Question
Our palm tree in our back yard is slowly dying.  The leaves on the bottom started to yellow then browned.  When we looked at the tree, the bottom of the trunk looks wet and we took a closer look and we saw, what looked like "white spots" on the bottom, almost like white puffy cocoons of some sort.  Is there anything we can do to save the tree?

Answer
Dear Chrissie, It is never a good thing when the base of a palm looks like yours does.  I'm not sure if it can be saved but if it can, here is what to do:  First, the white mushrooms, puffballs or insect cocoons need to be removed.  Don't spray them away with a water hose, physically remove them and bag them up.  Then I would cut back any badly yellowed fronds, sterilizing in between cuts.  Buy a fungicide, actually a good product to use would be Ferti-Lome Triple Action Plus which kills fungus, insects and mites.  So if the pods are insects or fungal you will be killing off whatever is left in the area.  Spray the Palm tree once every week or ten days, and also reduce the water the palm is getting drastically to attempt to dry it up.  The tree may have succumbed to rot in which case you probably won't be successful, but either way you should know within a month if the tree is getting better.  Generally, if the tree can put out new leaves successfully, then that is when you will know it is probably going to survive.  Be sure to protect it from freezes this winter as it will be more vulnerable.  I hope this information helps.  Good luck, Melissa