state of the artState Of The Art

With so many palm trees in Venice I see a lot of palms suffering from Nutrient deficiency.  Here are some tips on how to identify nutrient deficiency in Plms. The most common problem I see is what we call frizzle top, the reason we call it that is obvious, the top of the palm will get an uggly frizzle to it, this is caused from Mangenese Deficiency, apply a good water soluble Mangenense  nutrient as listed on label.  Palms with iron deficiency usually causes new leaves to emerge yellow-green to almost white in color.  Older leaves usually remain darker in color. Iron deficiency in palms is usually caused by poor soil aeration, deep planting or too high of a ph in soil.  Freeze damage is one of the easiest to identify, most all of the leaves will turn brown, and of course soon after a freeze and most freeze temperate palms in the area will be damaged, this one thing only time will cure, always check planting zones before planting palms in Venice .  Lightning damage appears quickly, usually with in 1 to 2 days, the entire crown will fall to one side, the trunk may have a crack, and could bleed sap, lightning strikes are usually lethal to palms.  Make sure your palms are getting enough water but not too much, usually they can survive from mother nature however in drought water by hand or instll tree bubblers to insure proper water requirements are being met.