I put Miracle gro shake n feed palm food on my windmill palms. I put way to much on them. I used the applicator cap and then read to put 1 tablespoon per palm. At first within a week they looked real good and green. I watered them every evening. Well now they are turning brown on the ends. Is this a sign of too much fertilizer or too much water? What can I do to correct this. Thanks for any advice.
Certainly could be an indication of over-fertilization. Excess soil salts from fertilizer or standing tapwater will be taken up by the plant roots and deposited in the leaf tips causing them to turn dark brown. Try to take the plant to the shower or outside and give the soil a good thorough flushing. This will help to wash out any remaining fertilizer salts.
Same solution, different method. Water heavily in the area to leach out the fertilizer salts, and if any fertilizer is still apparent on the soil surface than remove it.
I will give that a try. I just hate that since I put down the fertilizer I have mulched and weedexed the area around them. I was'nt sure it it was a sign of too much fertilizer or too much water. I figured it would'nt have burned them like that since it is supposed to be slow release. Thanks for your help.
"weedexed the area around them " would likely be a bigger potential for damage than over fertilizing by a bit. 1 tablespoon of the miracle gro shake and feed on a 6 foot palm will be unlikely to do any damage. Water the heck out of them for a couple week to leach the soil, still the best advice most likely.
The Weedex is a waxy herbicide with a very localized application due to the application method: http://www.enviroedge.com/weedex/order1.htm I know it's a pain to remove the excess fertilizer, but it will be even worse to have to remove dead plants.
I used the roll of weedex should I remove it and just pull weeds when necessary? Also I started to see a decline in their condition before the weedex was put there. I agree I don't want to remove dead plants I have over $1000 in these trees.
it depends, are we talking weedex as in the bar of weed killer or a sort of weed control fabric? if its fabric, pull it up, it may have created a problem with moisture transfer, if it was the weedbar (which I dont hink is in canada anymore but I could be wrong) then you may have a chemical burn issue.
It is the roll type fabric weedex. But I just put it around the last palm yesterday and it already looked poorly. I will take some pics of them tomorrow and post them.
Jimmy, do you think it is possible I have overwatered them by watering everday since I fertilized them?
were they transplanted recently? how long have you been giving them a lot of water? I would say probably not too much water, unless you soil is poorly drained. any pics to help out?
they have been in the ground for at least 6 or 8 months. I did'nt start watering them every day until I fertilized them on this past mothers day. I am gonna take some pics tomorrow and maybe you can tell me what I need to do. Thanks for taking the time to try and help me. I have a palm addiction my wife says but I have a lot to learn about them.
addiction? ha. for watering I would think a deep watering once or twice a week would be best, watering every day may be the problem. how is your drainage?
I would say the drainage is good. But I have been giving them a lot of water every evening due to thinking over applying the fertilizer may harm them. However, due to the size of the trees the fertilizer being over applied may not have even been an issue. I will take some photos in the morning and post them. Thanks
Well I quit watering them and they appear to be doing better. I think it is just old fronds that are dying off due to new growth coming out of the crown. They are full of new fronds coming out.
