Damaged/slightly split spear on King Palm, will this affect anything?

[LakewoodPalm]

Hi all. I'm new to PalmTalk, but I bought my first King Palm just today. However, on my way back home transporting it on the truck, I heard the tree inadvertently make contact with some of the sidewalk trees as I was driving. When I got home, it appeared that the center spear was damaged/split.

Can anyone advise what repercussions this may cause, if any? Really hoping it will be okay as this is my first king and I was excited getting it from the nursery.

Edited June 3, 2023 by LakewoodPalm

[Merlyn]

No damage, most likely.  The new "spear" looks like it's about big enough to open normally anyway, so you just helped it along.  The only risk is if you hit it hard enough, it could damage the "bud" or growing point down at the base of the trunk.  I'd take a sharpie and mark the new spear horizontally across it and the next nearby older frond.  That way you can see if it's still growing or not.  If it is NOT growing or not opening up normally in a couple of weeks, there's a chance of bud damage.  If it grows steadily, no harm no foul!

[LakewoodPalm]

10 minutes ago, Merlyn said:

No damage, most likely.  The new "spear" looks like it's about big enough to open normally anyway, so you just helped it along.  The only risk is if you hit it hard enough, it could damage the "bud" or growing point down at the base of the trunk.  I'd take a sharpie and mark the new spear horizontally across it and the next nearby older frond.  That way you can see if it's still growing or not.  If it is NOT growing or not opening up normally in a couple of weeks, there's a chance of bud damage.  If it grows steadily, no harm no foul!

Thanks for the feedback! Will try the sharpie idea.

Edited June 3, 2023 by LakewoodPalm

[DoomsDave]

@LakewoodPalm nice to meet you and welcome!

I concur with what’s been said, and just note that there’s a huge bunch of great possibilities where you are.

I’m nearby and this is part of my garden. If you’re interested you’re welcome to visit.

 

[LakewoodPalm]

Update:

Over night (12 hours or so), the crack in the spear has become more pronounced. Any thoughts on this? I'm pretty bummed, but am open to honest opinions. Is the palm just acclimating to what happened?

[LakewoodPalm]

14 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

@LakewoodPalm nice to meet you and welcome!

I concur with what’s been said, and just note that there’s a huge bunch of great possibilities where you are.

I’m nearby and this is part of my garden. If you’re interested you’re welcome to visit.

 

Thank you for the reply too!

[BayAndroid]

6 minutes ago, LakewoodPalm said:

Update:

Over night (12 hours or so), the crack in the spear has become more pronounced. Any thoughts on this? I'm pretty bummed, but am open to honest opinions. Is the palm just acclimating to what happened?

There's almost surely no problem here. You're fine. When fronds open up, they breakaway like this naturally. You will see. 

[LakewoodPalm]

1 minute ago, BayAndroid said:

There's almost surely no problem here. You're fine. When fronds open up, they breakaway like this naturally. You will see. 

Got it, thanks for the reply and reassurance 😅

[Merlyn]

Yep, totally normal!  In around a week it should be fully opened.  Most palm fronds start opening up near the tip of the "spear," though occasionally you'll see the leaflets start splitting up near the middle first.