By DOUG CALDWELL (Contact)
10:24 p.m., Friday, September 12, 2008
Here is this article...Not everything is on here but i will post a link to the article at the end.
As I drive around and look at our local pygmy date palms (Phoenix roebelenii) lately (spring and summer 2008), they are droopy and blatantly off-color, a light green instead of their vigorous dark green. They are the victims of manganese (Mn) deficiency.
In the early stages of the deficiency, inspect the upper part of the canopy for frayed and withered leaflets with yellow and brown longitudinal streaks on the basal leaflets of the fronds. As time goes on the newly emerging fronds are gray and stunted and eventually die. This final symptom is referred to as frizzletop and is fairly common on queen and occasionally on royal palms.
Fortunately, there is a remedy for this. Apply manganese sulfate at 8 to 24 ounces or more per palm, four times per year or until the symptoms cease. Follow the label of this fertilizer supplement carefully. If not corrected, this nutrient deficiency will result in palm mortality due to manganese starvation.....
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Pygmy date palms suffer in heavy rain seasons : Athome : Naples Daily News