I need some help with my Mexican Fan Palms. We had our trees put in on January 8th and my trees keep looking worse and worse. I do live in AZ and was told by the nursery that they take 12 gallons of water a week. We did have a new drip system installed. I can't tell if I'm giving them to much water or not enough water. I do have a moisture meter to help. When I use the meter on the outside of the base of the tree it says wet. When I put it right near the base of the tree some spots will say dry other spots moist or wet. Should I take the reading closer to the base or outer part? Is it better to water with the slow drip or slowly pour water over the base? I've attached a few pictures and would love any help.
It's not looking good, but this doesn't look like a case of underwatering to me. Would be great if someone with more experience with palms could chime in.
To me the palm looks like its burning ?, too much fertilizer ?, it shouldn't be yellow. However I'm not an expert so I recommend that you contacting the Pacific Northwest Palm & Exotic Plant Society mentorship for assistance PNWPEPS: Contact Us The PNWPEPS - aka Hardy Palm Society - is a chapter of the International Palm Society and has members all over the world. Someone from the Society will be able to help you. Good luck
Thank you for you recommendation. I have emailed the PNWPEPS and crossing my fingers with some help. I haven't used any fertilizer and I have cut back on the water. The palms are still under the nursery's warrenty. I may have to see what my options are. I love the look of them. We planted 3 trees and 10 new shrubs in our backyard and the Mexican Fan palm is the only 2 not taking. Steve
How has the weather been this winter? This brochure from UofA suggests that palms are best planted in spring or early summer. Cold soil temperatures can be a problem when trying to establish the plants. You would think the nursery would have suggested to wait. https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1021.pdf
The winter hasn't been anything terrible. We had a couple nights that got in the 30s. Other than that days beautiful ranging from 50-80 degrees today and nights in the 40s-50s. We planted 10 shrubs, 3 pygmy palms, 2 mexican fan palms and 1 pineapple palm. Everything other than the fan palms are doing well. I'm at a loss with them. I feel like if I water them they do worse, if i prolong the watering no better.
