Question: We live in Seattle, WA and have two European fan palms in containers on our deck. These palms have outgrown every pot we’ve been able to buy and they are now about 6’ tall and ready to be planted in the ground next to the deck where they’ve been living for the last couple of years. The palms have each produced a couple of extra trunks and plants. Can these be divided or should the whole potted plant be planted in the ground and not divided? My instinct is to just transplant them intact and not take a change on ruining these beautiful plants but my husband thought they might be dividable.
Answer: You can divide European Fan Palm if there is a way to do it without damaging the main trunk. If multiple trunks were developed a while a go, it might be difficult to separate them without severely damaging one of them. If you don’t want to risk it, just plant the whole palm. It is usually easier to separate offsets before they develop a trunk. Here is an article I wrote on transplanting palm tree from a container into the ground. ~Susan Brian
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Question: A Sabal palm on our property started getting yellow spots all over the older fronds about 4-5 months ago. It has progressed so that the older fronds are dying and dropping off and even the new growth shows signs of this yellow spotting, which seems to eventually cover the entire frond. There are 2 other plams about 10-12 feet away that seem to be unaffected. These plams have been here for 24 years. This is Ocala, Florida. Now the tree, in the part below the growth (where the older fronds have been cut off) appears to have a mold or fungus (white/yellow) on it.
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Question: Hi, I just bought an Areca Palm yesterday from my local Home Depot store. My intention for buying the Palm is to provide some screening or camouflage for my above ground swimming pool sand filer and the PVC pipes attached to it. They are in the middle of my pool and the yard and stick out like a sore thumb. I have not put the Palm in the ground yet, cause I need your advice. I hope I did not buy the wrong thing.
I read about the Palm on your site and I am a little scared to plant it. I do not think it is even rated for my planting zone. I live in middle Georgia, Warner Robins. I think we are in Zone 8. It does gets below freezing here, so I am concerned about the Palm’s survival. I am also concerned that it’s root system will spread out to much and mess up my liner under my pool. Can you give me some advice before I plant this thing? Should I keep it or take it back? If so, what would you have recommended for a screen or camouflage for the items I listed. Thanks for your help.
Answer: I would not recommend buying palm trees from Home Depot. They don’t acclimatize palms and a lot of times mislabel them. The coldest zone that Areca Palm can tolerate is 9a. If you live in zone 8, it is way too cold. There are other palms that can survive in zone 8:
Saw Palmetto Palm Tree – Zones 7a -11 (0 to 5 F)
Silver Saw Palmetto Palm Tree – Zones 7a – 11 (0 to 5 F)
European Fan Palm Tree – Zones 7b – 11 (5 to 10 F)
Or you can just keep the palm in the container indoors and take it outside during warm days. Here is more information on what palm trees can grow in Georgia. ~Susan Brian
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Question: Hi Susan. I have a big 12 years-old Coconut Palm. After hard winter the palm became brown and drooped down to the ground. I cut them off. But now the brown dying look is progressing to the top. I don’t know what to do. Should I water a lot with epsons salt? My neighbor across the street has 2 palm trees and one is almost all brown. Any quick suggestions? Thank you for your help.
Answer: Coconut Palm Trees can’t tolerate temperatures below 20F. I would even say 25F is too cold for them. They are warmth loving palms that grow best in zone 10-11. Even mature palms have hard time tolerating low temperatures. At this point, there is not much you can do. There is no quick way of fixing it. Keep watering your palm. Don’t cut the leaves unless they are completely dry or if you see that they are rotting.
The most important part of the palm is its bud. If the bud was damaged by cold, your palm will most likely die. If bud was not damaged, it should recover, but it might take over 6 months. Fertilizing will not help. It could put even more stress on your palm. Cold damage palms have weaker immune system and could get fungus infection. To prevent that from happening spray the palm with Copper Fungicide. ~Susan Brian
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Question: Hi there. 6 weeks ago I bought 16 2&3ft Sylvester Date Palms. Its been hell keeping them alive! I have sandy well drained soil. One died and was replaced 2 are on life support. All have new green shoots coming from the center. Problem is that the outer and some new shoots have died and the outer dies about a third from end looks horrible. Yesterday I trimmed all the brown and today more brown! Should I trim a partly brown limb? Today I concluded that the problem might have been the continuous watering with house water which is soft water with 3ppm chlorine in it. So I switched to well water which is very hard with lots of lime and Iron in it. Could this have been it? The tree farm said to keep them tied but the brown outers were keeping light from the new center growth so I untied them. Help! Thanks.
Answer: There are few things that could be happening. They could have been planted too deep, or not acclimatized for the area (if you live in a colder climate), or the watering schedule is wrong. It is hard to figure out from a distance. Palms usually lose a lot of roots during transplanting. Few roots that are left have to work extra hard to provide tree with enough water until it develops new roots system. They should be watered every day for the first week and every other day for the second week. Here is my article on palm watering. Don’t cut brown leaves, palms use them for nutrients. Just water them with well water. Fertilizing will not help. ~Susan Brian
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It is time to protect your palm trees from cold! To avoid the cold damage, I spray my palms with 
A lot of palm trees die from fertilizer root burn and nutritional deficiencies. To avoid these problems, use fertilizer that has continues release formula, which feeds your palm tree for few months, rather than using a cheap fertilizer that will wash away after 2-3 rains.
I personally use 