Try it on your arm first that way you'll have first hand experience!Anything that happens to your arm will also happen to your palm.Cheers

If you really insist, diluted strong coffee or tea will do it. It has been used to dye white linens to give them that aged looked for years. It will not hurt the palm trees but may wear off in time.

Washingtonia Robusta has a deep red brown colored trunk. I would not stain my palm.

I'd be afraid to try anything, but if I were to try anything, maybe food coloring would be safe.
You sure would need alot and it probably wouldn't be practical.

Here's another idea.

Here is a link that might be useful: Carnauba palm tree (wax)

Just don't do it.

In South Florida's many Latin neighborhoods, the trunks of palms and trees are often painted white. I've seen this also in Mexico and Puerto Rico. I assume that this is part of Latin culture and often wondered why the trunks were painted. Does any know how this originated?

In Georgia the trees are painted white to reflect the sun.

Here is a link that might be useful: painting tree trunks

I have seen photos of timber bamboo culms painted neon colors in France. Looked nice too. He did it color wheel style so the colors were complimentary as they stood next to each other. Not as gaudy as it sounds .
If you want to paint your palm-paint it. Use diluted water based latex in any color is fine. Wont hurt the plant a bit.

I agree don't try to stain your palm trunks your more than likely gonna kill them.. just enjoy them !

I think resorts pain the trunks white so guests dont walk into them in the dark.

I forgot to add, over here most palm trunks are stained a rusty colour because of the local bore water and its not a good look. I don't think painting (water based) or staining the trunks would do any damage. Maybe some kind of decking oil would do the job but then youd have a strange bi-coloured trunk as the palm continues to grow.
I remember seeing somewhere a palm theat had been painted with coloured rings. Pretty tacky.

I say just leave it alone. It sounds dumb. Even if it wont hurt the palm. I've never heard of such a nit picky thing! If you want the trunk to be a different color, get a different type of palm tree. If you must paint the trunk, why not paint the fronds purple with pink polka dots and hang easter eggs all over it!?! Just my opinion. If you do paint it post pics please. Actually post a pic of it now so we can see how it looks as is. I'll bet its not that bad.

Most palms that i have seen painted are for insect problems.

Why would anyone want to paint the trunk of their palm? Part of the appeal of palms is the appearance of their trunks!

Actually, I did take some pictures of it. I do not think it looks tacky or unnatural. I think most would agree that it looks nice. The other two trunks remain unstained.

I like the suggestion of using strong coffee as a means of darkening the trunk.

tommybahama suggested I post a picture of it to see how it looks. If someone could tell me how or where to upload a picture of the palm, I would be more than happy to do so.

Thanks for your replies.

Ok, I figured out how to post pictures of my King Palm. The center trunk is stained with the linseed oil. The outer two are natural/unstained.

Here is a link that might be useful: King Palm Photos

I like them as they are one dark and 2 lighter ones. But the lighter almost look painted. The darker one could be a shade or two lighter to look more natural. Do you think a good scrubbing with a stiff nylon brush would get the white film off. Or maybe a light sanding with sandpaper.
I agree having all of them white does look strange.

I guess its just a personal preference issue. The stained trunk doesn't look bad at all. I also think the other trunks don't look bad either. Hey if the linseed oil works go for it. I would just be happy to have a palm with a trunk that large. I will eventually but my tallest trunk is 1 1/2ft tall on my 4 ft trachy. Sorry ewicatcher. I didn't mean to come across as a jerk. I just quit smoking and I'm now on my 7th day with no cigarettes. Its a good thing but it sure drives me crazy sometimes. Just do what you think is best. Like I said its purely aesthetics.

Jay

I would go ahead and do it if you really want to. There are several reasons as to the painting of trunks of trees. I have noticed it has become a custom of many Latin American cultures. My parents grew up in El Salvador and they painted the trunks of their citrus trees white to keep leaf-cutter ants off of the foliage. It apparently works, creating a region where the paint reflects the sun's rays and raises the temperature enough to discourage ants and other bugs from climbing. I've heard it is the same idea behind painting palm trunks.

Im sure palmcityfl and stanofh, as well as myself, who live in states with plenty of ethnic diversity are not at all shocked about the idea of painting a tree or palm, since we have been exposed to it, and have personally seen that it does not look as bad as it sounds. There are many ethnic neighborhoods where just about every public palm is painted white. I have seen large citrus trees with their trunks painted white as well. They don't look bad. Also, there are endless commercial orchards of pistachio, figs and almonds that have their trunks painted white to protect them from sunburn in our extreme heat.

I agree with central cali---- and glad to see people lightening up. what is the difference between being a zone pusher and painting your trunk with linseed oil? Nada mucho!

(This is my first venture into this forum and I have to say that it does not seem like a friendly place judging by the nasty responses to Shawn's post. I hope I never need to ask a question here!)

Wow!~~Some people around here need to edit their posts--kinda like thinking before you speak!!

Shawn ~~ I live in South Florida and lately I have seen lots of landscapers and builders plant the very expensive Date Palms with what looks to be a varnish on the trunk! It looks VERY nice and the trunks don't get that greyish cast--they stay nice and brown. I haven't been able to figure out WHAT they are putting on the palm trunks, but I'd like to know myself! It doesn't seem to affect the palms at all as I noticed it in my neighborhood over a year ago. I'll try to get some pics for you.

Topher... did not mean to come across so abrasive.
Welcome pink petunia

I've always found thinking before I speak a incredible waste of valuable resources..LMAO

Topher: If you were sandpaper what number would you be?

Welcome Pink Petunia - I had some lovely petunias on my balcony last summer they just kept blooming and blooming - I thought to myself are these things ever gonna stop blooming - They did. I think they could sense the snow was coming.

cheers

Jeff (crazy northern palm & tropical guy)

O.K. You guys are really funny.

Thank you for the welcome.

I'm going to take a pic of those date palms and let you all try to figure out what is on the trunks...maybe today...

OK, here's the palm with something on the trunk that looks shiny like varnish! Below it is a pic of a normal date palm trunk that is greyish.

Anyone know what they put on the 1st palm trunk??

{{gwi:1124687}}
{{gwi:1124688}}

220 as i can be smooth lol !

pinkpetunia - First of all welcome to the forum. Sorry for giving you a bad first impression. Please don't hesitate to ask anything. We normally are very friendly. We wont hesitate to apologize if someone is offended. I was a jerk to Shawn in my earlier response to his post but quickly apologized. Looking back I never realized you could safely stain a trunk and I learned something after seeing the pics. Speaking of pics the CIDP looks good with the trunk stained like that. Honestly now that I see your pic and Shawn's pic, I realize that if the stain isn't going onto any actively growing part of the tree, then I don't think there is anyway for it to hurt the tree. Again welcome to the forum. BTW I still haven't smoked any cigarettes and I'm in a much better mood now.

Shawn - What did you decide to do?

Jay

I decided not to stain the other two trunks until I determine if the stain on the single trunk has a detrimental effect. I would think I will know by the end of the summer.

shawn

Just to keep this going a bit more, here is a pic of olive trees with their trunks painted white. I took this picture with my phone while i was on my daily jog. Again, this is very common here in Cal. This row is the last remaining trees of an olive orchard. The orchard was ripped out and made into a suburban housing area. Theis first row of olives was left as street trees. The row goes on for miles.

{{gwi:1124689}}

Im not really "for" the staining / painting of tree trunks in general, but I have seen it. Its not all that uncommon. I do remember seeing some areas in FLA where almost every "public" palm was painted white up to about 12 feet or so. I know there are varying reasons for doing it, and I have never really heard of it harming a tree. The white painted palm trunks are sort of unique looking.

The stain the OP put on the one trunk of the king palm is very subtle and if he had not pointed out it was stained, Ill bet none of us would have thought twice about the color of the trunk.

Granted, some palms you really cant "paint" though. Trachys are a perfect example because their trunks are covered in fiberous "fur", and old petiole stubs. Ive only see a few tall Trachy's that actually had portions of the trunks "smooth", but they were older, and usually 20' tall at least, and the bare portion was only about the bottom third.

Anyway, neat discussion. Here is the only real pic I could find of palm trees painted:

novaplantguy, i couldn't see your picture. It was a box with a red X. But here ya go:

Saw a landscaping show on HGTV that was in Vegas and to spruce up the palm trees they sprayed them with some sort of stain. Made them look fresh. I would imagine that it had to have been organic but I suppose the trees could be dead if they were just doing it for the show and it was just regular stain. I like the coffee or tea idea.

It's common to paint/stain palm tree trunks in Florida!!!

Here is a paint suggested by my local garden shop in Palm Beach County and sold by Benjamin Moore: Brand: Sikkens Wood Finishes, Cetol 23 Plus, Translucent Satin Wood Top Coat.

I have two large Sylvester Palm Trees which, over the years, have developed discolored trunks due to multiple pruning events. Therefore, I selected the Teak color. It has a medium tint, but it is not so dark it will channel sunlight to the trunk and hurt it. I will take before/after pictures.

My landscaper suggested I paint the trees.

I did not see anything on the internet on this topic, so that is why I decided to post.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sikkens

This post was edited by cc179 on Tue, Sep 17, 13 at 17:54

I forgot to mention..I have seen landscapers stain the cleaned trunks of Washy's and Brahea's with what looks like Redwood stain. Newly transplanted trunkers mostly. Looked fine to me..if very temporary on the fast growing Washys.

Painting or staining your palm will not hurt it, other than aesthetically unless you make it dark enough to absorb enough heat to kill the inner tissue. Palms have evolved over the eons to be efficient in their native environment. Best not to try and improve on nature.

Recently visiting a reputable nursery I witnessed a worker cleaning the trunks of a 15 ft palm tree with a brush and "staining" the trunk with transparent oil type carmel colored stain in a 5 gallon bucket. I actually walked over to the bucket to see if I could identify the brand but could not. They tree he was working on looked "super"! That was not the only tree he did either...I had walked through the very large outdoor nursery and noticed other trees that had been done. They looked very nice, very healthy. Had anyone ever seen this done or might had worked doing this for a nursery?

kalla0007, yes I have seen this at my nursery here in central Florida. I purchased 3 cabbage palms that were stained . I don't know what with but it looks great.

Also to set the record straight, not all palms in Florida have their trunks painted white lol! That is mostly a south Florida thing I believe.

So did you do it what was the results I want to do the same thing I painted my palm trees to look like animals I’ve been a painted one truck to look like a tiger another one to look like a leopard another one to look like a snake it looks really cool so far it’s done nothing to hurt the palm tree

Well, I guess I started this thread 12 years ago. I did end up staining my King Palm trunks with Linseed Oil. They looked very nice for only six months or so. The darkening effect is completely gone now, and honestly I do not think it is worth the effort. The palm tree in question is a multi-trunk (3). One of the palms trunks rotted on one side. I have no idea if the rot is a result of the Linseed Oil or not. The palms are otherwise pretty healthy. I recently fertilized them with Turf Royale 21-7-14, and gave them a good dose of Epsom Salt.

Shawn

You can use a waterborn stain for decking , transparent would be preferred, pressure wash trunk then stain it