In my sceened in patio I have two planters bordering the pool. I used to have two of the exact same 3-4 ft. palm trees in each planter. One of the stareted drooping over and on closer inspection I saw that the base of the palm was turning black. When i pulled on the middle palmfrond the newest growth it slipped pit of the tree with ease, it was soaking wet and slipperty to the touch.. over the course of the next week pr two the entire plant did the same thing with each and every froind until there was nothing left. I wenr and puschased another palm tree about the same size but coul;d not find the same type of broader leaf palm, this one did the exact same thinf after about 2-3 months in planter. the other palm in planter seperated by three feet of pool deck has never been affected. There are other smaller plants in planter that have not had same [problem as palm tree did. I am thinking that it must be some fungus or a virus but I don't know anything about plants and BEFORE I PUT ANOTHER PLANT IN THIS PLANTER I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF IT IS THE SOIL THAT HAS VIRUS OR FUNGUS? AND IS THERE SOME WAY TO TREAT THE SOIL BEFORE I PUT IN NEW PLANT? THANKS FOR ANY HELP. :-)
From my house it looks like a classic case of pixel deficiency, (: you don't have any pixs do you? One of the soil and a few of the plant would be helpful. Like Ed is suggesting it sounds like you are over watering and its causing other problems. I would start by watering the plant with a mild H2O2 solution, this will kill all bacteria and fungus in the soil, good and bad. I would then wait until the soil is totally dry 100% before watering again. "Never apply till it's dry" This is a desert plant that needs next to no water to survive. Plants need air in the root zone more then they need water to be healthy, especially this one that lives in a vary dry with little rainfall native environment. I am sort of talking out my azz with out seeing any pics but :O well. If ya want you could add some beneficial bacteria to the soil so the bad ones don' get a foot hold in your nice sterile soil. One thing that would help this plant also would be some potassium silicate, it will just toughen it up a bit and give it some drought resistance so being too dry will cause less problems while your learning to dial in your tree.
That soil looks real wet. for a plant that size I would only be watering it about 70ml of water every 2-4 days (when dry) One thing I noticed from your pics is the other plants in the same dirt are not doing well also, this has me leaning towards the over watering thing again. I would also take a soil sample and do a pH test on it, it looks like you are dealing with a pH lock out problem also, probably due to the fact the roots are swimming in water most of the time. I see a pool in the back ground, does the plant get splashed excessively? One thing that might help for next time is to add silica stones to your growing medium, this will add aeration to the soil and give your plants a constant source of potassium silicate. Now getting back to what Ed said are there any drainage holes in the planter, can you make any in it?
It just rained and the other planter right next to it gets the same amount of water.The previous plant which was the exact same type of palm tree got sick and died in the same fasion this one is several montrhs ago. it seems that whaever the problem i, is unique to that planter. P.S.I can not manage the amount of rainfall that these plants receive since they are outside. Unless I become a g-d or enlist an indian medicine man. :-)
Have you tried swapping out the soil for new? Just a shot in the dark here, is there any chance you have a small leak in the concrete from the pool to your planter?
No leak and no one has been in the pool for any water to splash in for at least a month. When i transplanted plant, nw soil from new plant went in othere then that no new soil. There is an awful lot of soil in there I was hoping that i could treat soil to kill whatever fungus or virus might be in there. I don't want to put more water plus it is 40 degrees tyoday. maybe the cold will kill fungus.. :-)
I can see the other plants you have look healthy, you already must have a method for caring for the plants that works. Your just having problems with this one planter, its not the plant, this is the second plant that's same kind that's had problems in there. I would dig out that planter and replace it with a high porosity soil mixed with a crap load of perlight to keep the soil aerated. While your in there look for leaks. If you want to actually solve the problem start I would start with the H2O2 water first. You can spend a lot of time chasing the problem down or you can just fix it. Would you say you are a 100% sure that concrete does not leak, does the sick planter dry out as fast as the others? Edit: can you see the color of your roots?
