Palm tree dying in top
 

the top of the tree is brown. I am afraid it may be bud rot but perhaps due to some other condition. Has anyone else had a problem with the new growth at the top dying?

Yes, we had the same thing happen to our tree, but worse. Turned out it needed more water. Our sprinkler runs 3 times a week and my husband waters it by hand twice a week. Two months of this and the palm looks great now.

If it was me I would just call wise tree service for estimate and have taken out. You will be money ahead if you don't prune it yourself. Going to to come out eventually any way beings it's queen Palm. Save yourself all the headaches.

re;watering 3x a week
 

It sounds to me that you are watering more often then you need to.

What you should do is measure how much water you are putting down per cycle. Easy to do. Put out some clean empty cans. Cans like tuna are best as taller ones will block some of the water. Should be 1/2-3/4 of an inch.

If, you are putting down less than that the roots of your plants will not go deep so they are less drought tolerant.
Any change should be done slowly to give the plants time to adapt.

It could be bud rot but maybe it's not. The remainder of the tree looks very healthy. If you remember, our summer last year was very rainy and wet. Many of our palms are paying the price now. When the maristem and spear stem stay wet, it will rot. However, leave it alone until next spring and see how it looks; if the remainder of the palm leaves starts to brown and hang against the tree, then I would take the palm out. In the meantime, if you have it or any other palms pruned have a spray bottle of 70% alcohol (straight from the alcohol bottle) ready for the pruning group to spray their tools for every palm they cut. That is where these virus's and diseases come from.

each winter mine got hit by cold, but came back, finally after 5 years, the center was dead, and it broke off 10' above ground in a windy day

My Sylvester Palm was dying due to unknown fungus or insect.. was told 50/50 it would survive. immediately gave a magnesium base palm fertilizer at base of palm, minimum 15min. of watering 3X weekly. Hosed an insecticide / fungicide into crown of tree (soak in) 8 weeks later seems to be doing much better.

The county gardener is available 8am-3pm Mondays from Gov. Offices near Pinellas/466A

Water. We have a bubler for each palm tree and it runs 7 minutes, 3 times per week during April through September, then twice a week from October to March (times are after the seasonal adjustment). I originally ran it for less than that and had the same condition as you have. Increased the water and it went away. That worked for us.....but suggest you find someone that knows palms, Master Gardner, USF Ag department, the County Gardner or a long term palm tree dealer/grower that you can trust. We also fertilize the palms every 4 months and Deans sprays for insects. But first, you need to figure out what you are dealing with.

Sue -- You are correct. Watering three times a week and then hand watering = 5 times a week -- too much water! A deep watering is much better than less water more often. If any part of the tree is actually brown, nothing will change that; that part is dead and will never turn green. Perhaps lack of fertilizer is the problem. Palms need micro nutrients, including boron and epson salt.

Watering instructions need to be based on more info.
When was the palm planted?
Was it planted properly? i.e. with a tractor, never dropped, not pushed around to straighten after it was planted. Not slid in the hole out of the back of a trailer.
What does your soil core look like for the top 3 feet? All sand ? Clay 6 in. down? 2 feet down?
Was the tree planted with a water absorber.. Hydrogel or the like?

There are no 'pat' watering directions for palms in TV. If your 'expert' doesn't ask half of these questions before giving you precise watering instructions, they are guessing and no expert...well not about watering palms anyway.