Palm Fronds Falling From Mexican Fan Palm. Wrong!

Q. I see palm trees with the fronds falling off all around our Sun City McDonald Ranch as on our daily walks. Was wondering if this is part of the palm’s life cycle or is it a disease problem?

Palm fronds falling were thought to be from the Mexican fan palm. Not really.

A. Some palms have fronds that drop from the tree and other palms that don’t. The usual dropping of fronds may or may not be typical to some palm trees like the Mexican fan palm. It depends.

Mexican fan palms flowering.

            It's a genetic issue. Seed production in palms is from the wind, not from bees or flies. There can be a lot of genetic variability when starting plants from seed. In other words, there is a lot of variation in palms because they are started from seed. There is such a thing as "seeded varieties" (some lawn grasses) but for the most part not in palms.  

Mostly California fan palms near a lagoon in 29 Palms.

            The palms you have a picture of are generally Mexican fan palms. Mexican fan palms are typically started from seed. Mexican fan palms are famous (mistakenly) for "self-skinning". There is a lot of variability in that feature of Mexican fan palms. What you are seeing is genetic variability in these palms because of the seeds.

            Palm fronds separate from the trunk because of rotting (rotting diseases) but this does not happen as often with California fan palms. These typically have a fatter trunk that holds on to the palm fronds and may form a "skirt" of old dead fronds that cling to the trunk. So, we call fan palms with a fatter trunk "California fan palm" and those with a skinny trunk Mexican fan palm.

Palm Tree Fronds Dying at the Bottom

Q. We have a couple of fan palms whose fronds are continually dying off from the lower level.  Is this normal or are they lacking in something i.e., water, nutrients, etc.

Readers palm tree

A. I looked at the picture of your fan palm. In this case, yes, this is natural. The fronds grow from a central bud located at the top end of the trunk. All of the new growth for a palm tree comes from this bud. If the bud dies, the trunk is dead. If the palm has one trunk then the tree is dead.

            As these new fronds emerge from the bud, the older fronds (the ones at the bottom) begin to die. Normally you would expect the fronds at the bottom to die in this manner. First they will begin to yellow and then eventually they die. As these lower fronds yellow, it is then an appropriate time to remove them.

Palm trunk skinned

            I like to cut the fronds as close to the trunk as I can leaving very little stub coming from the trunk. Some people remove the stub even closer to the trunk, at its point of attachment to the trunk, by cutting with a sharp knife (box cutter or linoleum knife) at the point where the frond attaches to the trunk. This is called "skinning" which results in a very smooth trunk which some people like. It also lessens the chances of having bark scorpions living and looking for food on the trunk.

            You can remove these older dying fronds any time of the year. If you elect to remove green fronds then remove green fronds that are only in the total shade of its canopy. You can also do this any time of year as well but best done during the summer or late spring months.

Prune Palms in Early Spring to Remove Winter Damage



Freeze Damage to Palm

Early Spring is a great time to be pruning your palms if they had winter damage. They are pushing new growth now so any pruning done now will be replaced with new growth over the next month.