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Weeping Washingtonias!
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Posted by tugbrethil z9, Phoenix, AZ (My Page) on Sat, Nov 21, 09 at 20:35
| This fall, about 60% of the California Fan Palms in my neighborhood have started dripping sticky sap all over everything below them! Mexican Fan Palms and hybrids don't seem to be affected the same way, but the old neighborhood I live in doesn't have a lot of those to compare with. Is there a new pest or disease going around which does that? Is there a treatment? Or should I just become resigned to wiping third-rate "jaggery" off my car in the morning?
Help! : ()
Kevin |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Weeping Washingtonias!
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| Were you able to find out anything from other owners? |
RE: Weeping Washingtonias!
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| i never heard about anything like that! is it coming out from the trunk? |
RE: Weeping Washingtonias!
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- Posted by bahia SF Bay Area (My Page) on
Thu, Nov 26, 09 at 17:59
| Sounds like a classic sign of aphid infestation, or another sucking insect such as scale. W. filifera are much more sensitive to growing conditions that aren't really suitable for them than the hybrids and W. robusta. I know that W. filifera and even some of the hybrids are more prone to getting Pink Bud Rot here in the San Francisco Bay Area, which can then also set them up for getting secondary infections from insects. They don't really tolerate our cool summer nights and higher humidity. Of course, lack of summer heat wouldn't be an issue in Phoenix, but they must be suffering from something and then being attacked by aphids or scale to a massive degree to be raining down that sticky mess. Is it perhaps palms that are getting too much water because they are planted in lawns, that show the worst symptoms? |
RE: Weeping Washingtonias!
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The other homeowners don't have a clue, either.
It's hard to tell about a bug infestation--my cheap little binoculars don't let me get much detail 40 ft. in the air! The drops are also pretty big: about a quarter teaspoon each, which is more than any aphid I have heard of could produce.
Bud rot is an occasional problem here, especially after an unusually wet monsoon, but dripping isn't one of the symptoms here.
The worst offenders are planted as street trees, with a gravel ground cover, but next to a lawn. Overwatering is possible, but not likely: California Fan Palms have been grown in lawns for decades here, with no problems at all.
I'm hoping for more information from the folks at the Arizona Gardening forum, and will report any pertinent results. Still hosing & scrubbing!
Kevin : ) |
RE: Weeping Washingtonias!
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| Hi Kevin, Do you have an Arizona chapter of the International Palm Society? If so, then try contacting them and give them a detailed description and some photos of the sticky sap if you can. Otherwise, try contacting the International Palm Society on their website, and try contacting your Arizona Agricultural Extension Office. Most states that are agricultural states like Arizona and my state Texas have an Agricultural Extension Office in most counties, and it is a cooperative effort between the federal, state, and county governments, and is usually administered by a major university in the state that has a College of Agriculture. They should be able to help you since they have horticulturalists and entimologists. I hope this helps you. Keep us posted. John |
RE: Weeping Washingtonias!
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| So far, the Master Gardeners (I'm one of them) at the Maricopa Couty Extension have been stumped, and the problem hasn't percolated up the line very far, yet. I'll definately look for a chapter of the Palm Society now. It's hard to imagine not having one here, with the extent that palms are used in the landscape here. Thanks, coconut palm! Kevin : ) |
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