Recently I was informed of a problem that a city in Dade County was experiencing with their Date palms. I inspected the palms and found that instead of having a disease (or as it was described a “blight”), I found the palms to be exceptionally healthy but manifesting symptoms of a lack of simple maintenance combined with the effects of hurricane force winds. After reviewing the site, I realized that there may be many public & private sites with the same scenario in play. Therefore, I am reprinting the letter I wrote to them:
 
I am writing this to correct some misinformation that we were told you had been given regarding the Medjool and Zahidi Date Palms (Phoenix Dactylifera sp.) which are installed in various locations throughout the City. At the American Society of Landscape Architects convention this past weekend I was told that one of the planners in your office had been instructing that no more Medjool Date Palms be installed on City property. This was in response to an opinion she received from a “Palm Professional” stating that that there is some sort of “blight or disease” that is causing all of the lower fronds of these palms to die and that this “blight” would soon kill the palms.

I am the owner of Groundworks of Palm Beach County Inc. I have sold and serviced thousands of these palms during the past 15 years here in Florida. I have more direct, hands on experience with this material then any other person in the Southern United States by a factor of at least 3. I am fairly well known within the landscape industry and would welcome your scrutiny of my abilities & qualifications.

I have personally inspected many of your Date Palms and can assure you that they appear exceptionally healthy and disease free. I can also tell you that what you are seeing i.e. the loss or depression of the lower fronds is nothing more then a form of storm damage that has been exasperated by the presence of maturing Date stalks during the storm.

Briefly, there are three relative considerations. The first is that the lower fronds are not as elastic as the moister, younger fronds. Another is that those fronds protruding from the trunk at the level of the emerging Date stalks are subject to physical battering by the stalks themselves during the weather event. Commonly that damage occurs near the leaf bases and results in a partial loss of structural integrity near the attachment point. The third consideration is that the ever increasing weight of the fruit is multiplied should the fruit be pollinated by a Phoenix genus male that may be growing in the area. (Any male in the genus can pollinate any female, the male does not have to be Dactylifera, it could be P. Roebellini or any of the others)

What you are seeing in the attached pictures is the result of high winds weakening the structural integrity of the fronds via an extreme back & forth motion. This damage occurs in conjunction with additional structural damage inflicted by the 30 pound Date stalks also whipping back & forth in the wind. As if that isn’t enough to cause lower frond damage, following those events the fruit then lays & matures (slowly getting heavier) on top of those weakened fronds. All of these events and circumstances combine and what you end up with is the depression of those lower fronds and eventually, the look you are now seeing.

The solution is to have your maintenance personnel remove the Date Stalks during the month of May when they have emerged far enough to cut but have not yet begun to mature. This consumes approximately 1 man hour per palm and will eliminate the aesthetic issue you are concerned about.

I have attached pictures that demonstrate what I am telling you and hope that you will reevaluate any decision not to use Medjools. They are without question one of the most durable and impressive palms available to us and so long as you actually get certified Medjools (P. Dactylifera Medjool), they may be relied upon for years and years of problem free beauty.

This discussion and a lot more photos are available on our website www.datepalm.com for your further review and I am available as needed should you or any of your staff have questions.

Respectfully Submitted,

George P. Nottingham
President
Groundworks of Palm Beach Country Inc.

The part about questions applies to any interested party.
We welcome your inquiries and thank you for your interest. GPN.