Please help with Kentia Palms

[SMP]

Hello, I am new to the forum trying to find some help with a couple of Kentia palms we planted in our front yard in the end of 2021 if I recall correctly.

I am located in Southern California.

Can anyone tell me what is going on with my palms? My husband thinks that they are dead or dying at this point.

Any feedback and assistance would be greatly appreciated!!

[Jim in Los Altos]

Nothing at all in those photos would indicate dead palms. They look robust and healthy considering they are in full sun. What you are seeing with the minor cosmetic flaws in the leaves is likely due to the recent heat wave. The palms are fine otherwise. 

[Jegs]

Not an expert by any means. If I had to guess, I would say: 
Graphiola false smut.

Just a cosmetic disease and doesn’t affect plant growth. 

[SMP]

2 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Nothing at all in those photos would indicate dead palms. They look robust and healthy considering they are in full sun. What you are seeing with the minor cosmetic flaws in the leaves is likely due to the recent heat wave. The palms are fine otherwise. 

What about the black spots on the trunk and fronds? On one of the trunks, it is covered in black spots that are now covering the trunk and turning it black

[MJSanDiego]

The black spots look like either pests such as spider mites or scale, or sooty mold, a fungal disease which is a symptom of a larger problem.  Could be caused by pruning or watering practices. Treat with fungicide. For scale or spider mites treat with horticultural oil, need oil, or insecticidal soap 

[Jim in Los Altos]

25 minutes ago, MJSanDiego said:

The black spots look like either pests such as spider mites or scale, or sooty mold, a fungal disease which is a symptom of a larger problem.  Could be caused by pruning or watering practices. Treat with fungicide. For scale or spider mites treat with horticultural oil, need oil, or insecticidal soap 

I have 12 big mature healthy Kentia palms in my landscape that I’ve cared for over twenty years. The coloring on the trunk and petioles of the poster’s palm is normal coloring. There may be some minor fungal spotting on the leaves but that’s not life threatening by any means. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

1 hour ago, SMP said:

What about the black spots on the trunk and fronds? On one of the trunks, it is covered in black spots that are now covering the trunk and turning it black

I’ve been growing Kentia palms for over twenty years. The trunk and petiole coloring on yours is normal on a sun grown Kentia. There may be some minor fungal spotting on the palm’s leaves that isn’t serious by any means. Howea forsteriana the size of yours will stress a bit in full sun during heat waves and will handle that much better as they become more mature. Do you feed your palms? My tallest Kentia is in the center of the photo. 
 

[Jim in Los Altos]

1 hour ago, SMP said:

What about the black spots on the trunk and fronds? On one of the trunks, it is covered in black spots that are now covering the trunk and turning it black

Normal coloring particularly in sun grown Howea. 

[Jonathan]

I agree with Jim, they look like nice healthy Howeas...I wouldn't be bombing them with chemicals! Give them plenty of H2O and a good feed. 

[Jonathan]

The trunk colour is normal, by the way. They tend to go greyish over time in the sun and stay greener in the shade, from my experience. 

[Tracy]

1 hour ago, Jonathan said:

The trunk colour is normal, by the way. They tend to go greyish over time in the sun and stay greener in the shade, from my experience. 

To add to this comment I have seen the trunk on one side do this when exposed to extensive sun while a side in full shade on the same trunk remains green longer.

This species handles more sun on the coast in Southern California than inland.  I have some growing in coastal Carlbad which are now canopy palms after 25+  years.  During Santa Ana's make sure to keep up the water.

I noticed after posting you are in Los Alamitos.  This will grow well for you there in full sun with water.

[Harry’s Palms]

I am inland from the beach about 20 miles in SoCal. Howea take full sun here once they are trunking . The only thing that will set them back a bit is extended hot weather with no evening cool down. Water is the only defense for this condition , just keep the soil moist . They are probably one of the easiest palms to grow , highly adaptable in the right zone. I agree that yours are going through a bit of stress related trauma but I would just keep an eye on them . We are entering into Fall so they should be fine . They are beautiful and very nice sized palms . Like @Jim in Los Altos I have been growing them for many years , even starting a few from seed some 30 years ago. I have even grown young ones in full sun with no casualties . The only Kentia I lost was my fault , due to a heat wave while I was out of town . I wasn’t able to soak the root ball in the evenings during the event . It was about 15-20 feet tall and sadly it died. I know it just didn’t get the water it needed when it was so hot here. Recently we went through a major heat wave , over 100f for days with not much cooling at night. My largest Kentia’s all lost two lower fronds almost over nigh but the rest of the palms look great . HarryThese are full sun , all day long and were near dead when I retrieved them from a construction site . That was many years ago . They now produce viable seed . It was about 80f when this picture was taken! Harry

[Harry’s Palms]

If you look at the above photo you can see the grey trunk that occurs when grown in an inland , full sun location. Harry

[Harry’s Palms]

These are shade grown so you can see that they really like the environment. The larger one is just starting to get direct sun but happily trucking along . The smaller one just started trunking a year ago. I really like these palms even though they are fairly common around here. Harry

[SMP]

8 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

I’ve been growing Kentia palms for over twenty years. The trunk and petiole coloring on yours is normal on a sun grown Kentia. There may be some minor fungal spotting on the palm’s leaves that isn’t serious by any means. Howea forsteriana the size of yours will stress a bit in full sun during heat waves and will handle that much better as they become more mature. Do you feed your palms? My tallest Kentia is in the center of the photo. 
 

Thank you so much...I really appreciate your feedback. Can you please recommend what I can use to feed and fertilize the kentias? 
Your palma are gorgeous!

[SMP]

42 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I am inland from the beach about 20 miles in SoCal. Howea take full sun here once they are trunking . The only thing that will set them back a bit is extended hot weather with no evening cool down. Water is the only defense for this condition , just keep the soil moist . They are probably one of the easiest palms to grow , highly adaptable in the right zone. I agree that yours are going through a bit of stress related trauma but I would just keep an eye on them . We are entering into Fall so they should be fine . They are beautiful and very nice sized palms . Like @Jim in Los Altos I have been growing them for many years , even starting a few from seed some 30 years ago. I have even grown young ones in full sun with no casualties . The only Kentia I lost was my fault , due to a heat wave while I was out of town . I wasn’t able to soak the root ball in the evenings during the event . It was about 15-20 feet tall and sadly it died. I know it just didn’t get the water it needed when it was so hot here. Recently we went through a major heat wave , over 100f for days with not much cooling at night. My largest Kentia’s all lost two lower fronds almost over nigh but the rest of the palms look great . HarryThese are full sun , all day long and were near dead when I retrieved them from a construction site . That was many years ago . They now produce viable seed . It was about 80f when this picture was taken! Harry

Wow! This palm is beautiful!

[Jim in Los Altos]

1 hour ago, SMP said:

Thank you so much...I really appreciate your feedback. Can you please recommend what I can use to feed and fertilize the kentias? 
Your palma are gorgeous!

Thank you. PalmGain is the best I’ve used. 

[SMP]

32 minutes ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Thank you. PalmGain is the best I’ve used. 

Thank you so much!!

[Jegs]

PalmGain isn’t slow release, so you’ll have to fertilize more frequently than controlled release polymer coated fertilizer. 
 

8-2-12 is a good ratio for most palms.

[MJSanDiego]

I would have a second look at the trunk. I zoomed in and I don't see just discoloration of the trunk from sun or heat. I see clear bumps that resemble some kind of growth as well. OP said they were not there before. I believe there is a fungal component to this as well. Discoloration from sun would still be smooth. It's not just brown discoloration but brown and black bumps based on zoom in. You can compare the shade north side to the south side too. Maybe I am totally wrong. But its really worth a second look to be safe and sure with this beauty 

[Jim in Los Altos]

3 hours ago, Jegs said:

PalmGain isn’t slow release, so you’ll have to fertilize more frequently than controlled release polymer coated fertilizer. 
 

8-2-12 is a good ratio for most palms.

Blake, PalmGain is indeed slow release. I’ve used it for years. It’s easily the best performing fertilizer I’ve ever used. 
 

[Jegs]

4 minutes ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Blake, PalmGain is indeed slow release. I’ve used it for years. It’s easily the best performing fertilizer I’ve ever used. 
 

I should have specified; it does have some slow release qualities, but most of the nutrients aren’t polymer coated. 

I like/use palm gain for certain situations, but it’s more of a monthly fertilizer and not a true slow-release 3 month fertilizer. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

2 hours ago, MJSanDiego said:

I would have a second look at the trunk. I zoomed in and I don't see just discoloration of the trunk from sun or heat. I see clear bumps that resemble some kind of growth as well. OP said they were not there before. I believe there is a fungal component to this as well. Discoloration from sun would still be smooth. It's not just brown discoloration but brown and black bumps based on zoom in. You can compare the shade north side to the south side too. Maybe I am totally wrong. But its really worth a second look to be safe and sure with this beauty 

Just one of my Kentia trunks. The sporting is normal tomentum.