Could someone please tell me what they think is wrong with my palm? It's being undercut at the base? is there any way of saving it? Many thanks Nick Perth, western australia
G'day Nick...looks like a queen cuban to me...this is pretty normal I think, does it look like it's dying? Looks healthy to me Ed
I'm afraid I know nothing I was just worried about the base where it seems to be being undercut in some way. If this is how it's suppossed to be then that's fine many thanks for your help Ps If this undercutting continues will it make the palm unstable? & any idea how long these palms live for?
Nick...we had 3 of those palm out the front of our house that were a bit bigger than yours and they were exactly the same, so I wouldn't worry. I don't know how long they live for, but a fair while I'd say. The only problem we had with them was that they fruit prolifically which attracted bats and their droppings on our cars :( Also the fruits that weren't eaten would fall on the ground and ferment in the sun and it would stink, so in the end we chopped them all down. Ed
"so in the end we chopped them all down." What some will do, while others would cherish such a beauty. Cheers, LPN.
Yes it was a shame...however I would rather come home to a house that doesn't stink and 2 new cars that don't have paint eaten away from the bat droppings!! They are not a native species to Australia however they have naturalised themselves over here. They are not a self cleaning palm either. I didn't plant them originally (and never will). I would imagine that no one over here would even want them as a give away. One persons trash is another persons treasure, for me, unfortunately for the palms, personally they are trash. Ed
I suppose a Coconut palm would have been more pleasing to the eye ... more damaging to the cars. Cheers, LPN.
and people...up north the councils have actually made baskets that catch the coconuts so that they don't fall on people and injure/kill them, so that the councils don't get sued!! Some plants look very nice in some parts of the world and can be a weed in other parts...like impatiens her in QLD, I guess Ed
Not to be offensive Ed, but I'm not sure how what you are writing is helping this person, they want to save this palm, not chop it down.
Carol Ja...I'm not offended :) Maybe you should re read the thread. I was simply assuring Nick H that his palm wasn't dying and was completely normal as far as I could see. I was just giving Nick H a friendly warning about the fruits and the bats and the damage they can do etc. LPN then posted about one persons trash/treasure thing and I just re iterated the reasons why I chose to chop mine down then led to Coconuts etc. Believe me I love plants....I wasn't suggesting Nick H to chop his/her palm down!! Anyway...hope I helped Nick H...good luck mate!! Ed :)
Ed ... I caught your drift. Coconut palms are nice, but each plant no matter what it is, has some (even minute) disadvantage. I can't even begin to imagine what the challenges are in the sub-tropics. Hope you have a pleasant upcoming spring/summer without extremes. Cheers, LPN.
Thanks LPN....I hope you have a good autumn (fall is it??) and then I guess winter. Brrrr!! Catch you online!! Ed