Pam trees seem dead

gsxr1

I have noticed that nearly every palm tree out side every single house in out street has died. My one has also died. And stinks..

I was up north this weekend where my grandmothers palm tree was also dead due to the bad winter.

Has this happened to anyone else. The smell of them is like sewage.

or do they usually sag and turn brown after a bad winter?

JMSE

A neighbour of mine was saying the same thing, that everyone she knows who has a certain type of tree (cant remember if it was palm) .... the cold had killed the tree. Wonder which day was it they finally gave up the ghost? Or did the fluids absorbed by the roots freeze solid or did the roots die in the soil?

johno2

Yup, it's happening everywhere. If the trunk is split near the base with pink foamy sap leaking out it's not looking good. I can't say for sure if they're completely dead though. That cold spell was the worst I remember and it hit all the tropicals badly. I think the best thing you can do is cut off any parts that are definitely dead. Sometimes the trunk is soft and spongy and starting to bend over. Remove anything like that and hope that the roots are still strong enough to push out new growth near the top of the tree again.

These trees can be very tough. The dragon trees that you see as indoor houseplants are related to cordyline palms. I've seen one get chewed up completely by a dog, just a stump the size of a pencil left sticking out of the pot. After a bit of fertiliser and a couple of months it started to shoot new growth and now it's a beautiful plant again.

unkel

Yep. See the recent thread here about cordylines too

bmaxi

Nothing to lose at this stage by cutting it off close to the ground, just a straight cut across. If you're lucky you'll get several shoots just above where you've cut, each of these will form a separate trunk and you can choose how many of them you wish to keep.

johno2

bmaxi wrote: »

Nothing to lose at this stage by cutting it off close to the ground, just a straight cut across. If you're lucky you'll get several shoots just below where you've cut, each of these will form a separate trunk and you can choose how many of them you wish to keep.

Fixed that for ya.

bmaxi

johno2 wrote: »

Fixed that for ya.

You mean I haven't devised a whole new system of air layering?

davidbowieno1

yeah mine are gone smelly in the front ,thet are the worst because they are north facing ,but the ones in the back look dead as well .my palms are fully grown and i want to cry but i will trim off the stuff that hasent fallen off yet .and take out the one in the front but one site said if you buy a replacement get the hardy #trachycarpus fortunei #palm

fryup

gsxr1 wrote: »

I have noticed that nearly every palm tree out side every single house in out street has died. My one has also died. And stinks..



Has this happened to anyone else. The smell of them is like sewage.

my cordyline smells like a rotting corpse

bmaxi

fryup wrote: »

my cordyline smells like a rotting corpse

Probably because it is a rotting corpse. Happy to report that one I had performed surgery on earlier has started to shoot from the base, so all is not lost. All we need now is patience.