Alex palms withering

katman

Last week I planted two 1.5 metre Alexander Palms and have kept them moist, but not saturated. I used good potting mix with a topping of good mulch and a bit of dynamic lifter, but the upper foliage has withered to the texture of potato crisps.
They were both in a full sun location, and the past few days have been hot and windy. Since I removed them to shade, someone has told me that young Alexanders should be weaned into a full sun location Is my not doing this the cause of the potato crisp upper foliage, or is it more complicated than that?

katman

Couldn't find an EDIT button, so (hopefully) here's a photie of one of the palms.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Eric Frei

That one looks like it is still in a pot.

Potting mix can get hydrophobic quickly so water with a wetting agent, add some seasol and silica solution (try a nursery for it as Bunnings is hopeless, comes in 500ml bottle around $10)

Watch reflective heat.

Watch soil temperature.

Watch strong fertilizers as they can burn fine roots.

At least unlike a tree .... palms lose their leaves regularly so it aint over yet. Not too often I see a palm die from over watering either.

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katman

I returned it to the pot, rootball still intact, when I saw the crispy foliage, and it's now in the shade!
I put a small amount of dynamic lifter at the bottom of the hole I'd dug in the yard, and mixed that and some gypsum with the soil at the bottom.
Maybe it was the fertiliser.
As for overwatering, I read somewhere that Alexanders have been seen growing in creeks up north.
I'll leave it sit for a few weeks and see how it goes.

Thanks for the help

Sean Freeman

Sure looks like the kind of damage that you'd expect from wind burn.

katman

It has been been a bit hot and windy here this past week, Sean.
I moved it in to the shade after being told young Alex's need to be weaned to full sun. I've also read that somewhere in the past couple of days. The bloke next door who has a healthy ten year old stand of Alex, tells me all he did was dig a hole in the crappy soil we have here, backfill, and, apart from shoveling a heap of tanbark around them, left them to their own devices!
Maybe I should have done that!

Eric Frei

My old saying to plant purchasers was, if you bought it from the indoor area or shade cloth area then keep it in the shade.

Most palms are sun hardened though, especially alex's. However they are often sheltered from weather extremes buy numbers, all in rows etc.

My motto is chuck nothing in the bottom of a hole unless it's a special long term slow release tablet they use on roadside plantings etc.

I once killed a stack of azaleas by chucking dynamic lifter int he bottom of a hole, burned the roots and killed them.

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Victor Lindsay

It's abiotic stress, but from what? The old fronds are green with no necrosis. Appears to be only newer fronds. I don't know, but I would not go in the wind burn, or salt burn direction.

Bernard Keays

Ekka,

I think I have read somewhere before where you have advocated soluble silica. I understand that the turf industry use it.

And palms are monocots... but does it function the same way in trees?

I can't remember being taught this stuff! Mind you I completed my diploma in 1990.

Attached Files

	STAND SKH Turf[1].pdf (996.2 KB, 26 views)
	205-SilicaforPlants[1].pdf (147.2 KB, 137 views)

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Bernie

Eric Frei

Bernard,

I was advised a while ago by a plant pathologist to use it, best kept secret they reckon.

In trees it also helps the leaves become more pest resistant, benefits all around, was described as "panadol for plants".

It's a funny thing looking after trees and plants. If you are doing a good job the tree etc looks good, and doing the TLC work when the plant looks good is where most people fail .... You see, most people neglect the tree or plant till it's in trouble, sometimes seriously like all brown and dead.

I often tell people the transition from green to brown can be abrupt, and the brown part is usually non reversible. So the thing is to do good things all the time.

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