What’s wrong with my King Palm?

[Juanaramirez]

We bought it at Home Depot in Feb 2024.

Planted in June 2024

Survived the summer— we watered 3-times a week on an irrigation system (three rounded drip system) and added a day of water as needed, if it was extremely hot. I live in So Cal Los Angeles.  All other plants are okay except this one. 

Right now is on two times week water schedule since it’s not as warm, maybe like 70s during the day.  I have the same exact palm not shown with three trunks and that’s doing significantly better with the same water schedule. The only thing I can think of is the first Palm is on east side and the Palm that’s struggling is on the west side. There are 8 foot walls on each side. 

Did the summer sun dry it out? Or could it be sick, fungus or maybe a goner? It has two other trunks that seem ok. The last three pics show the other trunks. 

 

Edited December 10 by Juanaramirez
Forgot the irrigation

[Harry’s Palms]

I would work in some good top soil into the surface of the existing dirt where the watering circle is and top with wood chips , keep the soil wet! These are water lovers. You may lose that one trunk . The big box stores buy palms from the cheapest vendors they can find so set back is expected and it can take a full year for them to come around , especially if planted in full sun. A lot of growers grow their palms under shade cloth so they aren’t hardened off. The good news is that shorter days and lower aspect of sun will benefit the palms . Harry

[PalmCode]

Yea, I'm thinking the problem could be a lack of top soil and mulch as it looks like the top feeder are roots exposed.  Wood chips, sticks and leaves ect basically turn to mulch. King palms love rich soil matter around the truck base so I would start there. 

[Merlyn]

@Juanaramirez one thing that is happening is that the new fronds are growing out a lot shorter than the older fronds.  That's "normal behavior" when a palm goes from a shade cloth nursery to full sun.  So right now the new fronds are maybe 1/2 the size of the old ones, and are adapting to being in full sun.  That means they grow up and try to open in the middle of the crown.  While it looks like it's cramped up and not growing right, it's pretty normal.  I'd agree with the others, it probably wants more water and some mulch around the base.  That'll help with water retention.  In most cases it's nearly impossible to over-water a King, especially in a dry climate like CA.

That being said, the one trunk does look like it is struggling.  Normally the crownshaft is green, and this one looks sunburnt brown.  It also might have a fungal infection here, about 6 inches below your hand:

The new spear is growing out with green near the base and then brown tips.  The first thing I'd do is squirt some household hydrogen peroxide into the crown, just near the base of the frond as it comes out.  If it bubbles up or you can hear fizzing/popping sounds then it probably has a crown infection.  Those are frequently treatable, 2x to 3x per week with H2O2 and Daconil is my solution. 

If it does *not* bubble up with hydrogen peroxide, then it's unlikely to have a crown fungal infection.  It may be fine and just needs more water, it may have an upper or lower trunk fungal infection.  The typical upper trunk infections are Thielaviopsis, and lower trunk is Ganoderma.  Neither are curable. 

I would add water, try the hydrogen peroxide check, and mark the new spear on the above photo horizontally with a Sharpie.  That way you can easily see if the spear is growing.  It'll be a bit slower this time of year, but should grow out slowly but steadily.  If it is totally stationary and there's no new spear starting to poke out, that trunk just might be toast.

[DoomsDave]

@Juanaramirez welcome and sorry to hear of your troubles.

 

I concur loudly with @Harry’s Palms and @Merlyn in noting that kings like LOTS of water.  At the risk of being obnoxious, I’ll say they’re more than just Thirsty Devils; they’re Swamp Things that grow standing in water in their natural habitat. @Jim in Los Altos will agree,
 

It also looks like the roots are exposed at the soil surface. Maybe build a circle out of bricks or those scalloped tree ring things and fill them with dirt dug from the ground, not potting soil and keep wet. 
 

Hope this helps!

[happypalms]

Did someone say @DoomsDave archontophoenix in habitat and water!

[RainforestCafe]

@happypalms from your pictures, it would appear that they like water 😂 😂 

[Johnny Palmseed]

@Juanaramirez I recommend that in the future you should seek guidance on Palmtalk before planting. There are many people in your area who can give expert advice and will save you headaches in the future. As for your palms, I don’t live in California but this is my guess what happened here. You planted a water loving triple palm in June right as the summer was starting. It was most likely in a plastic pot. You planted in what looks like a very dry soil. The roots were used to getting regular water that stayed in the pot with the roots. When you planted it, the ground surrounding the roots absorbed the water and the palms didn’t like that. You watered it but it wasn’t enough. There are 3 palms fighting for the available water. The largest one is suffering the most due to its higher need and full exposure to the sun. It’s unknown if the palm was grown in shade or sun at the nursery/Home Depot, but you planted it in what looks like full sun. These factors caused the damage you see here. Additional water might not be enough to cure the problem. Home Depot used to have a one year warranty on plants. If they still do, you might want to consider utilizing that option and starting over with a new palm. Otherwise, pour on the water and hope for the best. You might end up with a double instead of a triple, which is actually quite common even here in Florida.

[Juanaramirez]

Thank you all for your detailed responses to my question. We did what you all suggested except for the hydrogen peroxide (HP) since we ran out. We were going to test the HP today but when we peeled the outer shell. This happened… we found four small worms like maggots or rice sized worms.

 

The two other palms are ok for now. That trunk that’s split, is dead now I’d presume. 

[DoomsDave]

42 minutes ago, Juanaramirez said:

Thank you all for your detailed responses to my question. We did what you all suggested except for the hydrogen peroxide (HP) since we ran out. We were going to test the HP today but when we peeled the outer shell. This happened… we found four small worms like maggots or rice sized worms.

 

The two other palms are ok for now. That trunk that’s split, is dead now I’d presume. 

Dead, sad to say.

[Juanaramirez]

Is it still accurate to say not enough water killed it? Or could it have been some disease or fungal infection that killed it? 
 

Since the other two are ok, what else can I do to them to keep them alive? I added the soil and water them well. Keeping a 3-4 day water interval now for the two other plans. Is that ok for winter?

[DoomsDave]

25 minutes ago, Juanaramirez said:

Is it still accurate to say not enough water killed it? Or could it have been some disease or fungal infection that killed it? 
 

Since the other two are ok, what else can I do to them to keep them alive? I added the soil and water them well. Keeping a 3-4 day water interval now for the two other plans. Is that ok for winter?

I think so. Kings are so worth any trouble to keep happy! From my Southern California garden.

 

[Juanaramirez]

Wow! Those are beautiful! Slightly jealous haha. 

[DoomsDave]

9 hours ago, Juanaramirez said:

Wow! Those are beautiful! Slightly jealous haha. 

You can grow them and many others. 
 

Here’s a flame thrower in my garden.

[Merlyn]

On 12/11/2024 at 10:51 PM, Juanaramirez said:

Thank you all for your detailed responses to my question. We did what you all suggested except for the hydrogen peroxide (HP) since we ran out. We were going to test the HP today but when we peeled the outer shell. This happened… we found four small worms like maggots or rice sized worms.

 

The two other palms are ok for now. That trunk that’s split, is dead now I’d presume. 

I would check the upper portion of the trunk when you cut it down.  I had a similar problem with an upper trunk infection on a Christmas palm / Adonidia.  The upper part had completely rotted away:

This is what the top looked like, very similar to yours:

It could be sudden sunburn and lack of water that killed it, or an opportunistic Thielaviopsis fungal infection like mine.  Thielaviopsis is easily spread by pruning loppers from palm to palm.  It is also floating in the air all over, so any new infection is impossible to know where it came from.  It does infect via fresh cuts in green tissue, which is one reason why people suggest to not overprune palms.  If the nursery used the same pruning tools on all three palms...and didn't clean them between palms...it is possible that all three are infected.  I would squeeze the dead trunk by hand and see if it feels squishy below the top.  Mine almost collapsed with minimal pressure.  The stringy appearance inside is typical of Thielaviopsis.  So I'd do:

• Squeeze check to see if the upper half of the trunk is squishy and easy to compress.  If so then carefully slice it open to check for visible fungal infection.
• Do the same squeeze check on the other two to see if the tops are solid.  If they seem ok then:
• Remove the dead trunk carefully to avoid cutting the roots of the other two or cutting into their trunks.  I used a reciprocating saw because I'm crazy that way, but a small pruning saw, drywall saw, or even a hacksaw blade would work.
• If the trunks on all three are squishy then just dig up the whole lot and trash them.  Once they've gone squishy they won't recover, at least not in my experience.

The good news is that sunburn, lack of water, or Thielaviopsis means you could replant in the same spot.  Ganoderma (lower trunk fungal rot) is the only one that's known to stay in the soil for decades.

[Juanaramirez]

@Merlynthank you so much. Also trying to get a credit with hone depot to return it since is at 1 Yr warranty on trees. Will try to remove the bad trunk carefully.