What’s happening with my king palm?

[Mauricio]

Hello everyone. Can someone tell me what could be happening with my king palm? This is the fourth one I have planted in the same place and, after a few months, it ends up the same way. I don't understand why the leaves turn pale or yellow and then dry up. In my front garden I have another one planted more than three years ago and yet it is healthy, robust and growing wonderfully. I live in La Serena, Chile, and here it is almost summer, so I water both every three or four days. However, the one in the photo does not look good anymore. I planted it two months ago in very good soil, with organic matter and that drains perfectly. Please, can someone tell me if there is hope!!

 

[TropicsEnjoyer]

If you’re doing everything else right the only thing i can think of is sunburn. Happens a lot to recent plantings. Just have to be patient and don’t panic.

[Harry’s Palms]

It looks like full sun so it’s going to need lots of water . Plus , that is a very young palm so it will take time to adjust , maybe some shade cloth would help. Also try some palm specific fertilizer , here we use SulPoMag for yellowing palms. It takes a while for anything to improve the palm. It has to grow all new foliage. Harry

[DoomsDave]

@Mauricio nice to meet you! Where is La Serena? That might matter as to the advice we give you.

[Mauricio]

Hi there, thanks for answering. La Serena is a seaside city in the north of Chile, South-America. (30°S). The climate here is semi-desert, but not very dry, with high humidity. Temperatures are mild, never above 25° C (77 F) in summer, and there is never frost in winter. In La Serena, I have seen some of these palm trees, although not very abundant, I have seen that they thrive very well. Since the one I have shown in the photo is in the middle of my patio and receives a lot of sun during the day, I water it every three or four days, almost reaching summer around this time. Anyway, I try to be careful with water, I don't want to have problems with the roots of my palm tree. However, the soil where it is planted drains very well and does not become waterlogged. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thus have some hope that my palm tree can recover.

[SeanK]

En mi opinión es quemadura de sol. Por lo que recuerdo de La Serena, los inviernos son bién frescos. Toca 0°C ahí?

[Mauricio]

Hi there Sean. Thanks for answering. Here in La Serena, winters are cold but too much, it never freezes. The lows in a cold winter morning, never goes down 6* C, seldom times on 5* C (43-42 F), so here we don't really know about frosts…

[Cannonball]

I'm no expert on these matters but I would suggest that it might be fungal. Perhaps Anthracnose, I only say this because it appears as though the turf grass around the palm tree is suffering also and unless it's from fertiliser burn then it's most likely fungal in nature.

[Mauricio]

Oh no!! What can I do if its a fungal problem?

[DoomsDave]

@Mauricio it sounds like your climate is much like the coastal areas here in California. 
 

What kind of soil do you have? If you have sandy soil or other fast-draining soils, kings are hard to keep watered enough to be happy.

[Mauricio]

Yes, DoomsDave, the climate in La Serena is very similar to that of SoCal. However, I am afraid that my king palm is in very well-drained soil, although I must say that it is a soil with a lot of organic matter. Can I water my palm more frequently than 2 times a week?

[Cannonball]

4 hours ago, Mauricio said:

Oh no!! What can I do if its a fungal problem?

IF it's a fungal issue then a Copper based fungicide should fix it. I would spray all the turf too.

[Merlyn]

@Mauricio kings are semi-aquatic palms in many areas.  I predict that @DoomsDave will say, "you can't drown a King, water away!" 

As a reference, I water my young 2-6' tall Kings with ~2 gallons per day per palm here in swampy Florida.  And that's on top of our annual 40-60 inches of rain.  Mine are in sandy soil that drains fast, but the water table is also only ~6 feet down.  So after a couple of years of establishment they have roots tapped into groundwater and really thrive.

[Mauricio]

Thanks for the advice @Merlyn. So, I guess I must water my palm on a daily basis regarding the full sunlight that recieves most of the day!! 😱

[Mauricio]

Hello everyone. For the past few months I have been watering my king palm tree abundantly. I have also applied organic fertilizers to the irrigation system on more than one occasion. It seems that the care I have given my palm tree, which had leaves that were severely burned by the sun, has worked. As you can see, a frond that was closed has completely opened up. It looks completely green and healthy, and there is also another frond growing attached to it. I would like to think that my palm tree is on the way to recovery. What do you think? PS: In La Serena it is already the middle of summer with temperatures that already reach 25° C (77* F) during the day and high environmental humidity.

[Merlyn]

@Mauricio the new frond looks pretty good so far!  It is not totally open yet, maybe 80-90% done.  I don't see any brown tips or signs of stress.  I would keep doing what you are doing, and hopefully the next spear keeps chugging along!  77F is still a little cool compared to some places, so I wouldn't expect it to be lightning fast yet.

[Mauricio]

23 hours ago, Merlyn said:

 

Thank your for the advice @Merlyn Best regards…🙏

[mlovecan]

You have nothing to worry about with that king.

They are the easiest crowshafted palm out there. All they need is water and fertilizer and they will grow.

Just wait another couple years and you will be pleased. A couple more years after that and you will be watching it's children grow.