 4tsp of Daconil to my H2O2 bottles, for a little redisual fungicide action.

I agree with everyone, turn and dump; But with one caveat if you have the bottle with the little squirt nozzle and flip-lid built into the cap. Save the cap when empty and put it on your rubbing alcohol bottle so that you can squirt it as well; but not on your palms, of course. Those caps are great and they can be hard to come by depending where you get your stuff from. Save 1 or 2.

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by Patrick

[idontknowhatnametuse]

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[GregH]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I feel like an expert now!