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I have several palm trees (Windmill, Canary Island Date, Mexican Fan, Mediterranean Fan, Pygmy Date) that I would like to grow taller (who wouldn't)? They each have several low-lying branches that are still at least partially green. I was thinking about pruning them so that the trees would have less to provide nutrients to and therefore grow more branches out of the top. Will this work? I've read that you should never prune green branches/leaves as palms naturally know how to remove the nutrients from dying branches.
If this is not a good idea, when is the best time to prune? BTW, all of these trees were transplanted to my house over a year ago.
I know my palm tree terminology is not accurate, sorry.
Pruning those off won't make it grow faster and in general I don't think it's good to prune living fronds off of palm trees. Here's an article for you: [HYPERLINK@www.sunpalmtrees.com]
From reading the article, it said I should prune yellow, brown, or broken fronds. Do you think that means the whole thing or simply the presence of yellow or brown? It also said to remove flower stalks.
I have created a web page that has pictures of my palms and their "damage." [HYPERLINK@therumph.com]
Here are my questions that go with that page. Please let me know which ones you think I should prune.
1. This is brown ends of a frond from a Pygmy Date Palm.
2. A few leaflets are brown. If #1 is prune-worthy, is #2?
3. General yellowing and dying of a Mexican Fan frond. The one behind it is fresh and young.
4. Brown and dying on the ends of a Canary Island Date Palm. Many of the rest of the leaflets on that petiole are green.
5. Some browning on leaflets on most of the tree. What is that? Should I be concerned? This palm is growing really well.
6. A very healthy frond.
7. Yellowing & browning on the ends of a Windmill Palm frond.
8. If #7 is prune-worthy, is #8?
9. Flower and seed stalks on a Mediterranean Fan. Those should all be cut off?
10. Some yellowing & browning at the ends of some fronds.
11. Some whole leaflets are completely brown while others are completely green on the same frond. What should I do?
12. Browning & dying on ends. Should they be pruned?
Thanks so much for reading this and offering help/suggestions. I'm such a newbie but want to learn.
I think when they say remove yellow brown or broken fronds, they mean if there are fronds that are completely yellow or brown you take off the whole frond.
I'll let someone who knows palms better than I do tackle the questions on your web page...but unless one of the palm experts tells you otherwise, I'd default to what it says in the article, if there's green left on the frond then leave it alone even if the ends are yellow/brown, but if there's a frond that's completely yellow/brown then go ahead and take it off.
Nothing in your photos needs trimming in my opinion. In reading the articles mentioned you will note that palms translocate nutrients- the green in a frond means there is food in there and if you cut it off the tree will be missing out on reabsorbing that nutrition.
Wait until the entire frond is yellow or brown before removing them.
And even then you never want to trim anything that hangs below an imaginary 9 o'clock and 3'o'clock, and some people even go as far as to say 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock.
The discolored areas you circled could be due to wind damage, pests, kids, dogs, high heat and low humidity, improper (or no) fertilizing- in other words it could be any of a number of things. As it represents only cosmetic damage you just kind of have to live with it. A wise gardener has to learn to overlook small imperfections and concentrate on the general health of the tree. In time, with good care, they will lose some of the worn appearance and show less and less of these small spots.
To be honest, most of what you photographed I would consider of no consequence. Palm fronds just gradually yellow and brown as they die off. Wait as long as you can before you remove them. A healthy palm can tolerate a bit of abuse pruning wise as you see them "pineappled" all over creation any more. But wait until that dinner party or barbeque to remove a frond prematurely and let the plant suck out all the nurtition it can.
If you think you really have a pest problem, take a piece of the frond to a good nursery in your area and ask them to diagnose your problem. Or take a very close, clear photo and ask in the Palm forum here at Dave's.
The best way to encourage your palms to grow is to feed and water them correctly. I would suggest that you contact your cooperative extension agent (under your county name in the phone book) or a good palm grower/nurseryman to tell you what specific nutrition problems exist in the soil in your specific area. Many palms need regular (3 or 4 times a year) feeding of not only a good palm food but additional minerals, but this varies by location so I hesitate to make recommendations from afar.
