Texas Phoenix Palm Decline
According to the University of Florida IFAS Extension Article #PP243, Texas Phoenix Palm Decline (TPPD) is a new and rapidly spreading disease; especially prevalent in the Manatee County area. TPPD is a fatal, systemic disease that kills palms quickly. The disease is caused by an uncultured bacterium that has no cell wall – a phytoplasma. The TPPD bacteria is spread naturally to palms by sap-feeding insects, such as planthoppers. One early symptom is premature fruit drop, where virtually all the fruit drops at one time from an affected tree.
The University of Florida offers these suggestions to help control the disease:
Palms showing symptoms of more than 25% foliar discoloration or a dead spear leaf due to the disease should be removed immediately.
Management of TPPD includes protection of susceptible palms in disease-active areas by trunk injection with an antibiotic called oxytetracycline (OTC) every 3 months and planting palm species that are not known to contract TPPD.
For more information on treatments and pricing, call Craig, our lawn route manager.