Palm Problems Key - Leaves (canopy)

Entire Canopy (most or all leaves):

• Wilting

  a. fungal conk (basidiocarp) present on trunk

  Ganoderma butt rot

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP100

  b. no fungal conk on trunk

  1) older leaves dying and hanging against trunk; leaves may first become chlorotic or discolored; symptoms primarily on ‘Malayan Dwarf’ coconuts

  lethal yellowing

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP146

  2) top of root system is not found within top 6 to 12 inches of soil

  palm planted too deeply

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP263

  3) soil is water-logged

  poor soil aeration

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP263

  4)cross-sections of trunk show rotting or discoloration of wood (determined after palm is cut down)

  a) discoloration confined to lowest 4 feet, usually concentrated in the center of trunk

  Ganoderma butt rot

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP100

  b) trunk discoloration with dark fibrous appearance concentrated on one side of trunk

  Thielaviopsis trunk rot

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP143

• Necrotic leaves w/ erect canopy

  palm dies within a few months;

  palm is Syagrus romanzoffiana or Washingtonia robusta

  Fusarium Wilt

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp278

• Leaves reduced in size

  a.leaves uniformly light green or yellow in color

  nitrogen deficiency

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP268

  b. leaves chlorotic and necrotic

  late stage potassium deficiency

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP269

• Canopy growth in sharp angle to trunk axis

  boron deficiency

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP264

• Canopy topless from trunk,usually wiwthout warning, rotted, black fibers

  Thielaviopsis trunk rot

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP143

• Collapse of almost all leaves in canopy (more than wilting)
  a. rapid (1 to 7 days) collapse

  lightning damage

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP263

  
  b. moderately fast (more than 2 weeks) to slow collapse of crown (months)

  1) longitudinal-section through crown area shows crumbly trunk tissue (actually insect frass) and possibly ¾ to 1 inch long gray caterpillars
   
  Opogona (banana moth) larvae damage
  

  FACTSHEET: IP-24.pdf

  2) longitudinal-section through crown reveals galleries packed with frass, sometimes with creamy white grubs, cocoons or pupae; most common in Sabal palmetto or Phoenix canariensis, especially if stressed

  palmetto weevil damage
   

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN139

• Leaves tattered
  Wind damage

   

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP263
• Leaflets missing or partially missing from leap tips

  boron deficiency

  
  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP264

• Chlorosys or necrosys of distal portion of leaves close to high voltage power lines

  powerline decline

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP263

• Leaves uniformly light green

  Nitrogen deficiency

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP268

  Chronic iron deficiency
  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP265
• Spotting on leaves

  A. Uniformly-colored necrotic spots accompanied by leaflet tip necrosis

  Foliar spray toxicity

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP263

  B. “spots” not raised; variable in size and in color from yellow to black; most common on small, immature palms.

  Leaf spot diseases

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP142

• Leaf bases (and often dead leaf blades) covered with light salmon-pink spores

  Gliocladium blight

  

Most severe on oldest (lowest) leaves:

• Chlorosis (shades of yellow)

  a. One or more older leaves uniformly yellow to yellow-orange in color (yellowed leaves may originate mid-canopy in some cases)
  lethal yellowing
  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP146

  b. Chlorosis confined to margins of leaves or leaflets; central portion of leaves or leaflets distinctly green

  magnesium deficiency

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP266

• Leaves discolored, but not necessarily chlorotic; usually shades of red to dark brown or gray

  a. palm is a Phoenix species (other than P. roebelenii)
  
  lethal yellowing
  
  FACTSHEET:http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP146 or
  Texas Phoenix palm decline http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP163

  b. palm is not a Phoenix species.

  lethal yellowing

   
  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP146

• Leaflets have translucent yellow/orange or necrotic spotting or yellow-orange discoloration

  potassium deficiency
  
  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP269

• Leaflets of oldest living leaves are necrotic on one side of rachis only (or only some leaf segments necrotic if it is a fan palm) and petiole/rachis has reddish-brown to brown or black streak and vascular discoloration evident in cross-section of petiole.

  a.palm is Phoenix species

  Fusarium wilt

  Petiole (Rachis) Blight (all Phoenix species)

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP139

  http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP145

  b.palm is Syagrus romanzoffiana or Washingtonia robusta

  1) palm rapidly declines (a few months)

  Fusarium Wilt

  FACTSHEET URL: Click Here

  2) palm declines very slowly

  petiole (rachis) blight

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP145

  2) palm declines very slowly

  petiole (rachis) blight

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP145

  Note:  In most cases, only a diagnostic laboratory can separate a Fusarium disease (Fusarium wilt or Fusarium decline) from petiole (rachis) blight.

• Tip or marginal leaf or leaflet necrosis

  water stress

  Note:  This situation often requires leaf nutrient analysis, soil analysis, or knowledge of plant environment or management history to differentiate between these problems.

• Chlorotic and/or necrotic gray, brown, or black “spotting”

  a. very small (<1/16 inch) raised “spots” (actually fungal structures); primarily Phoenix spp.

  Graphiola leaf spot (false smut)

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP140

  b. raised black, diamond-shaped “spots” (1/8 to 1/3 inch) (actually fungal structures), often accompanied by leaflet tip necrosis; (only on Washingtonia filifera in California and Arizona)

  diamond scale

  FACTSHEET: Click Here

  c. spots are not raised

  leaf spots (other than above)

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP142

  potassium deficiency

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP269

• Gummy exudates (“bleeding”) from multiple small 5 to 8 mm (1/5 to 1/3 inch) wounds in palm leaf bases; galleries in leaf petioles

  silky cane weevil damage (Metamasius)
  
  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN210

• Old to middle-aged leaves have necrotic “skeletonized” patches with only veins and surface layers of leaf intact; underside of leaf necrotic patches typically covered in tubes of insect frass

  palm leaf skeletonizers

• Leaf kinks and hangs parallel to trunk

  a. leaf remains healthy
  
  

  wind damage

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP263

  b. leaf dies; multiple small 5 to 8 mm (1/5 to 1/3 inch) wounds in leaf base
  
  silky cane weevil damage (Metamasius)
  
  
  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN210

• More lower leaves dead than normal; upper canopy leaves may be wilted

  Ganoderma butt rot
  
  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP100

  Palm is a Phoenix species (other than P. roebelenii)
  
  lethal yellowing
  
  
  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP146
  or
  Texas Phoenix palm decline http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP163

Palm problems youngest leaves:

• Spear leaf (youngest unopened leaf) discolored or collapsed

  a. spear leaf hanging down, but does not pull out of bud

  1) palm otherwise healthy

  boron deficiency

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP264

  b. spear leaf pulls easily out of bud

  1) on cold-damaged palm

  secondary bacterial bud rot

  [Note:  cold damage occurred weeks prior to bud rot symptoms]

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP144

  2) non cold-damaged palm

  a) lowest leaves healthy

  Phytophthora bud rot | Thielaviopsis bud rot

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP144

  b) lowest leaves discolored brown or gray; Phoenix spp.

  lethal yellowing

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP146

  Texas Phoenix palm decline

  FACTSHEET:

  Texas Phoenix palm decline http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP163

• No new leaves emerging

  a. rest of leaves still mostly green
  
  
  bud rot  (bacterial, Phytophthora or Thielaviopsis)
  
  non-pathogenic bud dama (physical damage to bud as might occur during a hurricane)
  
  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP144

  b. lowest leaves brown; upper leaves green; palm is Phoenix sp.
  
  
  1) lethal yellowing
  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP146

  2) Texas Phoenix palm decline
  
  
  FACTSHEET: Texas Phoenix palm decline http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP163

• New leaves chlorotic

  a. necrotic streaking present

  manganese deficiency

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP267

  1) no necrotic streaking present

  iron deficiency

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP265

  2) green spots on chlorotic new leaves

  iron deficiency

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP265

  3) leaflets of chlorotic new leaves becoming necrotic and palm is Roystonea sp.

  royal palm bug damage

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN254

• New leaves reduced in size, but older leaves full-sized.

  A. new leaves mostly necrotic

  1) leaflets curled or frizzled; leaflet necrosis more severe towards base of leaf

  manganese deficiency

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP267

  2) leaflets not curled or frizzled

  pre-emergent herbicide injury (Figs. 53a & 53b)

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP263

  B. new leaves not necrotic, but crumpled and greatly reduced in size

  boron deficiency

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP264

  C. new leaves have truncated tips

  1) all leaflet tips truncated (Cocos nucifera only)

  manganese deficiency

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP267

  2) distal leaflets truncated in inverted “V” shape

  boron deficiency

  FACTSHEET URL: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP264

• New leaves have sharply hooked leaflet tips

  boron deficiency

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP264

• Spear (and often other new leaves) fail to open normally

  boron deficiency

  FACTSHEET: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP264

• Transverse puckering or transverse translucent streaking on leaflets.