Sap oozing from trees can be heat related. The possible causes are heat stress, mechanical damage, damage from borers and damage from diseases. Plants don't normally leak sap unless they are damaged in some way. Very often when people see sap oozing from a tree, they jump to the conclusion it is from borers.
This is not always true. If it is coming from plants very susceptible to borers, then it could be. Trees like the stone fruits -- peach, apricot, flowering plum and plum -- all have a better chance of having a borer problem than trees like ash, mulberry, elm and others.
Question: I had a boxed Pindo Palm planted almost two years ago and though it still appears to be alive, it has never produced any new fronds. The first year after planting, the new growth turned a limey green and never sprouted out. Is there anything that can be done to jump start the frond development or is this a lost cause?
Answer: This is not a good sign. This usually means that the central bud, where the fronds originate, is dying or is dead. The easy way to tell is to grab the innermost fronds at their base, wearing gloves, and pull up. A healthy bud will stay intact even though you tug hard. A bud that is dying will pull away from the palm fairly easily.
I would pull up on it with the force you would use as if you were lifting a bag of groceries with one hand. If it pulls free, which I am fairly certain it will, you will notice that the bottoms of the fronds are most likely rotten.
It is most likely palm bud rot caused by disease. There are several organisms that can cause this but the disease organisms can be transported by birds from a diseased palm to a healthy one. Usually palms that come down with bud rot are already unhealthy and don't have the energy and good health to fight off an infection.
Frequently I have seen this on newly transplanted palms, particularly if they are planted in the fall. Palms should not be fall planted if possible. They transplant best during the summer heat, unlike many other plants.
Secondly, if they are managed poorly such as too much, too little or too frequent irrigation, it can contribute to poor health and susceptibility to bud rot. There is an insect called the palm tree borer that can get into the bud and trunk, tunneling through the inside of the tree and finally exiting.
Over time and through multiple attacks, palm trees can die from this borer through their attacks on the bud. Usually, though, the entire crown dies, not just the center. With palm borer you should be able to see exit holes in the trunk about the size of a quarter or Anthony dollar.
Q: I did what you recommended to my Pindo Palm, pulling up the innermost frond, and it did not pull free from the palm. Any other thoughts?
A: It is still possible that the interior fronds are in the process of dying but have not gone that far along. This palm has moderately slow growth. But palms can handle wet soils better than many plants. If I were to error, I would error on the side of too wet rather than too dry when establishing many of our landscape palms provided you have good drainage. But of course, ideal watering is best but not always possible.
It might be possible that it just has not recovered from transplant shock yet. Also this palm is grown from seed in the nursery and so there are differences between individual palms. It prefers full sun to moderate shade.
Fronds grow longer in shady situations, giving the palm a more graceful aspect than those grown in full sun. It prefers sandy, well drained soil but is adaptable and very drought tolerant. Regular watering and feeding will produce a faster growing, more attractive palm.
However, overwatering or watering too frequently can cause root death and yellowing. I guess if this were mine I would take a posthole digger and dig holes about two to three feet deep about two feet from the trunk and fill it with gravel to try and aerate the soil if you suspect poor drainage.
The next thing I would do is use a high nitrogen fertilizer around the tree in the spring and summer months to give it a jump start as you say. The third thing I would try is to foliar feed, or spraying the fronds without getting water on the bud, with something like Miracle Gro or similar product and see if you can get it to green up that way. It is very possible that you will see some new growth next summer provided the problem is not bud rot.
Q: I have several society garlic plants that have done well over the last year to the point that they have outgrown their current landscape space. Is now the best time of year to split and transplant them?
A: Society garlic isn't really a type of garlic at all but it is in the lily family. Evidently this plant was given the common name of garlic due to its use by Dutch pioneers introduced to it by native South Africans. The Dutch began using it as a replacement for garlic since it had some of the same culinary traits as garlic for flavoring of foods, but without the offensive after-smell.
It is now grown for its ornamental character; lavender-pink spring to summer flowers, sweet smelling flowers (particularly at night), and garlicky smelling leaves when bruised or crushed.
Two cultivars are popular: Silver Lace, which is a variegated form, and Tricolor, with pink and white variegations. It is normally sold as bulbs and planted in the fall. However, sometimes you can obtain container plants which should be planted in the spring. The plant has to have a reasonable amount of light for blooming but needs to be protected from late afternoon sun in our climate.
Although most information will tell you to plant it in sandy soils and dry locations, it will perform better as an ornamental with more water applied when it is actively growing and producing flowers. Try to give it fertilizer several times during the year with particular attention to the period when the bulbs are rebuilding in the fall after most of the flower show and stress has stopped.
As with most bulbs, the plants should be allowed to dry down when the tops dieback. Although we call them bulbs, the underground propagules -- those parts used to propagate the plant -- are actually corms and can be divided from the mother plant when the plant is totally dormant.
For us, December would be a good time to begin the work of digging, dividing and replanting. Plant them 12 to 18 inches apart and use phosphorus in the planting hole at the time of replanting.
Bob Morris is a horticulture specialist with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.
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