Q.Why won’t palm fronds fully extend from trunk?
I live in Austin, TX. I have what I believe is a Mexican Fan palm which is about 5 ft tall. The palm was given to us by a friend with a landscaping business about a year ago and was transplanted in our yard. It lost all its fronds after a few weeks and appeared to be dead. However, after some time the fronds began to grow again but never fully extend out of the trunk. After the hard winter freezes this past year, the fronds died again and it appeared the palm was dead again. However, in the spring the fronds again started to grow and extend from the trunk but again never fully extended out of the trunk. There are several that are only extended about a foot with a 12″ – 16″ span. Why won’t the fronds fully extend and what can I do to fix this problem?
As long as the fronds are green, the palm is making a valiant attempt to grow. It's already undergone 2 traumatic events in its young life. Let it develop at its own pace. This article has information on palms in Texas. https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/educ_programs/cold-hardy-palms.pdf
