It may look like a palm tree has suffered serious damage after a winter when you look at the leaves and see that they have turned brown. However, as long as there are still healthy leaves on the palm and you can’t pull the core out, the palm is still alive and has a very good chance of recovery!
My palm tree has brown leaves after the winter, is this normal?
If you have not protected the palm very well during very cold days, it can happen that the palm suffers winter damage. If it has not become colder than the winter hardiness of the palm, then there is a good chance that your palm will survive and become beautiful again. However, to prevent this from happening again, we recommend that you protect the palm against the coldest winter days. You can do this by wrapping fleece around the crown when the temperature approaches the winter hardiness limit of the palm. Even if you keep the palm in a pot, you should protect the pot against the cold wind. You can do this by using bubble wrap, simply wrapped around the pot. You can also protect the trunk by wrapping a light hose around it, which gives off heat, and also wrapping fleece around that.
When your brown leaf has naturally become dry
Usually the leaf is becoming dry due to natural reasons, which have little to do with weather or wind. If this is the case, you can simply prune the branch at the trunk. This is how the palm tree forms its trunk. Beautiful fresh new leaves simply emerge from the core of the palm.
When the leaf has become withered due to weather damage
Cold weather and strong winds can certainly have an impact on the health of your palm tree! We always recommend taking measures to protect your palm tree in very cold weather or strong winds. If your palm tree is unexpectedly damaged, you should check whether the palm is still alive. You can do this by pulling on the core of the palm. If it comes loose easily, the palm tree is dead. If it is firmly attached, the palm is still alive and has a good chance of recovery.
What you need to do
To give the palm the best possible recovery, you can take the following steps:
1. Prune everything that is dry on the palm, so that the healthy remains, and all the energy will go there.
2. Ensure the palm is kept at temperatures above 10 degrees Celsius. The palm does not need any stress, and therefore wants a comfortable temperature. The palm also likes to have a place with lots of light, so by the window.
3. Feed the palm tree so that it gets everything it wants. Just like a person who is sick in bed with flu and fever and needs to be pampered a bit, this also applies to the palm tree. We recommend adding bacterial food granules in the amount according to the size of the palm to the soil of the palm. Then the soil structure will revive bacterially, and the palm will get the right nutrients to grow optimally.
4. Wait until new leaves have grown. Water the palm regularly, not too much and not too little. The soil should always be slightly moist. When the new leaves have grown and the palm looks more or less normal again, it can start to get used to lower temperatures.
5. If the weather is colder, put the palm outside occasionally, so that it can slowly get used to being outside. If it is the height of summer, the palm can go outside immediately and stay there.
6. Keep feeding and moist. Now the palm should survive and stay beautiful. Always make sure the palm stays well fed!
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Inside the palm tree is turning brown!
Disease appearance in palms