Queen Palm Planting

[Heather Feather]

Good day, 

I just purchased and planted three queen palms into the ground in Tucson Arizona. My ground is pretty hard but have successfully grown citrus trees on it for years. From reading on what to do when first planting palms it says to water everyday for a week or two then slow down. But my palms are starting to get brown already. Not sure if I’m overwatering or under watering, or if I need to give nutrients. I understand the over and under watering kinda looks a little the same! Help please !! 

[Jim in Los Altos]

It’s nearly impossible to over water a Queen palm. They can grow well in a marsh and often do. Hopefully you didn’t mess with their roots when planting and kept their root balls completely intact. Can you post a photo or two? Queen palms can be tricky in much of Arizona during the summer due to excessive heat. Yours will need deep watering several times per week in spring through much of autumn probably for their lifetimes. Don’t feed! Most newly purchased palms have fertilizer in their soil still so feeding too soon can burn them. Wait about two months. 

[Darold Petty]

Welcome to Palmtalk !  

[Heather Feather]

Thank you!! Just learning this site also! lol! 

[Heather Feather]

17 minutes ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

It’s nearly impossible to over water a Queen palm. They can grow well in a marsh and often do. Hopefully you didn’t mess with their roots when planting and kept their root balls completely intact. Can you post a photo or two? Queen palms can be tricky in much of Arizona during the summer due to excessive heat. Yours will need deep watering several times per week in spring through much of autumn probably for their lifetimes. Don’t feed! Most newly purchased palms have fertilizer in their soil still so feeding too soon can burn them. Wait about two months. 

Thanks Jim! I put them in the ground almost two weeks ago, I watered daily for the first 9 days. They were wilting a bit and going brown, so I stopped watering for 4 days. But it’s warming up here so water yesterday but not as much as I had been. Honestly I think I over watered them. Now just watching each day to see how they look. I get they go into shock upon planting, I did not mess with the root system either. 

[Heather Feather]

32 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

Welcome to Palmtalk !  

Thank you!! 😊 

[Harry’s Palms]

Your palms look sun burned to me . This is natural as most are grown under shade cloth . It will take a few months to harden off if your hot summers don’t set them back even further. By looking at the existing fronds they are not ready for full sun, hot sun yet. They should survive , Syagrus R. are very hardy palms once they are happy . As Jim says , keep them watered , they need water. When I bought my house there was one part of the yard that always had water puddled up after the sprinklers ran . I planted a Queen there and it took off , no more standing water . The Queen Palm drinks every drop! Harry

[Heather Feather]

22 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Your palms look sun burned to me . This is natural as most are grown under shade cloth . It will take a few months to harden off if your hot summers don’t set them back even further. By looking at the existing fronds they are not ready for full sun, hot sun yet. They should survive , Syagrus R. are very hardy palms once they are happy . As Jim says , keep them watered , they need water. When I bought my house there was one part of the yard that always had water puddled up after the sprinklers ran . I planted a Queen there and it took off , no more standing water . The Queen Palm drinks every drop! Harry

Awesome! Thank you Harry! I’ll keep watering as I have been and pray for some cloud cover! Hah! In AZ it’s almost never! 

[Heather Feather]

Good morning! Palm update, I’m still watering and they are looking sad. The heat has been around 100 degrees so assuming it’s still beating them up. Do I need to water more?? I’m soaking them pretty well. 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, Heather Feather said:

Good morning! Palm update, I’m still watering and they are looking sad. The heat has been around 100 degrees so assuming it’s still beating them up. Do I need to water more?? I’m soaking them pretty well. 

As is often the case w/ Queens sold here ( ..and down there ) these may have been grown under some type of canopy at where the nursery you picked them up from bought them.. In that case, these fronds will burn off in our heat / sun..  New " sun hardened " fronds will usually replace them, esp. if you follow the above advise and keep them watered..


That said, ..being totally honest w/ you,  While i have seen a few nicer specimens, esp. down there, generally speaking,  Queens are a tough grow here.. Sun, half a year's worth of intense heat is often just too much ..even for specimens you'd assume would be in an ideal location ( near a constant source of water, etc )  A few decent looking ones planted around the U of A campus but have noticed ..even they've started to look worse over the last few years..



If all else fails ( Fingers crossed it doesn't )  Mule Palms - A cross between a Queen and another palm, handle our conditions better. than Queens do.  Have a more Coconut-esque look to them too..

[Heather Feather]

Thank you Silas!!!! My neighbor has one that’s been doing great over the years and they barely water it! Lol! I’ll keep doing my thing with these three littles and worse case, I’ll get the mule palm as you suggested! Thank you!! 😊

[Silas_Sancona]

On 4/12/2025 at 11:01 AM, Heather Feather said:

Thank you Silas!!!! My neighbor has one that’s been doing great over the years and they barely water it! Lol! I’ll keep doing my thing with these three littles and worse case, I’ll get the mule palm as you suggested! Thank you!! 😊

I missed the other group of them planted 2 houses down ( Hard to slow down enough on a busy road. Even on a Sunday morning,  lol )  but took this to give you an idea of Mule palms look like.. Smaller than a much bigger specimen planted at a local nursery since ..before... 2012 ( when i first saw it ) but, these ..and the other group planted in a yard nearby /others i've seen in yards closer to my house  ( ...and the specimen at the nursery ) have withstood all the nuke -level heat we've seen ( ..and you see down there )

Couldn't grab them while passing through this area but Queens planted in nearby backyards visible from the road in the same neighborhood = all thrashed / burnt / stunted, ..not looking like they should.. Big / older,  and small - sized specimens..  Just like 98% planted closer to my immediate neighborhood / other areas nearby up here in the east valley..

Hopefully yours will fare better but, if not, you have another option for a similar look.

** Should add, Mules will handle the chilly sub 32F mornings you see down there each winter w/out any trouble too.

Think these are approx 4 years old, post installation.. Neighborhood they're in is under 13 years old, if i remember correctly..