anybody here know about palm trees?

[pontius]

we bought 3 palm trees about 3 months and planted them as the nursery people told us to and have been watering them everyday (also as they told us to). now, one of the trees appears to be doing very well and is hard. but the other two are turning somewhat brown on the stalks and have a spongy/cork-like feel if you knock on them. anybody know what could be the cause of this? this best I can figure is that the dirt is holding too much water. would that cause them to go spongy? they are planted in what used to be a field, kind of clay/field dirt, and not sand. so this kind of dirt holds water more than sand. should I just stop watering them? I just don't understand why the one appears to be perfectly fine and the other two are not because they are only about 7-8 feet from each other in the exact same ground.

 

[salty blues]

Some palms need lots of water, such as a Majesty palm. Others, such as a Mexican fan palm need a lot less. I think that most all palms do best in well drained soil. There are many types of palms. You need to find what your particular(palm) type needs are. hth

 

[beth]

What kind of palm is it? Palms tend to prefer sandy alkaline soils, not clay soils. Also, what part of the country do you live in? Palms will not survive freezing temps.

 

[pontius]

Originally Posted by Beth
http:///forum/post/2742249
What kind of palm is it? Palms tend to prefer sandy alkaline soils, not clay soils. Also, what part of the country do you live in? Palms will not survive freezing temps.
I am in SC, 10 miles from the coast. I don't know what kind they are. they appear to be the type that grows all over Florida and the Carolinas.....long slender stalks with the branches at the top. you see them everywhere around here (including on the SC state flag). I can take pictures if that would help. but the branches have really not started blooming out yet, they are just point straight up. I'd say they are about 12-15 feet tall right now.

 

[notsonoob]

Get some palm feed from Home depot too. The soil in those areas may have been void. I had a coconut palm that didn't do much, so I dosed it with palm feed on three month cycles and it shot up pretty quick.
It all really depends upon what type they are and where you plan them.

 

[paintballer768]

Originally Posted by Pontius
http:///forum/post/2742262
I am in SC, 10 miles from the coast. I don't know what kind they are. they appear to be the type that grows all over Florida and the Carolinas.....long slender stalks with the branches at the top. you see them everywhere around here (including on the SC state flag). I can take pictures if that would help. but the branches have really not started blooming out yet, they are just point straight up. I'd say they are about 12-15 feet tall right now.
Sabal or Royal Palms I guess. The spongey feel Im guessing might have something to do with soil or nutrients maybe? Not too sure, my dads a landscaper haha. Maybe try fertilizing them and keep up the watering.

 

[beth]

Once established, palms do not need daily watering, in fact, unless you are experiencing drought, they rarely need much watering at all. Ease off the watering.

 

[peachie98]

I transplanted a couple palms last year...everyone told me you have to make sure to cut off the brown/dying branches as the tree will continue to try to nourish them instead of making new, healthy ones. My big palm that I moved we had to cut off all the original branches over a couple month period as they kept turning brown as well. It did grow new ones though (and I never had it completely branch-free).
As the old brown branches die off they do tend to get a spongy feeling as they are dead. As everyone said, make sure to fertilize them. I also planted mine in a very sandy soil and I think they tend to prefer that as well.
You also might want to make sure you don't have the root bulb covered too much...someone once told me with newer palms to leave it so the nutrients and water can get down there instead of smothering it. I just left part of one side exposed at the top of the root base.
These are just things people have told me/I've followed...not sure if it will help in your case but good luck!

 

[fuerte91]

do you put fertilizer spikes into the soil around them?(big pain in the

butt) Also we never water our palm trees and we have 7 of them

 

[pontius]

thanks everybody. we dug out some around the bulb of the trees and have not watered them in about a week (though it has rained some). we put fertilizer in the beginning but have not done anything since, will check on that. this is really my wife's project, but she doesn't know much about going on the internet and asking questions.