Plant death - Pindo Palm
by
Sherrie S
+12
I have 2 Pindo Palms next to each other. One is perfect & the other has black on the fronds on all sides of the plant. Should I remove the one with black fronds or just cut them off. The color on the two palms are very different.
Only top of frond is ugly
another view of destruction
15 answers
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Sherry, the pindo is generally a trouble-free palm, so I'm surprised you're having this problem with yours. Blackening leaf tips are usually a sign of too much alkaline salt in the soil, but if the plants are side by side I don't know why one would be affected and the other not. Do you give them a good palm fertilizer? You can certainly cut back the black fronds and see what happens. If the problem persists, I would call in a tree person before you give up on your pindo.
Douglas Hunt
on Jul 11, 2012
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Douglas, I guess my trees are mad at me - the Queen Palm that looked bad died. I did give both Pindos palm fertilizer. What is alkaline salt? I will have a semi-professional look at it tomorrow. If he doesn't know then I will find an arborist. Thank you for your help. I'll let you know what I find out.
Sherrie S
on Jul 11, 2012
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Sherrie, they are salts that are not neutral. You can counteract them by watering in iron, gypsum or sulfur into the soil around the palm. (Sorry to hear about your queen palm. A pindo, however, is far more valuable. Let's try to keep it alive!)
Douglas Hunt
on Jul 12, 2012
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Douglas H, my sprinkler water is high in iron and magnesium which most plants like. I asked a company to tell me what the problem is. I really love the Pindos. I'm waiting for their answer.
Sherrie S
on Jul 13, 2012
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Good luck, Sherrie. I'll be interested in hearing what they say. Pindos are great palms. I have one in the middle of my front yard.
Douglas Hunt
on Jul 14, 2012
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Douglas, the company I called hasn't responded.....BAD! I noticed other Pindo palms in my HOA also have some black. Do you think an arborist could help me? I want to keep the tree if possible.
Sherrie S
on Jul 14, 2012
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Yes, I would make the call to an arborist. Perhaps it is fungal. But better to head off the problem before it gets worse.
Douglas Hunt
on Jul 15, 2012
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I just remembered that I have a wonderful local nursery with very knowledgeable owners where I can take a frond & get an opinion. Do you have any arborist you recommend?
Sherrie S
on Jul 15, 2012
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Sherrie, the guy I use is Ray Jarrett, 386-295-0481. He's an ISA-certified arborist, and very involved in the Volusia chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society, so he will not do anything BAD. If you're too far outside his area (he lives in New Smyrna) he could probably recommend someone. But good idea to take a frond to a good local nursery.
Douglas Hunt
on Jul 15, 2012
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Dougles, I'm going to skip my local nursery & go directly to the arborist. I want the best answer I can get & thank you so much. Maybe he can tell me what happened to the queen palm, too. I really appreciate your help.
Sherrie S
on Jul 15, 2012
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Good luck, Sherrie. Let me know what he says.
Douglas Hunt
on Jul 16, 2012
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Douglas, Ray recommended a person closer to my home. She was great. She told me to cut off the black fronds because it appears the tree is in good shape. Just to be safe she took a few fronds for testing. We also discussed the dead Queen Palm & she felt it had been a lack of water that started the problem. I'm replacing it with a Pindo. She thought she might need to do a soil test but decided the yard was in great shape & I didn't need the soil test. Thank you so very much for the referral.
Sherrie S
on Jul 18, 2012
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You're most welcome, Sherrie. Good news on the pindo front. I'd take a third pindo over a queen palm any day!
Douglas Hunt
on Jul 19, 2012
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What is a good fertilizer for palms and bamboo?
Lourdes Perez Torres
on Mar 08, 2016
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@Lourdes Perez Torres I can't recommend any brand for palms so I just give my Pindo and other palms something made for palms. Bamboo grows naturally here with no feeding. I don't use a lot of chemicals on most plants/trees.
Sherrie S
on Mar 08, 2016
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