Washingtonia Robusta started going yellow

[PashkaTLT]

Hello,

I got this palm about a month ago. It was under full sun before it came to me, and it's also under full sun on my backyard now. The first 3 weeks it looked great, but in the last week I noticed one of the leafs started yellowing (can I say “started yellowing”? English is not my native language).

Last time I watered it about 6 days ago, and we didn't have rains lately.

The pot is probably a little small for it, looks like 10-12 gallons. I haven't repotted it, because I plan to plant it soon.

Any idea why it started going yellow?

[MarcusH]

12 hours ago, PashkaTLT said:

Hello,

I got this palm about a month ago. It was under full sun before it came to me, and it's also under full sun on my backyard now. The first 3 weeks it looked great, but in the last week I noticed one of the leafs started yellowing (can I say “started yellowing”? English is not my native language).

Last time I watered it about 6 days ago, and we didn't have rains lately.

The pot is probably a little small for it, looks like 10-12 gallons. I haven't repotted it, because I plan to plant it soon.

Any idea why it started going yellow?

I think one of the reasons you're experiencing yellowing on your leafes is caused by underwatering the palm.  Once in 6 days is definitely not enough. Mature Robustas can handle drought not young palms in pots.

Palms in pot need a lot of attention, too much water you get root rot ,too little it can die .  Keep the soil moist and water it 3 times a week until you see the water running out of the bottom of your palm during warm temperature cut back on watering in winter.  

Palms love fertilizer with a good NPK ratio 

[Jim in Los Altos]

The oldest leaf is beginning to die. It’s normal. Definitely water more often than every six days though. If you’re planning on putting it in the ground, this is the time of year to do that 

[PashkaTLT]

@MarcusH @Jim in Los Altos Thanks a lot guys, I didn't know I need to keep the soil most, I thought I needed to wait until it's dry. But many people told me that yes, it's underwatering and that in summer in full sun I should water very often, even maybe daily in the case of this Robusta in a pot which it has outgrown.

I almost always add more holes in pots when I buy plants and if I replant them I add some stuff on the bottom (like perlite) to avoid bottom rotting. In such a case, it will probably be very difficult to overwater my palms?

[MarcusH]

6 hours ago, PashkaTLT said:

@MarcusH @Jim in Los Altos Thanks a lot guys, I didn't know I need to keep the soil most, I thought I needed to wait until it's dry. But many people told me that yes, it's underwatering and that in summer in full sun I should water very often, even maybe daily in the case of this Robusta in a pot which it has outgrown.

I almost always add more holes in pots when I buy plants and if I replant them I add some stuff on the bottom (like perlite) to avoid bottom rotting. In such a case, it will probably be very difficult to overwater my palms?

As long as you have an effective drainage system there won't be any root rot. Don't wait for the soil to dry out keep it moist that way your palm will thrive in warm and sunny temperatures.  Extra holes in your pot allows for an even better drainage but you got that covered .  For first time planters there's a learning process about how to take care of palms,  each palm has different needs but most of them share the same care. One of the most important advices that I can give you is to sanitize your pruning tools to avoid transmitting serious diseases that can wipe out your palm , clean those before you use it on each palm.  A lot of folks killed their palm just by doing the opposite.  

[Jim in Los Altos]

18 hours ago, PashkaTLT said:

@MarcusH @Jim in Los Altos Thanks a lot guys, I didn't know I need to keep the soil most, I thought I needed to wait until it's dry. But many people told me that yes, it's underwatering and that in summer in full sun I should water very often, even maybe daily in the case of this Robusta in a pot which it has outgrown.

I almost always add more holes in pots when I buy plants and if I replant them I add some stuff on the bottom (like perlite) to avoid bottom rotting. In such a case, it will probably be very difficult to overwater my palms?

In warm weather, overwatering is nearly impossible. Even in cool weather. I used to have 20 acres in San Martin, CA that had a spring fed pond and very heavy thing gooey black clay soil and had Mexican Fan palms growing right at water’s edge in that mucky year round wet soil and they were thriving.