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Palm disease

Pink Rot

An opportunistic fungus that gets into palms through wounds and tissue weakened by cold or drought. Pink to salmon spore masses are the giveaway, and fixing the stress matters more than any fungicide.

Pink spore massesTrunk lesions

Palms it affects: Queen palm, Washingtonia, Canary Island date palm, Sylvester palm, Areca palm, Archontophoenix, Chamaedorea, Chamaerops, Howea, Trachycarpus

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A date palm at a client’s home with a thin, drooping canopy. A petiole sample tested positive for the pink rot fungus at a UF/IFAS lab.
A date palm at a client’s home with a thin, drooping canopy. A petiole sample tested positive for the pink rot fungus at a UF/IFAS lab.
Affects
Queen palm, Washingtonia, Canary Island date palm, Sylvester palm and more
When it shows
Spikes in winter and early spring after cold events.
What we do first
Find and relieve the stress: cold, nutrition, wounds.
Report a concern

What you see

Signs in the field

  • Pink, salmon or orange-pink spore masses on leaf bases, cut surfaces or cankers
  • Leaf spots and rotting leaf bases
  • A canker with a water-soaked margin on green trunk tissue
  • Soft, rotting tissue, and bud rot on small palms
Often confused with
Thielaviopsis bud rotFusarium wiltPestalotiopsis leaf blightPotassium or magnesium deficiencyCold damage

What lets it in

Pink rot needs a way in: a wound from pruning, a mower, a trimmer, a vehicle or insects, or tissue weakened by cold or drought.

It is believed to be worse in cooler weather, and the fungus does not grow above about 91 F (33 C).

How serious is it

At the mild end it causes leaf spots and leaf base rot. At the severe end, a trunk canker can work inward until the stem fails. If the bud is reached, a single-trunk palm is likely lost.

A caution on queen palms

Trunk rot on queen palms is often blamed on pink rot, but that link is unproven, and the spore mass is rarely seen on queen trunks. We do not call it pink rot without the spore mass or a lab result.

Our experience

Our field experience with pink rot is limited, so each case is handled on its own.

What we do

How Ptolemy handles it

Field condition first, then the recommendation. Treatment, removal and diagnosis calls are made by an ISA Certified Arborist, and the serious ones are confirmed in a lab.

  • Find and correct the underlying stress first: cold damage, transplant shock, poor drainage, nutrition or over-pruning.
  • Remove infected tissue, bag it and take it off site, with tools sanitized between cuts.
  • A protectant fungicide to support the palm while the stress is corrected, as our certified arborist directs. Fungicide alone does not hold the disease.
  • Leave cold-damaged fronds until the cold season passes, then prune to the 9-and-3 line. Nothing above the line is cut.
  • Recommend removal when the bud is involved, the stress cannot be corrected, or the crown or trunk is a structural hazard.

Next step

Seeing pink rot on your property?

ReadOur written protocolsEvery serious threat has its steps written down before it is needed.ReportReport a concernSend a photo and where it is. A photo is a reason to look, not a diagnosis.RequestThe free master planWe map every palm and tree and write one 10-year plan, with an estimated budget each year.
RelatedThe Palm Health ProgramCold damage

Or call (239) 467-0142. The serious calls are confirmed in a lab before anyone acts.

Keep reading

More palm diseases

Killer
Palm diseaseFusarium Wilt

A fatal fungal wilt that plugs a palm's water-conducting tissue.

Signs and what we do
Killer
Palm diseaseGanoderma Butt Rot

A wood-decay fungus that rots the base of the trunk and the roots.

Signs and what we do
Killer
Palm diseaseThielaviopsis Trunk Rot

A fungus that enters through fresh trunk wounds and rots the trunk from one side inward.

Signs and what we do
Mostly cosmetic
Palm diseaseLeaf Spots and Blights

A group of fungal diseases that spot and blight palm fronds.

Signs and what we do

All palm diseases