Acoelorraphe wrightii losing trunks slowly over time

[Patrick]

I have an Acoelorraphe wrightii that's been in the ground here at my place for probably 20 years. Maybe a little less. Over the past 2 years now I've had trunks dying off. I'm wondering if this is a normal thing for Everglades palms or if this is something more- and I'm wondering why?

 

I figure if it was something really bad like disease the palm would die all at once. Since that's not happening I'm wondering if it's a "planned demolition" on the palm's part? that doesn't make much sense either so the WHY of it all comes up again. I am the only one that prunes this palm and I clean my tools. I only cut the dead stuff as well. I only recently got into cutting these trunks because they were unsightly- as in dead. Otherwise I would never cut a palm down that wasn't already fully dead.

Just today I noticed a fourth trunk that had died and so I cut it back a bit so that water wouldn't collect in the rotten crown. The first trunk that died was about 6' tall and the other three have been under a foot- much younger. The "tall" one was the second oldest trunk of the cluster. There have been some other pups that have also died off in this area but I don't really count them- though it does all add to the big picture.

The symptom seems to be on one side of the palm, nearest to the side yard "path" that I use- and there's about a 1' drop/ hill that the palm is adjacent to that also comprises of my path. Would the foot traffic on the roots be enough to do this? There is a Bambusa oldhamii to the north and a couple Strelitzias to the north but both have been around this palm for years. I keep the oldhamii trimmed away so that the palm gets full sun.

 

Here are some pictures. I should note in the fourth photo is post-op and sprayed off with alcohol, and the pup behind the freshly cut trunk is on its way out as well. Thanks in advance.

[Patrick]

Bump

[Fusca]

I've not seen this but I'm curious about the amount of water it's getting.  These guys love copious amounts of water but I think they can handle some dry periods.  Maybe there's too much competition?  And the pup that you cut looks like it's still alive.

[SeanK]

I will guess that these want lots of water, given their common name. I love them, although they're uncommonly planted even in Florida landscapes. I've never seen a "lush" grouping. They always look a bit yellow and tattered. This makes me think that even in Florida they should be planted in a low spot of the yard where some flooding can occur.

[Harry’s Palms]

I saw some very nice ones in San Diego at Balboa Park . They seemed to be doing very well, super tall and thick. Harry