Coconut tree rotting

[crickets]

Hi, my coconut branches are rotting as they come up. It is about 3 years old. Are they any ideas on how to fix this?

 

Thanks in advance 

[cooked]

Probably a goner by now. (in my experience). You can try a fungicide.

Do you have beetle infection?

[crickets]

4 hours ago, cooked said:

Probably a goner by now. (in my experience). You can try a fungicide.

Do you have beetle infection?

I dug around a little of the rot and found a few centipede like creatures that i suspect might bee beetles. I pulled them out as well as some of the rot. Do you suggest fungicide to keep them away?

Thanks

[cooked]

7 hours ago, crickets said:

I dug around a little of the rot and found a few centipede like creatures that i suspect might bee beetles. I pulled them out as well as some of the rot. Do you suggest fungicide to keep them away?

Thanks

I really can't say. Generally by the time you notice the problem, it is too late. The tree has a fungus disease which may have been brought in by insects. To be honest I would give up on the coconut tree and plan something else. Even if you eliminate the disease, the tree is likely damaged enough to be likely to fall over at some point.

[drtreelove]

On 9/9/2018 at 10:06 PM, crickets said:

I dug around a little of the rot and found a few centipede like creatures that i suspect might bee beetles. I pulled them out as well as some of the rot. Do you suggest fungicide to keep them away?

Thanks

A fungicide kills or suppresses fungi; it does not kill or repel beetles or their larvae or centipede like creatures. Insecticides do that. But before chemical treatment is used it's important to identify exactly what is going on, and what would be the target of the treatment, so that appropriate method and material can be used safely and effectively. 

 

It's not likely that this condition was initiated as a fungal disorder, unless you are overhead watering the crown of the palm daily or something like that. But fungal organisms may be secondary to insect pest activity.

 

It would help to have photos or a description of the growing conditions for your palm and the damaged areas.  

 

If I understand correctly, the newly emerging leaves/fronds are affected by some malady that is resulting in decay at the base of the fronds, not the base of the trunk at the soil grade. Is that right?

 

The most likely cause, as Cooked indicated, is an advanced infestation of beetle/weevil pests that invade and feed on the emerging foliage and bore into the woody stem at the base of the foliar crown. Heavy feeding by the pests can result in dead and decayed areas that become active with decay fungi and opportunistic dead vegetation feeders like millipedes, and possibly centipedes, if that's what you saw,  Or were the creatures more like big fat white grubs? 

 

Coconut rhinoceros beetles are very common and they can start the party. The adults emerge from their breeding grounds in downed wood, compost piles and debris, and fly to the crown of the palms to feed and bore big holes as they munch. Then red palm weevils follow in the galleries that the CRBs make, lay eggs that hatch into hungry big grubs that keep the feasting going and weaken the palm growing points. 

 

Advanced infestations with a lot of damage present are hard to control, and the tree may not recover. Cooked, again pointed that out, that it may be too late. The key to assessment of mortality or hope for recovery, is if there is a viable, green growing terminal bud emerging at the top center of the palm.  If not and the fronds are all brown, then the beetles have won and finished off their own food source, and will go on to another.  If you have other palms, consider a preventive pest control program and don't wait for an advanced condition before taking action.  

 

If that's what is going on, preventive and control measures are outline in the attached papers.  

 

 

coconut_red_palm_weevil_180.pdf

coconut_rhinoceros_beetle__melanesian_057.pdf

[crickets]

On 9/16/2018 at 6:45 PM, drtreelove said:

A fungicide kills or suppresses fungi; it does not kill or repel beetles or their larvae or centipede like creatures. Insecticides do that. But before chemical treatment is used it's important to identify exactly what is going on, and what would be the target of the treatment, so that appropriate method and material can be used safely and effectively. 

 

It's not likely that this condition was initiated as a fungal disorder, unless you are overhead watering the crown of the palm daily or something like that. But fungal organisms may be secondary to insect pest activity.

 

It would help to have photos or a description of the growing conditions for your palm and the damaged areas.  

 

If I understand correctly, the newly emerging leaves/fronds are affected by some malady that is resulting in decay at the base of the fronds, not the base of the trunk at the soil grade. Is that right?

 

The most likely cause, as Cooked indicated, is an advanced infestation of beetle/weevil pests that invade and feed on the emerging foliage and bore into the woody stem at the base of the foliar crown. Heavy feeding by the pests can result in dead and decayed areas that become active with decay fungi and opportunistic dead vegetation feeders like millipedes, and possibly centipedes, if that's what you saw,  Or were the creatures more like big fat white grubs? 

 

Coconut rhinoceros beetles are very common and they can start the party. The adults emerge from their breeding grounds in downed wood, compost piles and debris, and fly to the crown of the palms to feed and bore big holes as they munch. Then red palm weevils follow in the galleries that the CRBs make, lay eggs that hatch into hungry big grubs that keep the feasting going and weaken the palm growing points. 

 

Advanced infestations with a lot of damage present are hard to control, and the tree may not recover. Cooked, again pointed that out, that it may be too late. The key to assessment of mortality or hope for recovery, is if there is a viable, green growing terminal bud emerging at the top center of the palm.  If not and the fronds are all brown, then the beetles have won and finished off their own food source, and will go on to another.  If you have other palms, consider a preventive pest control program and don't wait for an advanced condition before taking action.  

 

If that's what is going on, preventive and control measures are outline in the attached papers.  

 

 

coconut_red_palm_weevil_180.pdf

coconut_rhinoceros_beetle__melanesian_057.pdf

Hi, after cleaning out the rot and millipieades the palms are now quickly growing up with a few chew marks. There is no rotting and I think the infestation has gone. I will have to check every couple of weeks to see if it happens again. 

 

Thanks for your help. Also i have pests eating my grape vine, is there any advice you can give me for that with out using pesticide? 

[drtreelove]

A few "chew marks" indicates there is still pest feeding activity. You may not see the beetles or the weevil larvae, but they will continue to infest and feed until you net the wood waste where they are emerging from, apply a repellent or introduce a biological control. 

 

"Without using pesticides" is the key term.  Do you not want to use bio-pesticides that are organic program compatible?   Biological controls, botanical pest repellents, wood vinegar, horticultural oil and insecticidal soaps are "pesticides", they are not necessarily hard chemistry with toxicity for people and pests, and with environmental impacts to be feared if used safely and effectively.  

 

Without bio-pesticides you are limited to preventive measures like planting resistant species, companion planting, high nutrient density mineralized and biologically active soil fertility that improves resistance, mechanical barriers (netting, fencing), trapping, pest removal by hand or water spray, encouraging or introducing natural pest predators like birds, lady beetles, parasitoid wasps, weaver ants, beneficial nematodes, etc and a few other methods. 

 

Can you identify a pest on the grape vine?  Or post photos of the damage?