Thread: Sylvester Palm
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Old 02-10-2015, 10:29 AM
Ozzello Ozzello is offline
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I grew palms for many years. Here is a quick review of what I learned from several universities, the best wholesale growers in the area, and my own experiments and observations as they will apply to your particular palm.

1. Get the sprinklers off the trunk.
A huge part of the good looks for a Sylvester is the trimmed 'boot' or base of the trimmed frond.
In order to maintain the color and the boot for as long as possible, you should NOT have sprinklers watering the trunk.

2. Fertilize often.
Get the cheap stuff and apply it monthly, skip Oct-Jan to avoid frosting a newly opened 'head' of fronds.
Once a year or so, use a couple pounds of the good 'stuff' to get the boron, your palm needs boron, but a very trace amount, and boron is quite residual.
It is ok to add some Epsom salts, but ALWAYS add MANGANESE in the same amount. The magnesium alone will generate cell building that requires the same amount of manganese. Over time adding magnesium will produce a manganese deficiency causing several problems. Manganese deficiency is one of the most common ailments I see in not just the home owner's palms, but with palm growers as well.

3. Inoculate for TPPD/Lethal Yellowing.
This is a fast acting disease, and once the symptoms show up, it will be too late.
The inoculation is not expensive, and will keep your tree healthy and alive even if exposed to these diseases .
There are not many documented cases of TPPD in this area, but I have seen several palms die in TV in the last year with the textbook symptoms. It would not surprise me to find palm businesses in this area failing to document cases of TPPD in this area to avoid quarantines as many areas south of us currently have in place.

Palms are tough, you can follow lots of different paths and maybe have a nice palm. Following the 3 steps here, are what I suggest to make sure you have a nice Sylvester, for a long time.

P.S. Don't turn off your water because the lawn guy or TV says you should. Sylvesters like water.