Anthony, if I'm doing what I consider a bit of a "rough" or "touchy" transplant I trim a lot of the fronds off for that same reason. If the potting mix is very fast draining then no problem with frequent watering. But you don't want them sitting in soggy, stagnant soil though. Where abouts are you in Australia? That will have an affect on how you need to handle them.

hi, thanks for your reply. I am in Western Sydney

i had also just added Slow Release fertiliser, Peat Moss and Propogation sand to potting soil that the palms are in.

Acaryofyllis, last September or October, my husband and I bought an Archontophoenix cunninghamiana (is that the same as yours?). It was the first and only of its kind we ever saw in our area. I'm sure there are more, but not to our knowledge, which is limited....we're rookie amateurs...you know, lol, dangerously armed with google. The place where we bought it, no one knew anything about it.

It seemed neglected....with very, very withered-looking individual leaves on the fronds that were curled tightly enough to form straws. Super duper badly root-bound, the nursery pot was split, and filled with ants. It had about maybe three feet of trunk at the time; we are not experts, but we felt potential, or something.

We got it home, drowned out the ants, and cleaned up the fronds with light pruning of the obvious dead ones, and snipping of frond tips. Next we root-pruned the heck out it....I mean, we did a very hardcore severe root-pruning, blasted it with the garden hose. We put it into an over-sized pot (much wider than deeper) with very fast draining soil, and gave it light feedings of root-stimulator almost every time it was watered. Also, we gave it a really good soaking of a product called Super-Thrive (some folks think that's just snake-oil, but we used it anyway). The humidity was kept pretty high because it was closely surrounded by differing bodies of water (a nearby lake, a close swimming pool, and right next to a rain-barrel. Kept it well protected from harsh sun and wind. The sunlight was not direct mostly...but it was very bright in this spot, and the least windy. No overhead protection. Oh! It was fed a lot of banana peels. lol.

When late Fall, early Winter hit us, we moved it to our front porch, which is facing southeast. At that time of year, that's our most protected spot. It has the most direct morning sun, too, in the hopes to also begin acclimating it back to full sun eventually. During wintertime, the humidity drops here, it seems, so it was boosted artificially higher by using large glass jars of heated water on the front porch, too. When any freeze---no matter how slight---was predicted, we moved it into the garage for the night. Luckily, this winter was sorta sweet and mostly mild. By the time late winter/early Spring was nearing, it no longer could fit into the garage. By April it was root bound again, and then in May, it was planted out in an area we hope makes it the most happiest.

It's not yet fully recovered but we still feel its potential. Hoping all the rain we're receiving lately will boost it to the super healthy category.

Don't know if any of this limited experience will help you, but hoping it does. We live in central Florida on the east side, garden zone 9b/10a. Ours is commonly called a Bangalow, too, just not sure if it's the same as your three.

Very Best of Wishes for your success!!!

Additional info, I just remembered:

The larger nursery pot we used was because that's what we had on-hand available. We used very fast soil and wicked the bottom, and also, extra drainage holes were drilled. We set the palm's new larger nursery pot on top of landscaping rocks, to keep it off the ground, and help prevent against invasion from unwanted infiltrations in the root area. The wick sticking out at the bottom of the nursery pot led into the rocks outside of the pot and aided against possible perched water table, preventing stagnation. We gave the outside of the nursery pot a small half wall of landscaping bricks to help keep out those giant red-headed birds (sandhill cranes)...just an extra precaution to help protect and grow roots, and to improve aesthetics by hiding the black plastic nursery pot. So, essentially ---it was double potted, looked pretty, no HOA complaints, yah!

And beside the banana peels, I also mixed in used coffee grounds, and we used no city water except at first, with a blast from the garden hose to knock off the bugs and whatnot at the beginning. I think using no city water helps. I think catering to the development of a big fat healthy root system helps the most, and fastest road to a landscape-able plant out. But I could be wrong....but please don't tell my husband...because I'm the one who insisted we baby the Bangalow! lol..

Crazy names.

Michael (husband) said, it's a Piccabeen too.

And a king, too, right?

And I don't know what else!

Good luck to all of us. lol.

Piccabeen and Bangalow are the local names for it. King is the name used in the US. And that's right, the scientific name is Archontophoenix cunninghamiana.

In your location you're going to have to keep it in a warmer spot until it recouperates. Cold gets to the roots faster in a pot than in the ground. Once you're back into summer it should be okay. Their native habitat extends right down below Ulladulla, so they can cope with cold. They grow them in Melbourne too.

Peat moss retains a lot of water so might pay to check the soil before watering. And slow release is best, too strong a dose can damage the roots.

Hi, thanks for your replies. When you mentioned to keep it warm, Wuld that mean of it to be placed in full sun?

I'd keep it away from full sun until it's had time to recover and then introduce it gradually into stronger sun to give it a chance to adjust. In habitat when they're small they're usually shaded under canopy even though they can cope with full sun. Western Sydney, especially if you're near the foot of the Blue Mountains can get very cold mornings before the sun comes up. That's when you want it indoors, looking at any frost through a window.

Hi, I have taken you're advice and decided to put them in doors. It has been two days since I have separated them and so far the leaves seem normal and haven't dried up as yet (and I hope that they won't dry up!!). Eventually I am going to plant them in the ground around my swimming pool along with my Majestic Palms. Hopefully, these 3 guys pull through and recover! How High do Bangalows actually grow?

They get up to about 25 metres tall, but you'll have a while before yours do. The thing now is to try and keep a bit of humidity around them as well as warmth. When they're planted out in the ground they'll need a lot of water, especially when you get your dry spring weather. And remember, not out of the shade straight into the sun.

Thankyou so much, you have been a great help! Just one more thing though, the fronds have started getting a few small brown patches (probably 1-2cm in diameter) and I am starting to get worried. Is this anything to get worried about?

It's never a good sign, but the old fronds just might be slowly showing signs of being a bit traumatised. The thing to watch for is the new emerging fronds. Palms can take a bit of time to settle in before you can guarantee anything. Plus you're in the slow or no- grow season for them.

ok, so does that mean that i should prune those old fronds off if they get anymore brown spots/patches on them?

I wouldn't. While they've still got any green they'll be producing food for the plant. Some people prune any slight imperfection off, I tend not to worry about it. It's usually done to satisfy the person, not the plant. I usually lean towards the side of the plant.

Thanks for all your help!. So Far, the palms are doing well after 8 days.... Hope this is a good sign!

Regards, Anthony

They should have no problems in Sydney. They do tend to get a bit frayed in winter winds,then comeback in summer strong with all new fronds. But my winters here in the SF bay area are just touching 10a for lows. ..and cool days. If your in a windy area of Sydney..plant them closer or in groups.

Hi,
where I live,it doesn't get very windy but it does get extremely cold with frost and fog in the morning (maybe about 9 degrees in the morning). I also have a large selection of palms (Bangalows (about 2m tall), Cocos, Majestic, Pigmy Dates, Cordylines and Cycads IN POTS... Of course nobody wants large palms including Cocos that get to a height when the seed pods and dead fronds can't be removed!!) that have been left outside in the cold weather, considering now that it is winter... THEY ARE DOINGG GREAT!!. I was a bit concerned about leaving these 3 Bangalows outside with this weather as the Cold weather can kill them (considering that they were separated and now have decided to leave them at the back door where they can get their needed sun from the window) from a clump to individual palms,

Hi, thought I would update everyone... Out of the 12 palms I separated, I lost about 6 so I have the remainder 6 out of the 12 doing great.
One more question though... When the fronds dry up and start going a pale green, is there any hope for the palm to recover or is it dead?

Out of the 12 palms that I separated... 6 survived!!

If e palm leaves dry up and go a pale green, what does this mean for the palm?

Sorry to hear about you losing a few palms. At least you still have half of them which isn't too bad! As long as their is a hint of green or living tissue anywhere on the top of the palm near the growing point, there is hope that it will come back. When palms are suffering from transplant shock the only thing you can do is make sure that there aren't any other stresses for it (water it well and make sure it drains well, keep it out of too much sun and too much heat or cold, etc).
Good luck!
-Alex

Here is a link that might be useful: My Plant Blog!

It's not necessarily the end, there could be a slow come back. It'll be a bit too cold there still for them to be doing much so don't throw them out yet. As Alex says just keep looking after them and if there's nothing showing by summer then .... okay, into the compost.

A few days ago, before I was told this.... I through the "dried" up ones out. It really doesn't matter anyways, I have plenty of them.... I own about 10 Bangalow Palms in total (all potted)!!

Hi, Can anyone tell me what is wrong with my Bangalow palm it has strange papery looking marks as well as brown tips, the papery marks look as if the palm is being drained of its substance. I have cleaned the undersides of the fronds which did appear to be covered with tiny threads of brown which look a bit like the furry cover that is usually on ferns. In fact the whole plant looks as if it is ailing badly.

Babyface

Do you have any photos? That often helps with working out what the issues might be.