HELP please! dying bangalow palm's in Sydney

[Neil G]

Hi Palm loving Community,

I am humbly asking for some help to save 2 bangalow palms we recently planted in Sydney, Aus. 

We planted these 2 small bangalows 2 weeks ago and they are dying rapidly... We have always been advised it is hard to overwater thsese and teh soil is generally quite dry and sandy so, beliveing they need more water we have been watering every other day, However the one we have watered the most seem to be dying the quickest. to look at I feel like we are potentially over watering and it is rotting (see photo's) 

Any help is greatly appreciated as we are now unsure to water more or stop watering!

thanks is advance

Neil

[Brucer]

Have you just bought them? Often these are grown in Queensland in the tropics and sent to Sydney for sale and they have not acclimatized yet.  Buy smaller ones next time from some grown around Sydney.

[Jim in Los Altos]

The wetter the soil the better. They look shocked with their new environment. They may be used to less sun and more shade from where they were grown. Give them time and they will adjust. They often grow in swamp-like conditions in habitat so overwatering is simply impossible. 

[peachy]

I am the voice of dissent here it seems.  They can be overwatered and by the look of the leaves, that is exactly is happening. Once established they are bomb proof but until then they need a bit of care.  Did you sun harden them before planting ? They can burn if coming from a shade house situation into the sun but they are mostly grown outdoors by nurseries around here. It has also been pretty hot so early this year. I would give them a good dose of seaweed mix (Seasol etc) and mulch over the root area well. Watering twice weekly in the heat is all I ever do until they establish a bit. 

Peachy

 

[happypalms]

Could be your palms are sulking often happens with greenhouse grown palms or any recently planted palms even if it has been sun hardened your situation looks like sunburn and lack of water or have been transplanted from the ground to your garden bangalows don’t like to transplanted especially from native environments iam not sure of your watering schedule or rainfall situation but more water might help your palms should survive and in a couple of years you won’t even remember what they looked like after planting good luck 

[Navarro]

Parece que es la lanza nueva la que está marrón ,si es así en mi experiencia es por exceso de agua como dice aterciopelado.

 

[Jim in Los Altos]

9 hours ago, peachy said:

I am the voice of dissent here it seems.  They can be overwatered and by the look of the leaves, that is exactly is happening. Once established they are bomb proof but until then they need a bit of care.  Did you sun harden them before planting ? They can burn if coming from a shade house situation into the sun but they are mostly grown outdoors by nurseries around here. It has also been pretty hot so early this year. I would give them a good dose of seaweed mix (Seasol etc) and mulch over the root area well. Watering twice weekly in the heat is all I ever do until they establish a bit. 

Peachy

 

Peachy, I have a few growing like rockets for the last several years that are literally growing in a huge tub of stagnant water. They are growing in a sunken former 700 gallon fiberglass fish pond with no drainage and just gravel for substrate (no soil). The rest is water filled right up to their trunks. They LOVE it! Leaves are green and flawless and growth rings are 12” apart (30 centimeters). This is truly an aquatic species. 

Edited September 30, 2023 by Jim in Los Altos

[cbmnz]

I'm pretty sure I killed one with water. Over a dry summer used a soaker hose in the wrong way, in hindsite it was blasting water at raised pressure directly into the growing point. Rain does not wet the same way. It started to decline and one by one every leaf browned up until just the unopened spear was left. I left it as long as possible but eventually that pulled too.  Pictured is the doomed one next to its replacement double which is now 2.5m tall and almost trunking. No trouble on second go, after not repeating that mistake.

[philinsydney]

It's certainly been dry in Sydney this year.

[Tyrone]

They look heat stressed and sunburnt as well as dry. The trouble with sandy soil is it can become water repellant. So even though you water a lot it just runs off and the roots get nothing. We’re the holes you planted them in filled it with water with the palm in the hole before you put the soil back in. This makes sure everything is soaked deep right away. Keep the water up to them watering daily with fish and seaweed especially if it’s going to get to 30C or higher. These are a native species to the Sydney area, but it’s been very hot and dry this year. 

[James B]

If there is sprinkler water spraying into the crown that can cause problems like pink rot.

Watering should be done via drip lines, bubblers, or hose. If done using that technique like Jim has shared very difficult to over water these. Heat/sun stress and potential transplant shock are the likely culprits.

There are some great pictures online of Alexandrae and Myolensis growing inside streams and rivers as well as ponds in habitat. 
 

 

 

[Neil G]

Thank you so much everyone, I really appreciate the advice.

It seems to be a slight split but more on the side of 'give them more water'

We are getting the soil tested today while we grab seasol with some wetting agent as the soil becoming water repellent is something raised by a friend also.

 

They were in the shade at the nursery and now get 4-5 hours of sun so sounds like stress of the move is a big factor.

We will be going with more water and will let you know we go.

Thanks again all... much appreciated 

 

[Merlyn]

It is hard to tell from the photos, but one of them looks like it *might* be planted way too deep.  The frond bases appear to be underground here, which can contribute to crown rot:

It might be totally fine, it's just hard to judge in the picture.  See this link for planting depth details: http://www.marriedtoplants.com/palms/palm-tree-growing-tips-mounding/

It looks like a lot of sunburn to me, at that size they may not tolerate full sun.  If the new leaves are growing out okay and green then it'll probably adapt.  Mark the new spears with a sharpie to see if they are growing steadily.

[peachy]

On 10/1/2023 at 5:40 AM, Jim in Los Altos said:

Peachy, I have a few growing like rockets for the last several years that are literally growing in a huge tub of stagnant water. They are growing in a sunken former 700 gallon fiberglass fish pond with no drainage and just gravel for substrate (no soil). The rest is water filled right up to their trunks. They LOVE it! Leaves are green and flawless and growth rings are 12” apart (30 centimeters). This is truly an aquatic species. 

Okay I stand corrected. Wet or dry they are unkillable here.  I have never really needed to drown them, in fact I avoid it as I planted 2 in the old garden before amending the soil and when I  watered their leaf tips went brown, so I cut back and they survived. Hence my assumption, well that  and I am a very old woman.

Peachy

[Neil G]

10 hours ago, Merlyn said:

It is hard to tell from the photos, but one of them looks like it *might* be planted way too deep.  The frond bases appear to be underground here, which can contribute to crown rot:

It might be totally fine, it's just hard to judge in the picture.  See this link for planting depth details: http://www.marriedtoplants.com/palms/palm-tree-growing-tips-mounding/

It looks like a lot of sunburn to me, at that size they may not tolerate full sun.  If the new leaves are growing out okay and green then it'll probably adapt.  Mark the new spears with a sharpie to see if they are growing steadily.

Thanks Merlyn, much appreciated ( my wife planted them and dous form for planting an old mandarin too deep) I hadn't really looked at it. 

We have trimmed the brown leaves and will mark the new so we can track.

Appreciate everyone's advice 🤞

[happypalms]

14 hours ago, peachy said:

Okay I stand corrected. Wet or dry they are unkillable here.  I have never really needed to drown them, in fact I avoid it as I planted 2 in the old garden before amending the soil and when I  watered their leaf tips went brown, so I cut back and they survived. Hence my assumption, well that  and I am a very old woman.

Peachy

Old is gold peachy