It can disappoint seeing that your palm trees are dying even though you have been taking care of them.
Most people aren’t aware that there are many different reasons why palm tree can start dying. Some of these include fertilizer being too close to the roots of the palm tree, too much sunlight or too little sunlight or inaccurate trimming.
Today, we will go through some of the reasons your palm tree may be starting to die and how you can possibly revive it.
How do I know my palm tree is starting to die?
If the top centre of your palm tree is turning brown and looking shrivelled and dry, then your palm tree is in need of some help. If the fronds at the bottom of the tree are looking brown, there isn’t need to worry just yet as this is normal.
How do I help my tree thrive?
Look at the tree and assess the situation, it may be you need to do one or more of these suggestion.
Brown Centre
If the centre of your tree is brown and looking like it is dying you need to add water and fertilizer to the tree. However, if the roots feel too wet and damp, you may need to cut back on watering and instead just add fertilizer.
Sunlight
If the fronds of your palm look dry and sunburnt, it may mean the plant is getting too much sunlight and is slowly dying because of it.
If this is the case, feel the soil and see if it is dry, if it is dry, you need to water your plant more often as the sun is drying up all the moisture for the plant.
If your plants are in pots, you may need to move your palm out of the sunlight and into a shadier area. However, make sure it still gets some sunlight as you don’t want your palm to die of lack of sunlight.
Water
As we mentioned before, if the soil is too dry and the leaves are looking brown, you need to water your plant more often.
However, if your palm tree has continuously moist soil, is growing at a slow rate, and the fronds are becoming brown at the tips, feel moist but are falling off; this means you are over watering your palm and causing it stress.
In this case, cut back your watering to two to three times a week. If the soil is still too moist, cut it back again.
Trimming
If the bottom fronds are turning brown, this is a normal process for the plant and this just means your palm tree needs a small trim.
Trim the bottom brown fronds with sharp clippers, so that the palm can grow new green palm leaves.
Fertilizer
Sometimes you can use the wrong fertilizer or place too much fertilizer near the roots of your palm. This can cause fertilizer burn to the plant and cause the plant to die.
If this is the problem, only use high-quality, slow releasing fertilizer and make sure it is about 50 cm away from the root of the palm.
There is also a chance your palm tree doesn’t have enough nutrients, in this case, you may need to add fertilizer if you haven’t before but keep the fertilizer high quality and away from the roots.
There are a few other reasons why your plant could be dying such as pests, diseases and storm damage. However, first access the palm and see if you need to complete any of the options above.
Remember once the plant roots are dead, you can’t revive the plant, therefore it is best to act fast if you see any warning signs that your plant is potently dying.
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