Question
We live in San Diego.  It's particularly warm right now.  We just planted a pigmy palm, a flax and a red banana palm and they are all struggling.  We used a multi-purpose soil when planting them, mixed with dirt and have been watering them with some B-1 mix.  Any ideas to help the dying plants?

Answer
Hi Casey, tell me about your planting technique, many times the problem with new palms/trees struggling initially lies in the how they were planted; removing them from the nursery container, did you free up the pot bound roots so they can expand into the new soil, did you give them a good soaking as you backfilled to fill in all the air pockets that form when backfilling, have you irrigated them each day to ensure that the root ball doesn't dry out, and finally did you plant them at "exactly" the same level they were in the container. Follow up Casey and let me know, if these were all done correctly, then they could very well just be going through transplant shock...Nick