Newly purchased Sylvester Fronds turning Yellow

[Matt D]

We just had 7 Sylvester’s planted about 6 weeks ago. In the last week the fronds have started turning yellow. Should I be worried about the new trees. We also had 2 Pindos planted. The last pic is one of the pindos 

[Merlyn]

It's normal for newly dug up and planted palms to have some "transplant shock."  Palms will "eat" the oldest fronds for nutrients to power new growth, and to balance out the loss of roots during transplant.  So some browning is expected.  The Pindos look great.  However, those Sylvesters look like they are really struggling.  One in the middle of the 2nd picture looks like the leaflets are all folded up.  Three main possibilities come to mind:

1. This could be from lack of water, are you watering them daily or semi-daily?  Clay soil holds more water than sandy soil, but new transplants need "deep watering" to get acclimated.  You could do this with a trickle from a hose for an hour per palm, and hit each palm a couple of times per week.
2. It could also be from a disease like Lethal Bronzing, formerly known as Texas Phoenix Palm Decline.  LB/TPPD is widespread here in Florida, and is really lethal to Sylvesters and Dactilifera, and less so to other species like Queens, Sabals, etc.  I'm not sure if it is prevalent in your area.
3. Fertilizer in the hole when planting can burn the roots, and cause the same visible symptoms.  Hopefully you or the installers didn't fertilize them, or put down lawn fertilizer around them!  Usually wait 1-2 months to fertilize new palms, and it is better to do low doses more often.  An 8-2-12 ratio should work in your area, typically PalmGain or Florikan are highly recommended.

 

[Matt D]

Merlyn,

They are in a clay sand mix. Drains pretty well. They look good until about a week ago when I switched to every other day as instructed. It’s been in the mid 80’s during the day. But the last week they have really gone downhill. How much water should they be getting when watering. All 7 are 5-1/2’ to 6’ trucks.

[Merlyn]

@Matt D step one would be to call the place who planted them, and get their opinion.  Most reputable nurseries will warranty their plants, especially if they are expensive to buy and install.  If you were following their instructions, then they should hopefully have some suggestions.  And they know the local soil and weather a lot better than I do!

Generally the recommendation to go to every other day at 5 months seems reasonable.  One problem with watering is that if you drown them...it looks pretty similar to if you left them bone dry.  Too much water can cause root rot, and then the palm won't absorb enough water...leading to closed up leaflets and looking like it's starving for water.  But if the soil is fairly loose and quick draining, my guess is that you aren't overwatering.  As a reference, here in swampy Floriduh I have 2x 2gph drippers on each Sylvester (or 4x 1gph) running about 40 minutes per day.  That's about 2.7 gallons of water per palm, per day.  That's for an established palm that's rooted in, honestly I'm not sure how much you'd want to give a 6' trunk newly planted Sylvester.

Any other South Texas PT'ers with more direct experience???