Hi, I have a feeling my palm trees are dying of a slow and miserable death, though I am not exactly sure what could the cause of it. Up until about 6 - 8 month ago, all the palms appeared to be doing fine. However, in the last 6 months or so, the fronds on the top of one of the palms started turning brown, falling off (leaving just the stalks - see pix), quickly followed by the demise of the entire plant. I recently noticed the palm next to it appears to be going through the same cycle, with the fronds browning/falling off and leaving the stalks. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'd like to stop it if I can. Has anyone see this problem before? Could it be fungus or parasite - as it appears to be spreading from the one tree to the next? Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks, Cris
Frost damage? Also check if it could be lethal yellowing: http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/pestsndiseases/vpe_ly_coconut.htm
The palms are almost certainly Dypsis lutescens, a very widely planted and usually trouble-free species in south Florida. Plants in Indian River and Brevard counties weren't bothered by cold this winter, so you can rule that out. Conceivably Ganoderma butt rot (a fungal disease). You might check at http://palmtalk.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi? The Central Florida Palm and Cycad Society's forum isn't quite as busy as it should be, but the garden forum at http://2ndlight.com/forum42ndlight/categories.cfm?catid=8 has several palm enthusiasts as regulars.
