I don't know much about the Texas Sables, but I would definitely only water it sparingly. From what I do know of them, they are far more towards being "arid" climate palms, like the washingtonias. Washingtonias, while they will grow in the SE U.S., will not thrive, mostly because it is just too damp / wet for them to really take off. The excess moisture seems to almost stunt their growth. If the Texas sables are in deed as arid climate loving as the washys are, then too much water could be the problem.

Maybe try watering it ALOT less than you are for a month or so and see what happens. under watering is better than over, because its always much much much easier to correct. Over the years, ive learned the hard way that UNDER watering is always, ALWAYS the better side to err on than over watering. A good long soaking can almost always undo any wilt or whatever else an under watered plant goes through, but overwatering damage and/ or rot, well, you just cant really recover from that nearly as easy.

just a thought. Got any pics of it? would love to see it! Keep us posted!

While it is true that Sabal texana is adapted to a more arid, hotter summer climate than S. palmetto it still likes water. (The wetness of the Southeast is a problem for some Mediterrean or desert palms not just because of soil moisture but because of consistently high levels of HUMIDITY.) Being that your palm was only recently transplanted, it doesn't yet have an adequate root system for getting at available ground water. How has precipitation been in your area since your transplanting? If it's really been dry, that may be your problem. (I don't believe palm roots grow into dry soil.) I water all newly transplanted trees and shrubs deeply on a regular basis (until they get established). Not sure about their growth (or lack of) in those high temps. I have a small Texas Sabal (four-inch diameter trunk) that I grow in a container. Temps here have been mostly upper 80's/low 70's (max/min range) and its been growing fairly fast (being in a container, I do hose it down about every day). I would contact a local nursery. They are in tuned with the local weather, should know about this Texas-native Sabal, and should be able give you on post- transplanting info. Good luck!

I was also thinking that since it was transplanted recently that lawn sprinklers may only be wetting the surface and what it needs is a deep root watering,at least every 2 weeks and if you guys have been in the upper 90s and 100s like a lot of Texas it may be a lack of water.Even drought tolerant palms need deep root watering untill they can establish themselves after planting.Good luck

I know all of mine (all plants) have stalled from the heat, but will take off again in a couple/three weeks. I think the best thing is as been stated, deep watering as necessary. We need some rainfall badly and a cool down to below the 100's would be welcomed right now too. I hope it picks up for you pretty soon.

Thanks for all the responses. After I planted it in Feb 2007, we had record rainfall that spring, so it got way more water than I ever would have given it, but it is in a well drained area. This past spring had average rainfall and we have been pretty dry since the end of may. We have had very low humidity/high heat and no rain in July except for a good soaking t-storm on the 31st. It has become humid since then but still having highs in the low to mid 100's. I have mulch around the base of it and the soil under the mulch is somewhat moist. what kind of time frame should i expect for the transplant shock to reside? I'll try to get a picture up as soon as my wife can locate the camera.

Was this palm growing before the warm,hot temps?They say 3 years to get established,but I think once they are growing vigorously thats a pretty good indication that its,well,happy again,but the 3 year thing applies to stress from drought, heat ect,in other words they need a little help for a while to get through drought ,heat, cold,stress beyond the norm of what might be expected.

The center spear(which is actually about 3 fronds) began pushing up for the first time around april this year and pushed up about 8-9 inches until it stopped about a month ago(which is about the same time the daily highs started inching up in to the 100's). there was zero growth last summer, but i wasn't expecting any until this year. My other palms(w. robusta x 4, windmill, queen, and pindo) are really thriving in this heat and have received similar irrigation and fertilizer as the Sabal(except the queen got manganese spikes too). But they were all container grown and smaller than the sabal at transplant.

Im kind of surprised you have a windmill that is thriving in heat. Most of them tend to do better with slightly cooler weather, and they tend to stall during the heat. It could be the heat. It does sound like heat stall to me, especially if you are having higher than usual humidity. If the soil is staying wet for extended periods due to the higher humidty, maybe youll want to scrape away all the mulch, to let the soil dry out more than it has. Just a thought. I hope you can post some pics, and that it starts up growing again once the heat/ humidity subsides a bit.

I agree that they should be watered accordingly but too much water will also cause fungus. However with these triple digit temps i don't think that's a problem !

Here it is:

Thats a big palm,it may just take some time,either way.It is amazing to me how long a palm can apear alive,as they have a lot of stored up food in their trunks-anyway,seeing any kind of growth is a good sign.Good luck!

That's a nice palm. Hope it does well for you.

I've been having palm problems down here. I'm sure the heat and drought are the issues.

Check the soil under the mulch to see if it needs water.

Also, gravel dries out the soil and makes it very hot.

I just planted 3 texas sebal palms in my backyard. They get plenty of sun and my sprinkler system gives it water about 3 times a week. They were in a container and were hit pretty hard during a storm one night. They seemed to survive okay after that. Then they were put into the ground. Now the leaves are turning yellow and brown. What is causing them to look like they are dying? Bad soil? too much water? I hope it's not too late to save them. What do I do?

After a disturbance like that it takes larger palms quite a while to set up their root systems in the new location. That's a time you'll get negligible growth up top. While it's still got a green spear it should be okay but you can't really hurry it along.

Any luck with your palms sandhyasrivasuk I'm having the same issue..... http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4638679/is-my-sabal-palmetto-transplant-dead