Question
foxtail trunk
My thriving 10 ft. foxtail palm which was planted 2 years ago, suffered some frost damage this past winter. I left it alone until February. I was instructed to cut back the fronds and leave the center stalk (which still showed signs of life, was still green) That was 4 months ago. Now after peeling away the lower part of 1 of the trimmed fronds, I noticed some insect activity. Also trunk seems to be oozing a gel like substance and my newest dilemma is portions of the trunk are now getting a black moldy soot on it. My question is...can this foxtail be saved? If so what course of action should I take? It has been getting plenty of water and it did receive fertilizer about 1 month after cutting it back from frost damage. Currently, it seems to be suffering from insect or disease. Would I be wasting my time treating it? Is it already a gonner?
AnswerHi Karen, its really difficult to determine just when to throw in the towel on cold damaged Palms, (or plants for that matter...), you really need to show some patience with them however, for sometimes it takes quite awhile for signs of reversal; the oozing could be from the "Cane Weevil" which is an insect that will invest a stressed Palm, (this may be what you see...) although it usually isn't the cause of a Palm dying, just an added stress for the Palm itself. All you can do,is what you have been, and assuring that it is properly irrigated; tug on that center spear, if the Palm is "a gonner" then it will pull right out and there will be a mushy area , where it was. If it holds firm, then give it more time, thats about all you can do, and another month or 2 isn't going to make any difference if its dead, but could make all the difference in the world if its not. Nick
