What’s going on with my Archontophoenix Purpurea

[Jegs]

The A. Purpurea is in my heated greenhouse, the temperature never falls below 65 degrees at night and is usually between 75-85.

It’s been in there all winter and I haven’t changed anything, but I just now noticed this browning occuring.  
Same watering schedule, no fertilizer since fall.

It gets watered about every 3-5 days depending on temperatures. 

 

Any ideas? 
 

[Jegs]

Just noticed these mushrooms growing that haven’t been here before. Could it be fungal?

 

 

[JD in the OC]

Unhealthy soil.  Root rot IMO

[Jegs]

@JD in the OC yeah the soil is real mucky for some reason. Same soil I always use but this one turned mucky at the top. 
I’ll try to repot it with fresh soil to see if I can stop the damage

[Harry’s Palms]

Perhaps a more sandy loam with added vermiculite for faster drainage. Harry

[Jegs]

Repotted it a second ago. Had slight root rot. About 10% of the roots were squishy. 
 

I wasn’t really worried before this since the Archontophoenix species love water, but that damage come on quick.  Didn’t notice 5-7 days ago.

[DoomsDave]

Archontophoenix purpurea isn’t the water hawg it’s cousins are. Good drainage is essential. 
 

How do I know?😢

[Phoenikakias]

1 hour ago, DoomsDave said:

Archontophoenix purpurea isn’t the water hawg it’s cousins are. Good drainage is essential. 
 

How do I know?😢

The hard way like I did, like most of us did. And imagine that when we offer established knowledge, rookies often tend to challenge it, as if they wanted to experience the 'groundhog day'.

[PalmCode]

Ugghh I think the same things happened to my one here. I Was away for 3 weeks, came back and it was mostly brown.  Guessing It must have rained too much or the sun got it while I was away. It was growing great before that...

Sounds like  a common problem with these getting to much water and not draining good particularly when grown in pots. Hopefully it will survive, theres still some green but it doesn't look good.
 

[tim_brissy_13]

Soil definitely didn’t look ideal as noted above, but I’d also say the temperatures may be on the warm side. A purpurea doesn’t mind cooling off a bit. They languish in the wet tropics at sea level in Australia. Much happier at elevation like their native habitat, or in the subtropics or even temperate climates. 

[PalmatierMeg]

Archo purpurea has been a difficult grow for me. I count this palm’s survival in months, not years. My latest is on its 3rd strike, then it’s out. I’ve tried one in the ground, two in pots and all failed or are failing. I think my FL swelter is too much for them, now I know they prefer cooler temps, esp.. at night.

[Mazat]

26 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Archo purpurea war für mich ein schwieriger Anbau. Ich zähle das Überleben dieser Palme in Monaten, nicht in Jahren. Meine letzte hat ihren dritten Anflug hinter sich, dann ist sie aus. Ich habe es mit einer im Boden und zwei in Töpfen versucht, und alle sind gescheitert oder gehen gerade dabei zu scheitern. Ich glaube, die Hitze in Florida ist zu viel für sie, jetzt weiß ich, dass sie kühlere Temperaturen bevorzugen, besonders nachts.

i first saw this palm in a pot last year in ascona in march in a neighborhood of single family homes, but it was in the shade and it looked healthy. maybe i'm wrong, since it prefers warmer areas, okay near the lake they have usda zone 9a there too. it was about 13 ft tall in a big pot, unfortunately no one was home during the week when we made the trip.

[Kim]

Do you have any fans going in that greenhouse? Air circulation is helpful to many plants. 

[Jegs]

@Kim Yeah, I have fans. We’ve had tons of rain recently though.

The humidity stays at around 50-70%

[Jegs]

@PalmatierMeg @Mazat

My palm has been growing good and healthy until real recently. 
 

The new spear pushed good, then stalled. So I put lights under it for warmth and it started growing faster than ever.

Ill update on the soil change

[Logolight]

13 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Archo purpurea has been a difficult grow for me. I count this palm’s survival in months, not years. My latest is on its 3rd strike, then it’s out. I’ve tried one in the ground, two in pots and all failed or are failing. I think my FL swelter is too much for them, now I know they prefer cooler temps, esp.. at night.

Same for me.  I've tried Archonto cunnings numerous times when I lived in Jacksonville and they never made it past months.  They're considered invasive in parts of the world and I couldn't grow one to save my life.  I live more central Florida now, north of Dade City, so I'm going to try again.

[Logolight]

8 hours ago, Jegs said:

@PalmatierMeg @Mazat

My palm has been growing good and healthy until real recently. 
 

The new spear pushed good, then stalled. So I put lights under it for warmth and it started growing faster than ever.

Ill update on the soil change

Definitely slow your watering.  Most palms slow or stop their growth when the temps drop below 70F, and as mentioned, a constant wet soil will rot the roots as well as invite fungal diseases.  Good luck.

[tim_brissy_13]

3 hours ago, Logolight said:

Same for me.  I've tried Archonto cunnings numerous times when I lived in Jacksonville and they never made it past months.  They're considered invasive in parts of the world and I couldn't grow one to save my life.  I live more central Florida now, north of Dade City, so I'm going to try again.

They are really a cool subtropical species. A cunninghamiana doesn’t really grow up in the northern parts of Aus. 
 

I saw one at the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens on the weekend which is about an hour east of Melbourne at around 600m/2000’ elevation. In winter, average maximum temperature is 9C/48F. It was one of the most lush specimens I’ve seen anywhere around here (next to a similarly healthy Livistona australis)