Queen needs a visit to ER

[Christopher Dillman]

Where it's here at PalmTalk.  And always appreciated. 

What emergency prescription will return this palm back to health come the spring? It's located San Diego (Zone 10b).

It was fine last spring, took my eye of the ball, now it's this.

It's next to a larger queen that's doing fine. There's a drip just on upper side of trunk (2 times a day, 20 min ea).

Frizzled top, a shoot trying to come through but brown and frizzled. 

 

Any and all ER recipes welcomed! 🤒

[Las Palmas Norte]

 

Queen needs a visit to ER

 

I'd recommend the ER visit the palm.😁

[Fusca]

2 hours ago, Christopher Dillman said:

Where it's here at PalmTalk.  And always appreciated. 

What emergency prescription will return this palm back to health come the spring? It's located San Diego (Zone 10b).

It was fine last spring, took my eye of the ball, now it's this.

It's next to a larger queen that's doing fine. There's a drip just on upper side of trunk (2 times a day, 20 min ea).

Frizzled top, a shoot trying to come through but brown and frizzled. 

 

Any and all ER recipes welcomed! 🤒

What is your fertilizer routine?  It's needing some nutrients including manganese.  I'm not sure how it can recover from that pencil-pointing - it will likely continue to grow but look odd.

 

https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/monroeco/2008/09/23/pencil-pointing-palms/

[Christopher Dillman]

17 minutes ago, Fusca said:

What is your fertilizer routine? 

None for this palm sadly. I do juggle btwn Palm Plus and Palm Gain for most of my larger queen palms.

This one in particular has always been very petite-sized. Usually some green growth from fronds (not as much as my other palms), but this year it's struggling.

Here's one prescription I'm thinking - Sanity check plz -

+ Add emitters all around base of palm
+ Ring of Palm/Cactus mix to penetrate soil
+ Palm Plus feeding
+ Double shot of manganese? {second part of question is what brand should I use?}
+ Cut off the existing fronds? {to trigger new growth?}

All I can think of atm.

[Merlyn]

1 hour ago, Christopher Dillman said:

+ Add emitters all around base of palm - yes, I'd do some hand watering after the fertilizer below.
+ Ring of Palm/Cactus mix to penetrate soil - no opinion here.
+ Palm Plus feeding - yes.
+ Double shot of manganese? - a handful of granular manganese sulfate (I use rite-green) is good.
+ Cut off the existing fronds? {to trigger new growth?} - Nope, only do this if you are trying to kill it.

See my comments above in red.  Is the new spear brown and distorted?  It might have a crown infection, you can test by squirting some hydrogen peroxide in there.  If it bubbles up you have a crown infection.  If no bubbling, no fungus!

[Christopher Dillman]

24 minutes ago, Merlyn said:

+ Ring of Palm/Cactus mix to penetrate soil - no opinion here.
 

See my comments above in red.  Is the new spear brown and distorted?  It might have a crown infection, you can test by squirting some hydrogen peroxide in there.  If it bubbles up you have a crown infection.  If no bubbling, no fungus!

Thank you for this!

The Palm/Cactus mix is normally in the planting soil. Sometimes I use this as a soil conditioner topping. Sometimes I use 'Happy Frog' soil conditioner which contains bat guano. Yet always open to new soil conditioners to try.

[Jim in Los Altos]

2 hours ago, Christopher Dillman said:

None for this palm sadly. I do juggle btwn Palm Plus and Palm Gain for most of my larger queen palms.

This one in particular has always been very petite-sized. Usually some green growth from fronds (not as much as my other palms), but this year it's struggling.

Here's one prescription I'm thinking - Sanity check plz -

+ Add emitters all around base of palm
+ Ring of Palm/Cactus mix to penetrate soil
+ Palm Plus feeding
+ Double shot of manganese? {second part of question is what brand should I use?}
+ Cut off the existing fronds? {to trigger new growth?}

All I can think of atm.

Cutting off its only source of life sustaining carbohydrate producing green leaves will for sure put an end to this palm’s life. As a rule, green fronds should not be pruned off a palm. Also, Queen palm roots spread many yards horizontally away from their trunks so watering and feeding well away as well as within the palm’s dripping is beneficial. 

[Merlyn]

3 hours ago, Christopher Dillman said:

Thank you for this!

The Palm/Cactus mix is normally in the planting soil. Sometimes I use this as a soil conditioner topping. Sometimes I use 'Happy Frog' soil conditioner which contains bat guano. Yet always open to new soil conditioners to try.

  I'd think a mulch (or similar topping) would be a good idea for several reasons.  As it degrades it provides nutrients (like boron) to the palm, it helps retain moisture for the upper surface roots, and lowers surface soil temps.  As I wrote this it occurred to me it might be boron deficient too, with no mulch cover and no added boron in fertilizer.  That can cause manganese-looking problems too:

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP264

I don't see any hooked leaf or corrugated leaf, which is usually an early sign.  So most likely it's manganese.  If your soil and/or water are basic, you can see below how absorption is a problem:

 

[Tracy]

3 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Cutting off its only source of life sustaining carbohydrate producing green leaves will for sure put an end to this palm’s life. As a rule, green fronds should not be pruned off a palm. Also, Queen palm roots spread many yards horizontally away from their trunks so watering and feeding well away as well as within the palm’s dripping is beneficial. 

Given the pencil look, cutting off the leaves to put the palm out of its misery sounds like a viable option.  Christopher sounds like you have multiple Queens doing fine so perhaps eliminating this sickly specimen is actually an opportunity to diversity the species in your garden.  There is an abundance of species you can grow in Carlsbad. 

If you nurse this palm back to health, it will retain an unattractive pinch in its trunk here.  I vote to euthanize it and open some new planting real estate. 

[Billy]

4 minutes ago, Tracy said:

Christopher sounds like you have multiple Queens doing fine so perhaps eliminating this sickly specimen is actually an opportunity to diversity the species in your garden.  There is an abundance of species you can grow in Carlsbad.  I vote to euthanize it and open some new planting real estate. 

This ^^^ 

As hard as it is (emotionally and physically) to remove palms that we love so much, I've learned to look at it as an opportunity to open up a new space in the yard to grow something new and exciting. I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide to do. 

 

[Harry’s Palms]

I had a row of Queen palms and a couple of King palms. I originally planted them for a fast growing canopy.  One Queen just never seemed to do well so I cut it down and left part of the trunk . It sat for a few years as I was trying to figure out what to do with it.  I would set potted plants on it , thought about carving it into some sort of Tiki but was afraid if I did the carving poorly it would bring bad Ju Ju. Then it dawned on me , hollow out the top section and put a bit of soil and moss , then plant a Bromeliad! Good drainage and the plant loves it! Harry

[Billy]

14 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

thought about carving it into some sort of Tiki but was afraid if I did the carving poorly it would bring bad Ju Ju. Then it dawned on me , hollow out the top section and put a bit of soil and moss , then plant a Bromeliad! Good drainage and the plant loves it! Harry

Harry, ironically I originally had the same hopes of carving a tiki into a queen trunk that I cut down to about the same size as yours...I eventually decided against it and did the same exact thing as you. The bromeliad has since grown a ton and is now throwing out a big pup. I'll see if I can find a photo to share. 

[Billy]

@Harry’s Palms Not a recent photo, but there she is! My friends think it’s hokey but I thought it was kind of creative. Oh well. What the heck…haha! 

[Harry’s Palms]

That is awesome ! Great minds think alike eh? Maybe start a thread on what can or has been done with remnant palm trunks! Harry

[Jim in Los Altos]

4 hours ago, Tracy said:

Given the pencil look, cutting off the leaves to put the palm out of its misery sounds like a viable option.  Christopher sounds like you have multiple Queens doing fine so perhaps eliminating this sickly specimen is actually an opportunity to diversity the species in your garden.  There is an abundance of species you can grow in Carlsbad. 

If you nurse this palm back to health, it will retain an unattractive pinch in its trunk here.  I vote to euthanize it and open some new planting real estate. 

True, if the palm were mine, it would have been cut down yesterday. I was just pointing out how bad it is to remove green fronds especially on a palm already holding few leaves on any species. 

[Merlyn]

8 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

True, if the palm were mine, it would have been cut down yesterday. I was just pointing out how bad it is to remove green fronds especially on a palm already holding few leaves on any species. 

Same here.  I have to worry about hurricanes here, so I would definitely chop it down and replace it with something else.  If high winds are a concern there I'd definitely take it out now.  20 feet of trunk hanging above a weak spot in a few years is a big risk.

[SeanK]

Two palms side by side. Same climate, same soil; rootzones entwined.

To me that leans away from any sun, water, fertilizer issues. Leaves me thinking something infectious. Keep an eye on the healthy one. If it's the soil, both are at risk. 

I would quickly remove the sick palm in case there's an insect vector.

[Christopher Dillman]

On 10/1/2024 at 9:43 PM, Jim in Los Altos said:

True, if the palm were mine, it would have been cut down yesterday. 

Well, then.. I'll take requests.

 

It is the runt of the litter for sure. Always has been. The other queens could use a touch up with nutrients.

Instincts tell me to drop another giant bird of paradise in its place. But I want something with more 'wow' factor that gets attention. 

This is south facing, so full sun from morning to eve. Zone 10b {I think..} in Encinitas, CA. 

GO. ⏰

[Jim in Los Altos]

1 hour ago, Christopher Dillman said:

Well, then.. I'll take requests.

 

It is the runt of the litter for sure. Always has been. The other queens could use a touch up with nutrients.

Instincts tell me to drop another giant bird of paradise in its place. But I want something with more 'wow' factor that gets attention. 

This is south facing, so full sun from morning to eve. Zone 10b {I think..} in Encinitas, CA. 

GO. ⏰

If it were me, I’d add a standout palm with blue leaves like a Bismarkia but further down the hill to give it the room it needs. In your climate, there are hundreds of exotic palm species that would do well for you.