Queen Palm issues?

[Chavy87]

Is this transplant shock? Or something else? They went in the ground 3 to 4 weeks ago. The first picture is the first few days in the ground, the following pictures are today.

 

[Merlyn]

If it is the oldest set of fronds drying up and dying rapidly,  that is fairly normal "transplant shock."  Make sure they get dkily water on the existing rootball.  Do not cut off any older fronds until they are completely dry and crispy, because the palm is "eating" the old fronds for nutrients.  I would mark the new spears with a sharpie across the spear and adjacent frond stems.  That way you can see if the new spear is growing slowly but steadily.

[Chavy87]

On the closet to the gazebo, it seems like it is the 2nd or third oldest. How much water are talking? From my understanding, it's pretty hard to over water a queen palm.

 

 

 

 

[Christopher Dillman]

I've typically used Vit B {SuperThrive} with a 5 gal bucket of water treatment when plants get transported/replanted. Poke a tiny hole in bucket for slow release.  I do this to my Queens every now and then when they looked a bit stressed from the cold. The Vit B bucket treatment did wonders to my avocado trees when I had to dig one out, potted, then replanted. It's been doing amazing – one of the little victories in my yard lately.

[Chavy87]

I used Epsom salt when I translated them in hope to minimize the shock.  However I'm starting to think I've been under watering them up until now.

 

 

 

 

 

[SeanK]

Check the soil pH. They're pretty close to the cement.

[Chavy87]

3 hours ago, SeanK said:

Check the soil pH. They're pretty close to the cement.

What is it supposed be? If you don't mind me asking.

[SeanK]

Not an expert, but I think 7+/- 0.5

Cement is highly alkaline with a pH  over 10.

[Merlyn]

Slightly acidic is generally good, 6.5ish is great for most palms.  Over 8 can cause lots of nutrient uptake problems.  In your case I would still guess low water and some normal handling damage and transplant shock.

[D Palm]

I would use fertilize liquid root stimulator. Queens have a hard time establishing in restricted growing areas.

[Chavy87]

This is the soil reading. What can I add to raise the ph levels? Fertilizer?

[Chavy87]

20 minutes ago, Chavy87 said:

This is the soil reading. What can I add to raise the ph levels? Fertilizer?

I did 1 tablespoon of baking soda and a gallon of water. I read that should raise the levels however I'm not sure it that is enough.

[Merlyn]

If it's reading a pH of 0 then the meter isn't working.  Put it in some tap water or do the self-calibration to check.  Distilled water I think is normally around 7, but can vary a little bit due to exposure to CO2 (air) and how it's processed and filtered.  I'd guess the pH meter needs to read in wet soil...I think?

[Chavy87]

I believe the probe is working correctly. The first picture is "my" soil, the following picture of the probe is in the soil that came in the root ball and box. This reading is also an hour after I used the baking soda and water. I'm not sure if that works that quick or what.

 

 

 

[Merlyn]

I thought it wasn't working at all because the photo showed a pH of 0.  If you pour a gallon of fresh water into soil it'll read 7.0 (ish) immediately after wetting.  After a couple of minutes it ought to read closer to the soil pH, as the water absorbs salts/minerals/etc from the soil.  A pH of 2.5 is ridiculously low, I'd question if that's real.  That's the pH of coke/pepsi...which would kill anything planted there.  If you have a can of coke handy you could pour some in a glass and dip the meter in there to check the calibration.

[Chavy87]

Maybe it isn't working, considering the placement of the probe in the two pictures is 6 to 8 inches apart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chavy87]

So the pictures are in order from newest to old palms, again I'm thinking this just transplant shock as it appears to be affect the lower fronds (more so one the second to last picture). I've been keeping the soil moist according to a meter probe. I guess I'm being paranoid about losing one since they weren't cheap.

[JohnT]

I used the product below to transplant mature crape myrtle trees and it has worked really well. I got it from Home Depot. Worth a try.