Sally Scalera

Brevard County Horticulture Extension Agent
3695 Lake Drive -- Cocoa FL 32926 -- 321-633-1702

Palm information

March 14, 2009

  • I first wrote this article in December of 2005 and then ran it again last year but it seems like the information is still needed. As I drive around the county I see a lot of chlorotic palms with many fronds more yellow than green. Some yards are full of yellowish palms and not the healthy, deep green color they would be in their native countries. Palms can be considered high maintenance because they require four fertilizations each and every year. I wonder if people would plant as many palms if they knew up front that they would have to buy and apply fertilizer four times a year for as long as they have the palms. If you have palms in your landscape here is information from Dr. Tim Broschat of our Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center that will help keep your palms healthy.
  • Never use turf fertilizer within 50 feet of any palm! Your palms are actually better off with NO fertilizer than some turf fertilizer.
  • If you use turf fertilizer on palms you could eventually kill them. Turf fertilizers induce a potassium deficiency because the nitrogen is slow release whereas the potassium isn’t. Therefore, after the potassium is gone the nitrogen is still being released and encouraging new fronds to be produced.
  • Palms normally have deficiencies that are similar to those of grasses so, therefore, if you need to fertilize palms that are planted in (or near) the lawn it is best to fertilize everything will an 8-2-12 4%Mg or 8-4-12 4% Mg.
  • Some 8-2-12 4%Mg or 8-4-12 4%Mg fertilizers are good, some don’t do anything and some are harmful for the palms. Examples of some of the good brands would be Nurseryman Sure-Gro Corp. (they are down in Vero Beach), Atlantic FEC (in Homestead), Howards, Hoodridge and Lykes.
  • If a potassium deficiency exists then DO NOT remove any frond that is not totally dead and brown. The removal of yellow fronds which are moving potassium (and possibly magnesium too) up to the new growth will push the potassium deficiency up into the new growth.
  • The use of pre-emergent herbicides around palms can kill the palms though it’s not understood why. Granular pre-emergent herbicides (like those used in weed and feed fertilizers) can last for up to six months and sprays for up to two months.
  • All palms naturally shed fronds quickly! A frond will go from green to yellow to brown in a matter of three days and that’s natural! So, if you have fronds that are yellowish and they are hanging on to your palm for more than three days (like a month or more) then that is a sign that your palm has a nutrient deficiency. Older fronds that are yellow are evidence of a potassium or magnesium deficiency.
  • Potassium deficiency is everywhere in Florida and the older fronds start off with yellow spots.
  • NEVER remove any living frond originating above the horizontal (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. when looking at the palm canopy like it was a clock.) The best policy though, is to ONLY remove totally brown fronds!
  • Do not attempt to pull off fronds that will not come off easily. This can result in trunk wounds that serve as entry points for diseases.
  • Never use climbing spikes on palm trunks for any reason!
  • When fertilizing, broadcast the fertilizer under the canopy area, the entire bed area or the entire landscape at a maximum rate of 1.5 pounds of fertilizer (that is the total fertilizer blend not just the Nitrogen like we do for turf) per 100 square feet, or 15 pounds per 1,000 square feet, every three months.
  • Most palms in Florida are not receiving the proper amount of nutrients and therefore don’t have the foliage they normally would. For example, healthy coconut palms grown in their native areas can have 26 fronds with all of them a nice green color whereas the average coconut palm here in Florida has about 13 fronds and often the older fronds are yellow. For a Canary Island date palm growing in its native area, the number of fronds in the canopy of a healthy palm is 130 and the number of leaves normally observed in the canopy of a Florida grown palm is 65.

If you would like more information, and even pictures of nutrient deficiencies in palms, check out our website here. In the search window type in and then click on the search button. There will be a lot of bulletins that you can click on and read or print up. If you have palms in your landscape, then clip this article out and file it so that you can refer to it whenever you need to. If you have friends and family who have palms see if they need a copy too. After all, green palms not only look the best, they are also the healthiest.