Question
I have a washingtonia palm that I have had for 6 years (it is about 15-20 feet tall).  This winter we had several strong nor'easter blow though (Roanoke Island, Outer Banks of NC) so we had a lot of torn and brown frawns.(we usually have to cut off 1/2 the frawns every spring, this year almost all of them) We removed 29 frwans end of March, since the removal of these frawns we have had about 12 new frawns grow however all but 2 of them have grown Bent in half we 2 weeks ago removed them we now have 3 new frwans coming out and they are also bent in half.  Will this problem correct itself, is there something I need to do other than just put down lime monthly (the only instructions given when I purchased the tree and and had it planted)  I really love my palm any suggestions would be apperciated!  Thank You!

Answer
Hi Valorie, the bent "fronds" are caused by the cold temps this past Winter, what happened is the fronds that were in development were stressed as were the ones already emerged, and when they too emerged, the damage became apparant; this should clear itself up with newer fronds that were not in the develpment stage and are brand new, they should emerge healthy, but this will take time. I don't know who told you to put down lime, but I will tell you that you need to fertilize them with a well balanced "Palm fertilizer" 3 times a year at the rate of about 5 lbs each time, spread evenly around the base (like feeding chickens) and then watered in. Washingtonias are pretty hardy, so it should eventually straighten itselfj out and all will be normal again. Nick