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nick_comodo

need help with my Foxtail palm

6 years ago

Recently had this double foxtail palm planted a week ago by professionals so I know it’s planted correctly and not to far down, after a closer look I noticed these brown spots on the leaves with brown tips on some of the fronds. There are 2 dead or dying ones at the bottom I’m just concerned it might have fungus or some nutrient deficiency. It’s 5 years old and was a pot plant so I heard it’s common with young palms and pot planted
palms. Now that it’s in the ground getting fertilized and proper irrigation do you think those brown spots will go away when new fronds come out? Not sure but I also noticed the spear isn’t completely green either is that normal? I hope it doesn’t have crown rot. But it was only planted a week ago so I’m unsure. There’s also this one cut frond so I was wondering will it ever come off the trunk? Thanks to anyone for answers I just wanna make sure it’s not going to die on me. I’m hoping with it being planted and not in a pot now after a couple cycles of new fonds coming out it will not have those spots and look healthy.

Comments (17)

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    What kind of environment did it live in before you planted it?

  • 6 years ago

    It was in Miami for a while before being taken to a palm nursery in zone 9b which is the zone I’m in. I’m not sure how long it was at the nursery for, here are the dead or dying fronds at the bottom and not sure if that video of the spear will play I’m assuming not though

  • 6 years ago

    This is the top of that one spear, there is another spear at the bottom of this one that is significantly smaller but has the same coloration that’s not perfectly green it looks like a wood color I don’t really know how to explain it

  • 6 years ago

    There are a number of diseases that can affect palms. Here is an article specifically about diseases of Foxtail Palm. Here is one from the University of Florida. Here is another article that talks about various fungal rots. Treat your palm immediately with a fungicide, and fertilize for an iron and potassium deficiency.

  • 6 years ago

    Thank you, I have miracle gro palm plant food I was going to use soon and have been using miracle gro liquafeed every other day with regular water on the opposite days just so it can root properly. I’ll pickup the fungicide tomorrow but do you know if it’s a spray? Or how would I use that correctly to treat it? Thank you again I appreciate the help

  • 6 years ago

    And what do you think about that spear? Is it normal for it to look like that and not be completely green? Cause that’s how they look and I’m just praying it’s not crown rot. Also should I get a copper based fungicide? That’s what I’ve been seeing when looking this up but I’m not exactly sure

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Copper sulfate is a common ingredient of organic fungicides. I've also used Physan 20 which controls algae, fungi, bacteria and virus disease, or you can try Consan 20 which is very similar. If experts are recommending something I would try it first. Remember that the article about Foxtail Palm disease noted that there could be an underlying nutrient deficiency stress that allows the disease to get started. Good luck.

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    There's going to be an adjustment period and it's normal for palms to lose lower fronds. Give it time and make sure to water it before the soil gets dry. You'll need to stick your finger in the soil to know.

  • 6 years ago

    Yes, my soil was/is very dry so I was told to water every day twice a day for 2 weeks then every other day twice a day for the next 2 weeks and after that 2 times a week for 45 minutes each time with my irrigation system so I should be good with water. Question though? Someone cut this frond off before I got it and doesn’t show any signs of coming off like the other ones that are older and dying around it. I’m assuming since they cut it now the rest of it’s holding on for some reason. Do you think this will eventually fall off also?

  • 6 years ago

    Thank you!

  • 6 years ago

    Is this normal for the bottom of a foxtail palm trunk?

  • 4 years ago

    Hello Nick… How did your palm do after all? I have a foxtail with a similar problem as you can see in the attached picture… Any advice from you or anyone else would be appreciated.



  • 4 years ago

    Hey Oliver, my palm was actually fine just normal growth on it. It’s been in the ground for 2 years at this point. Unfortunately this past January/February we got a pretty good cold snap and it “burned” all of the foliage. We sprayed it with copper fungicide treatments for a month and a half and now just waiting to see what happens with fertilization and proper watering. It’s a double foxtail. The bigger one has new growth already starting with the dead ones falling off. The smaller one still looks good on the actual crown shaft but no new growth yet so hoping in a few weeks it will start to pop. It’s a vacation home for us in zone 9b Florida so I’m not there all the time so just doing the best we can. I’ll attach 2 pictures to show you what it looked like before the freeze all nice and green then a month later all the foliage was burned. So sad but I’m hoping it comes back🙏🏼 time will tell

  • 4 years ago

    Hi Nick… Thanks for the answer… yes, your palms look affected by the cold, I hope they recover —we had a cold front here in Texas in February of last year, which also burned orher palms we had… I already purchased the cooper fungicide… Any recommendation about how often the palms should be sprayed? I also got liquid iron and palm food (see attached pictures) which I hope will help.



  • 4 years ago

    We sprayed every 10 days depending if it was going to rain or not because you wanna let it dry for 24 hours after spraying, fertilizing will help give the right nutrients also for yours

  • 4 years ago

    Thanks... will see what happens.