This was not due to temperature, as you said, it's been unusually mild. I had one do just this but in mid-summer--a few weeks after transplanting. When was it put into the ground? How is the drainage? Sorry, but not a good sign--especially at this time of year.

Does it snap out of it when the temps warm back over 50F?

Keep an eye on the spear,although in your other pictures it looked great...

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I appreciate the responses. Unfortunately, I'm becoming more concerned for the palm. While protected last winter, here is a pic from mid-Feb after rough winter temps. Notice how only a portion of the fronds were folded in the top right.

Here is also the same palm on Halloween 2011 after the light snow that day.

Maybe I'm just paranoid but I'm starting to remember a small incident that happened in November. A big wind came through and knocked over one of my tiki torches and I remember about a half of cup worth of oil spilling through the deck and down near this palm (and perhaps even on the plant). Perhaps the palm did take in some of this poison and it is stressed or even dying. :( Again, I might be paranoid but it could also be true. I just need to hope for the best.

Something similar happened to one of my trachys. It was mid summer (2009) and the fronds were just folding up out of no where. The soil was not dry or wet and the trachy that was next to it was (and still is) doing very well. Eventually that trachy's spear pulled and it seemed like it had a fungus on it. Im still not sure what the cause of that fungus was. It was a wet year that year so maybe thats what caused it. Fortunately it was a double trunked trachy and the smaller plant under the one that died still lived on today without any problems.

I hope yours doesnt suffer the same fate mine did, but at least you know now that the problem your trachy has probably was not caused by cold.

-Alex

No matter how you slice it,more than likely the problem is in the roots.

It may have lost a chunk of it's root system to this incident,
I guess the question now is....has it successfully jettisoned
the damaged tissue or is it spreading to the trunk.

I think as long as that spear looks good it has a heartbeat and
may recover,perhaps keeping it on the dry side if possible
will keep any root rot/damage more localized.

Unless the winter gangs up on it in with the oil spill
(-; I think it will recover(-:

Good luck P.J.

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I had a dwarf Banana that came into contact with the fumes from a cintranella candle, largely the same thing that powers my Tiki torches. The results were not pretty. Agent Orange would have been kinder.

Anyway, it has been very cold here in Maryland the last two nights. I am watching some unprotected hardies too. Big warm up this weekend, so see if, like Jim says, they snap out of it.

It looks like it needs to be watered thoroughly. Drought stress. I see you have trash bags at the base of it, so those could be keeping moisture from getting to the roots. I would wait until you get a day around 40 or better and give it a good watering.

My potted trachys were doing the same thing in my garage last winter. I thought it was just because of the cold. In the spring, I ended up cutting off about 5-6 fronds that dried up on each. The pots were undersized, and I didn't water them enough. This winter, I make sure to water more when I notice the fronds closing up, and they bounce right back and look healthy.

I disagree about watering it more now!. I don't know about Md., but here in NJ we had over 70 inches of rain last year. No, this is some kind of root problem--but remember, saturation of the soil can result in problems that look just like drought stress. You may have a point with the oil though. I dripped some gas by one of my boxwoods as I was filling the generator outside in the dark in pouring rain and it looks like I'll have to remove and replace it in the spring. Yes, the plant is/was stressed by something but not lack of H2O and not cold. I was equally puzzled when this happened to one of mine but have since replaced it. Good luck!

If the cause is because of some type of oil spilling into the root zone, it seems to me the best remedy would be to dilute it and try to wash it out of the soil. Maybe you can dig some of the mulch away and stick a finger a couple inches down into the soil to check moisture levels? I know the rule of thumb is not to water in the winter, but if it were my palm, what have you got to lose?

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and recommendations. I'm still holding hope that this is just a temperature thing but will check the soil and surrounding areas this weekend when it reaches the low 50s. I cannot imagine it being a water issue as I've recorded over 3" of rain just in December. I believe September brought over a foot as well. The good news is that I checked it tonight and the emerging spears still look perfect.

It reached 12.8F in my backyard last night and noticed tonight that the other trachy and my waggie have curled up too (another indicator it might just be a reaction to the cold). This is also the first year I really applied that Freeze-pruf stuff...who knows, maybe some reaction is happening with the water that is pulling the fronds closed. This is all just speculation and something I will continue to monitor. Thanks again.

I checked my Trachys at 7:30 this morning (I am in MoCo). They looked perfectly fine.

How long have yours been in the ground?

This tracky is BEGGING you to cover it before its too late and PLEEZE do not water it at this time of year or it will surely choke on the January cold. Asa everyone has said it could be variousreasons, ultimately it is "stressed" and covering it will reduce stress and even adding Christmas lights could dry out any water that may be promoting a fungus. Pour some peroxide on the bud before covering it and let it vent some from the bottom.

I definitely agree with trying to dig out the oil spill
a little,somebody poisoned John's(in Colorado)palms.
He removed the top layer of soil and replaced it.

Maybe you could dig out the area where the oil spilled.

That's a good suggestion if oil was spilled near the palm.

Wow I'm surprised you got that cold at your house. I would have thought you guys were having a warmer winter than us, and we haven't come anywhere near as cold as 12 degrees. Definitely don't water if you're seeing temps like that. But on the other hand, 12 degrees is almost the limit for a trachy before damage starts to appear on less hardy individuals. If you're certain that much oil spilled on the root zone, then I agree with Jim and Greg to dig some of the dirt away and replace with untainted soil. On the other hand though, if you guys are seeing temps like that, then your ground might be frozen???

You likely missed the really cold nights last arctic blast because you had cloudy skies with winds off the lakes. Folks in the South and East (of the Apps) had clear skies so lots of radiational cooling. We pay the price for no clouds at night, but it helps more the next day as temps go up quickly with the sun. Been a great winter so far...only 6 nights since Dec 1 have been below 25F at my house. It just happens the one night hit 12.8F. 12F and 66F in the same week...no wonder my sinuses are bothering me!

The last arctic blast probably was not too bad in Michigan. We have been warming up very fast though and the coldest night before the 12F night was 23F, so so far we havent had many deep freezes. Looks like we will definitely be seeing some cold again soon here. Im not looking forward to it.
-Alex