EasyBloom Forum

I recently purchased 8 king palms that are about 5' tall. I have planted them all in our back terraces in full sun. About 4 of them look fine, but the other 4 look dead (or near dead). I used a root stimulator when I planted and I just gave them a dose of "super thrive" last week. I have ordered some palm tree food and will mix that with the super thrive every other week. Should I just pull up the dead trees? Or- will they come back?

Hey Christina...If you just bought the palms you might be able to get a refund if you deem them as dead. Many garden retailers have these policies that if the plant dies within a given amount of time you can simply get refunded or replacements. = )

So, how quickly after you planted these palms did you notice that they started to look funky? You mentioned that you used a root stimulator when you planted. Basically this is a high phosphorus fertilizer. It is possible that the 4 palms that aren't doing so hot got too much fertilizer to begin with. If that is the case, the leaves will start to brown and die off. Adding more fertilizer will just exacerbate the problem. (this is of course if too much fertilizer was the problem to begin with)

Over-fertilizing may be the problem, but it could also be a disease issue. It honestly is difficult to tell because the symptoms from too much fertilizer and pathogen infection may be the same.

If you do think that over-fertilization is the problem, this is generally a simple fix. All you would have to do is irrigate with water that is not impregnated with fertilizer. Eventually the soil in which the palms are sitting will be leached of the excess fertilizer and the palms should start growing normally again.

Having said all this, I would still look into the plant return solution with the garden retailer where you purchased the palms. I know this may be a pain, but when a plant is stunted early on its development it may never look as good as a plant that was not stunted. I hope this information is helpful. Let me know if you have any further questions. Cheers...Dr. Robby