Queen palms

I found this on my favorite gardening forum - the URL is at the end of the article…

Queen Palms are native to tropical regions of South America and often struggle here in our salty soils, low humidity, freezing temperatures and brutal summer heat. To keep them looking their best make sure you are watering deeply but infrequently, allowing the soil to dry just a bit in-between. When soils are too moist the palms are unable to pull nutrients (especially iron) out of the soil which can result in the pale yellow fronds (chlorosis). Apply water to these palms as you would to any tree, that is, make sure the water is soaking in to a depth of two or three feet and that you are not applying water right next to the trunk. Instead, place emitters two to three feet away from the palms’ trunk. If you have a drip system and are using one-gallon emitters, water for at least three to four hours each time. You will need several emitters for mature palms. The interval will depend on the season - once every week to 10 days in the summer; once every three to four weeks in the winter (for zone 9).

Our salty soils in the southwest also interfere with the absorption of nitrogen and iron. Adding a 3 inch layer of organic mulch on top of the soil will slow evaporation, cool the soil and add nutrients back into the soil as it decomposes. The addition of soluble soil sulfur will help lower the pH just a bit which should help with the absorption of nutrients.

In the southwest deserts, weak or collapsed fronds, or fronds that are “accordion pleated” are an indication of a manganese deficiency. Using a complete palm food that contains manganese monthly during the warm months will help. Plants are not actively growing in the cool months, so wait until April before fertilizing. (Old fronds will not be improved however). The condition known as ‘bud rot’ has never been documented in Queen Palms by the you of A plant pathologist, so don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

Because Queen palms grow so slowly, you may not see improvement for some time. Queens only produce about 5 or 6 new fronds each year so be patient.

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