Dead Palm...please help

One of our palm trees suddenly started turning brown and it toppled at the crown area (not sure what it is called). We have tried to figure out what could have happened but can't find the answer and we really don't want to lose our other 5 palm trees. Some people said it could be a fungus or weevils. The base of the palms all look good with no abnormalities. When we chopped the dead palm the "crown" area was rotted. The part just before the fronds grow out of the middle.

Two of the palms are starting to lean and we are worried about them also. The palms had been all planted relatively close to each other. I believe they are about 10 years old. They are in an open patio area on the second floor of the house and I don't know how far down the earth goes. I'm not even sure what kind of palms they are and think the closest I could see is Christmas palms? Would appreciate any help at all. Thanks.

They are Christmas Palms, Adonidia merrillii. I haven't seen that sort of thing happen to them before. Looks like some type of insect has burrowed into the trunk and fungus has followed it in. If there is an insect flying around laying eggs on palms it would be difficult to try and eradicate it. Do you see any signs of it on any of the other palms in the area? You could try and check with some of the larger nurseries to see if they know about this problem.

"They are in an open patio area on the second floor of the house and I don't know how far down the earth goes." This sounds like they are in some sort of container.

Could it be something as simple as bad drainage that caused the rot? After 10 years it is possible the weep holes have become blocked.

I have Palms like yours.
The only thing that killed my Palms like yours was cold temps for a few nights during the winter.

If the Palms have a fat area above the tan area, they are drinking enough water and should be fine.

Do you see lots of white circles or white fungus on the Palm Leaves?? If so it could be "White Fly".

Maybe feed your Palm's roots with 'Bayer Advanced (liquid)' lightly, once every 3 weeks (twice). Maybe that will help them.

Your Palms do not seem to have that "fat green area" above the "tan area", like mine do.
They may need more water than usual, and buy a Palm Fertilizer also :]

Also, maybe not enough Air Circulation or enough hours of sun? Not sure.

This message was edited Jun 23, 2014 5:49 PM

This message was edited Jun 25, 2014 6:40 PM