Question

foxtaill palm tree wit   QUESTION: I bought about 11 6ft foxtail palms at a garden center closeout sale approximately 1 1/2 yrs ago.  Please forgive me if my plant lingo is not correct.  They all had moderate to long fronds, but almost all the roots were severely wrapped in circular fashion in the black buckets that they came in.  I took the advice I got, to loosen the roots out and plant them with the ball above ground level and add palm tree fertilizer.  To my surprise most started sprouting new shoots almost immediately and it looked as though they were taking to their new home.  Well about 6 months ago, most of the palms fronds started to develop shorter in length and some even started expanding their leaves either shortly after the new shoot was out or while still shooting out of the crown.  Some of the plants seem to have a new shoot even 2-3 months while about 3-4 take about 5-6 months.  

I add fertilizer about every 6 months, because I was told to wait until they acclimated to the new soil (about 1 1/2-2 years) before fertilizing every 3 months (still questioning this Home Depot advice?!?!) and all but about 3 or 4 receive full sun all day long (but the ones are growing with the same vibrancy of the others plants along side which are not shaded out).  My well water irrigation is set to water 3 times a week early in the morning for 20 minutes each zone (again Home Depot advice because my floritam grass was drying out with just 2 times a week).

I was only able to attach one picture so I sent the one of the expanding leave in the crown (which eventually browned and never fully grew out), but can send more if needed.  While I know if it difficult to diagnose with only my brief explanations, can you explain the difference in old/new fronds, the expanding leaves in the crowns and what factors would allow some to grow better than others even though they are planted along side each other?  Sorry for the long email and thanks in advance for your help.


Tony
Cape Coral

ANSWER: Hi Tony, (I am in Port Charlotte), what is happening is the palms are stressing because the root ball is still compromised; the circular growth was caused by the palms being rootbound in the black nursery containers they came in, this causes a situation that takes time to rectify. The fronds not fully emerging is a sure sign of this stress, and immediate fertilizing wasn't the wise thing to do, they needed to set their roots before even thinking about it. The planting above the ground level floors me! They should have been planted at the same level they were in the containers, no deeper and albeit slightly higher would have been fine, above the soil level is just exposing the delicate roots to sunburn and drying out. I would lift them, being careful to get the entire ball with as little disturbance as possible, and reset them at the level I recommended. Newly planted palms need to be kept irrigated, but not soaked, or root damage will definitely take place, make sure they drain well, and are not sitting with wet feet. After doing what I have just said, it will be months (because of the season), before you will see any turnaround, so be patient and watch the new emerging fronds, they will be the tale of the tape, the existing ones are not going to change, they will eventually brown out completely and shed themselves. Again, "Patience is a virtue". Nick

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I appreciate the information Nick.  I will be patient for a possible recovery, but in the future, how will I know when to add fertilizer, what percentages (ie. 8-10-10, etc...), how much to add and how far from the root ball?

Thanks again in advance,
Tony

Answer
Tony, always fertilize with a well balanced granular specifically for Palms, for they have the proper macro and micro nutrients that palms need for proper growth; when you fertilize, you broadcast about a pound per diameter of trunk and from the drip line in.(outer most frond), but keep the fertilizer about a foot from the trunk itself. Palms need to be fertilized 3 times a year, but newly planted palms need to set their roots before nutrients will be asbsorbed, this is usually in about 3-4 months after placing.