Ummph, then poof...nothing

[old Mike]

I got these two plam trees in Statesboro Georgia on the "I'm just a out dead rack".  I transplanted them into 15 gallon grow bags inside a pot. I fertilized them and they started to put new growth out. About 45 days or so.  They get watered once a day for 5 minutes,  & have good drainage. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  I think they are a fan palm, maybe a Washington palm.

TIA

Old Mike

[Leelanau Palms]

One looks like it has a viable green spear coming out. The other, not so much. Maybe you could trim away the completely dead fronds to fully expose the viable parts of both palms for diagnosis. I believe the messier palm needs a tug on its spear as a next step. New pictures after clean up will help us help you.

[SM458]

Yes, they appear to be Washingtonia palms. 

[old Mike]

Two more images after I peeled back the fronds

[Leelanau Palms]

Yes, Washingtonias. Red looks viable and needs time and good care. I would trim all remaining dead material away on that one. Blue looks bad. Give the remaining fronds a tug to see if they come out easily. 

[old Mike]

I pulled all the fronds that would come off easily.  Let's put it this way,  I didn't put on any gloves which would have given me the ability to pull harder. So, what I pulled off is what you see.

So, any suggestions would help. I'm no expert when it comes to palms. When I saw them I figured I could save them.  

[Leelanau Palms]

Trim all dead material from the red one. Give it sunshine and water, making sure not to overwater. The blue one looks gone. I don't see a spear. Normally folks here would recommend cutting the trunk, starting top down in increments, until you find viable growth in the center. This would be after a good pull on any visible dead spear or remaining fronds.

[old Mike]

Thanks, I'll do all that. I'm going to leave the blue one as is until winter.  If anything changes I'll celebrate,  if not, I'll send it on its way.   Maybe on a road trip to Florida,  I can find someone willing to let me dig one up. They grow like weeds an hour or two from here.  

[Leelanau Palms]

What zone are you? 

[old Mike]

I'm in zone 8A,  50 miles from the coast

 

[JLM]

10 minutes ago, old Mike said:

I'm in zone 8A,  50 miles from the coast

 

The new USDA map has Bulloch County in zone 8b into 9a. Planting the red container palm might be worth a try if you can.

[Leelanau Palms]

You have a lot of good palm options for your locale 🙂 . @WSimpson is the man for the palms you have now. 

[old Mike]

Wow, global warming, hmm. I have citrus planted and doing well. Some of my neighbors have palms. I had a 40" cabbage palm that was planted by someone within 2 feet of the house. I called a few places and they said they wouldn't move it because they couldn't get the equipment close enough and were worried that the roots went under the house. It broke my h eart to have it cut down.  I want UT to get healthy before I move it out into the wild. 

[SeanK]

Your zone map looks like the 1990 version. This included the 1970s that were generally cold and the the two record-setting freezes of the mid-1980s. Just put those two robustas outside and water each day. Wait a month or two. Nothing lost at this point.