If there in pots and you water them like that its very easy for filifera to get root rot. Filifera in a pot should be watered deeply once a week if outside in direct sun and once every 2 to 3 weeks indoors. Also filifera do naturally have leaves that die usually the oldest one or 2 if its growing well.

I have the same problem with my california fan palms,I have windmills too and they do great,but when I plant my californias they do exactly what you said.I have 4 of them and there all like that.They are all in ground and I think the sun beats them up and really dries up the soil quick,its really dry here so I water them daily,they take forever to fan out.

Are you fertilizing them? Does the soil drain well?

Turtile,
Thanks for the post. I haven't fertilized them because we planted them less than 4 weeks ago. And the soil drains a little too well, if anything. I'm starting to wonder if the root ball might be more dense (and slightly more elevated) than the surrounding soil, causing the water to drain out to the surrounding area and away from the roots. When I water, puddles form just outside of the root ball.

We have 2 in pots right now. For sure, they do NOT like to be wet!!! The frond will sag and yellow.

Like mentioned, one good deep watering per week is more than enough and then, ONLY, if the soil is dry!

I would cut off the dropping fonds if they are very yellow. If there's lots of green, I'd leave them for a bit so that the plant can re-absorb nutrients from those fronds. Then cut them when yellowed.

As for drainage, good drainage is important. BUT if you are sure that the water is moving away from the rootball and collecting elsewhere, then you may have pull them back out (before it's too late) and repot in such a manner as to allow the water to flow back into the rootball.

Depending on the size of the pot, what you might do, is put some slightly heavier soil around the parameter of the pot to push the water back towards the rootball.

In this case, you might want to use one of those water meter things to see if there is in fact water getting inside the rootball or not.

Funny thing about the yellowing, is that it can mean too much water or not enough. While the soil may be wet around the ball, perhaps nothing or too little is getting into the ball. The meter should help determine that.

Hope that helps.

If you would use sand you would not have to worry
about them staying too wet.