Transplant shock in Canary Date Palm?

Question

My husband and I planted two small Canary Date Palms in our yard yesterday. They were about 4 ft tall. We followed a step by step how-to, which included digging the hole double the size of the root ball, fill half the hole with palm soil and half with native soil. We didn’t bury the trunk in order to prevent rot. We applied a palm fertilizer, covered with mulch and saturated the the mulch with water when finished. Almost over night, we noticed the palms leaves turning brown and drooping. I’m so upset by this! Any advice on what to do would be greatly appreciated! My husband and I are just watering each day in hopes that the plants are in transplant shock. Should we begin pruning the drooping and brown fronds? We hope they weather the storm!

Answer 1

It sounds indeed like a severe case of transplant shock. Assuming of course that the palm fertilizer applied was done lightly so as not to burn the roots. To treat transplant shock I mix a good root stimulator and a product called Super Thrive in the same water and water the tree, shrub, rosebush or plant with that mix the next 4 to 5 times it needs watering. The super thrive helps it deal with the shocks and stresses while the root stimulator helps the roots get going better after transplanting.