Or.... should I put some type of fertilizer on it?

Try tugging on the spear a littlr harder,I think your right that it should have moved by now,(my two Trachys with spear pull last Nov are both growing)you may want to wait until the end of June to be sure.Something else you could try is some lawn fertilizer,(make sure it's not a weed killer mix)maybe 4 table spoons spread out around the base,this should bust it lose if anything will!,another option if you want to cut ,is to try cutting down from the top to see if theres any green,if the spear is solid I would not recommend this though as theres really no point to cut it,although it would tell you if it's green inside but the spear should tell you that.

It's likely still alive. Mine haven't started to regrow either. No need for fertilizer.

Thanks. I will give it more time then.

So you are in Iowa? Did yours suffer damage this year? I am assuming yours was heavily protected? Strange its already been so hot here and I am seeing nothing yet.

mine suffered alot of damage this year also......i did what you did i cut off all of the brown fronds and left the ones that had some green on them.......it just now started growing again on monday......the center spear emerging is brown on the very top....due to the fact that was exposed during the cold damage....but everything else is a nice green that has emerged....i was worried myself but was xtremely relieved once i seen some movement... it sat there since end of feb beginging of march unprotected and did nothing until sunday night into monday... i thought it was a gonner but i knew i had a good shot because some fronds were still green ....i am hoping this frond will emerge fully in another week or so and then start putting em out on a regular basis....my goal would be to have at least 4 or 5 fronds by the 4th of july :)

Tennessee,I had three Trachys,a C.cerifera and T.campestris with spear pull last Nov,we were in the 70s the first week and then it went down to 18F,thats when all the damage occured.I am still waiting on the C.cerifera as it's still alive,one wag/fort Trachy was not well established and died by Dec,I pulled the Trithrinax campestris as it was very small(it was still green though)and planted a S.louisiana.So,the T.wag/fort and T.Naini Tal are both pushing up new spears,(probably started a month ago)the wag/fort kept all it's leaves and is moving faster with a stubby spear leaf and also another spear,the Naini Tal had all it's leaves fried off over the winter months,so, it's moving slower.I will post some pics this weekend on the Some pictures from around the garden 4-26-09 thread,good luck with yours,I hope that they come back! I might add that what knocked them out in Nov was the combo of warmth,sudden cold(as mentioned) and rain before the cold that I should have protected them from.

The Windmill Palm at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden was a crispy mess in March. It looked lifeless. But last week (May 3) there were two new fronds already fully developed.

I'd give it another month for signs of life, Tennessee. Good luck!

If the spear didn't pull... it will probably come back! My Euro spear actually pulled from our low 20's here in Central Florida this past winter and is just now putting out a new spear since we hit mid to upper 90's a couple weeks ago. I'd wait before digging!

Hi TennesseeStorm! I'm just down the road in Knoxville and my Trachys took a beating this year too. We got down to 11° and they are looking rather ratty. I am just now seeing new fronds coming out of the crown. Don't give up hope! After all this rain we have had and get some hot sunny weather going, your palms should be in good shape! If I were you, I would wait until at least the end of June before I gave up.

Thanks for the replies... I will give it more time I suppose. Its already been in the 90s here toward the end of April for several days, then in the 80s and we have had ALOT of rain, so it kinda suprises me that I am not seeing anything yet considering some people I know that had the same damage that live further north and where its not been as warm already. I have some sort of greenery (like some floss or something) growing under the tree thats there every year that never causes problems, but wondering if I should pull all of this away? Thanks.

Use some Dactonil fungicide found in a red spray bottle at Lowes or HD. Wait until atleast the end of June before giving up. We got down to 2F, and some of the palms looked great and others did not, but most all of them are starting to recover. How long have your Needle Palms been in the ground? If less than 3 years and a smallish size to begin with, they can be very wimpy and at this stage even Trachys seem hardier. Once a Needle palm gets established, they are bullet proof, but in my experience, this can take up to 4 years, so to be safe protect them for at least 3 years. We have 40 year old Needles in Washington, DC at the National Arboretum that have seen some serious sub-zero temperatures in the past with no real damage.

I would cut the trunk starting at the top. Taking off 3 inches at a time. You could cut out dead tissue and maybe allow a spear to see light and poke out. This would stop rotting. This almost worked for a wrecked trachy of mine but the spear was way too premature down there.

Thanks.... I will try those tips. I cut off the dead fronds today and I tried the spear again and it pulled out. :( It was all mushy and soggy... bugs even came out of it.

Here's pictures of what can be done to a stump with a sharp knife. Cutting away down to growth could bring it back. Live spears covered in rotting material will not grow. I think if i cut down earlier, the tree would have rotted less and it would have made it. This turned into an experiment. I even potted it so I could eliminate rain. That was excessive though.