I did this last winter to 2 of my 3 windmill's. It got warm (50s) while I was not in town it was only a couple days worth, but the heat from the xmas lights (mini) did the same thing to them. Spear pull and they both lost most fronds. One was fried brown completely. The other was still green but had spear pull. That one still has two green leaves on it but has not grown since. The one that was completely brown and looked like yours was completely toast. You can attempt trunk cutting it, attempting to get below the burned / rotted material, but my hunch is that if they are solid brown is toast. Also, take the trunk, especially the upper part and try to squeeze it some. If it is kind of squishy then that is a very good indication of weather or not there is much in the way of healthy tissue down inside.

Sorry to hear (see) your palms in such a state, but things sometimes happen.

I tried squeezing it but it feels the same as one of my healthy windmills (all I can feel are the stems on both). I had another leaf come off and took some pics for you guys. I don't know if this is scientific proof or not but when I poured peroxide down the centre it didn't make any noise. I had another windmill rot out on me in the summer (bottom of the spear was black). I brought it in just to see if I could do anything and when it got a dose of peroxide, it made a loud fizzing sound. The leaves that I am pulling out aren't black although there is a little bit of some kind of gooey stuff at the bottom. Hope these pics add another piece to the puzzle. Is this a gonner ?

That shows the bottom of the leaf that pulled today. Different angles, with some showing whatever that gooey stuff is.

Excellent photo documentation. All I can really tell you is that yours look very much like mind did when mine fried from over heating. Looks like there is some fungal rot on the lowest part of the petioles too.

I did keep mine for several months, but it was very clear after a couple months that mine were very much dead. I would say that if you don't get any growth starting in spring you may want to try what Jim did and trunk cut them to see if you can get to any healthy tissue. I did cut one of mine, the smaller one but I already knew what I would find, and it was just mushy dark brown inside. Anyway, keep us posted.

I concur.

Start cutting down on the trunk now,if there is anything green
(or at least not rotted and mushy)
you may have a shot- unless the roots are toasted.
You can start from where the bottom of that socket pulled.

Post a pic of what you find,good for everyone to see/know.

Can you give me as much detail as possible for cutting the trunk down ?

I definitely think you should just cut the trunk back to healthy tissue and see how it does. Keep it well watered and maybe give it some fertilizer to strengthen it and allow enough nutrients to support more frond growth
I burned my pindo palm slightly so dont feel too bad. I think the burn happened from the 52F temperature that we got on January 1st. My pindo was the only palm that wasnt uncovered during that warm spell and it is the only palm with some burning. It should be fine though once I prune of the tips of a few fronds. But I will definitely turn the lights off now when temperatures go over the mid 40s with clouds, or low 40s with sun.
Palms can be pretty resistant. Windmill palms are called hardy for more than just their cold tolerance. Many young ones get spear pull, and many of those also recover from their spear pull.
Good luck! I hope it makes it! Keep us updated!
-Alex

wow, i have never seen anything like that before...I don't know what even to say, how the heck did that happen.

Yep, that's a serious case of rot. I've never seen rot get so bad that the petioles get gooey before. Definitely could use a trunk cutting as soon as possible, along with a warm bright location to recover. I would probably also pour a little peroxide on the live tissue to kill any existing rot, but don't let the peroxide soak into the soil. I would be afraid it would damage the roots.

On the bright side, however, I have had probably 5 windmills suffer spear pull, and every one has made it through and recovered, so there is hope.

What was your heating setup? Did moisture get in the enclosure? How warm did they get?

Thanks for the info guys. I did give the tree a peroxide treatment and it is inside under my grow light (my intensive care unit). To see the history, there is another post on here: "Need expert Windmill Palm advice ASAP". I need exacting details on trunk cutting before I do it so I am just waiting for some of the experts on here to advise me and then I will do it and post pics of the "surgery".

If I had to guess I would say it is to late.

Here are a couple pics of mine after last winter-they were cut back almost
to the ground.

In this 1st pic you can see how pale the spear,etc is-
the whole thing pulled out.

Here is a pic of it cut back,I didn't think it would make it
because of how far down I had to cut to find live tissue.
You can cut down(for starters)as far as down as the socket went that pulled-don't worry
about hurting the palm at this point,my guess is it has no chance without being cut back.

Keep cutting down,if you do not find white tissue before the absolute soil line it's dead.
My guess is you will find a cored out center but hopefully you will find some healthy tissue,
if you do it won't take long for it to pop up,maybe a week if in a warm sunny place and if the roots are still alive.

Anyway,here are some pics of the process from this past season.

Another one-

and...another

4 days later(in April)

Palms recovering-7 weeks later-

Here they are(recovered) in fall(Oct 8th)-

GOOD LUCK!

Well, the deed is done and it's bad news.

Trunk cut away...

Starting to remove the leaves...

This last litte stumpy piece actually pulled out. Not a good sign...

Performed the surgery with my Dremel drill...

The core is revealed. There is a puddle of wet goo in there. Couldn't get a very clear shot...

The white spots you see are where the light is reflecting off the puddle...

Unless I hear otherwise, it's R.I.P. little buddy :(

Thanks for your help everyone. This is a sad day.

It definitely looks like it has no hope unfortunately. :( Sorry it didnt work out for this windmill palm. Its been a very bad winter and it looks like cold moisture could have been the reason for the rot (I not sure if heat would cause that kind of rot, but Im really not positive, so Im looking forward to hearing what others have to say about that). Thanks for sharing all the pics.
Good luck
-Alex

Excessive moisture was the problem,the rot was sent into hyper mode by
the excess heat-pretty impressive when you think about it!

Warm temps really speed up the process-very sorry about your little buddy!

Definitely toast. Sorry to hear (see) that man. Well, you can always start anew in spring with a new one! Maybe you can get a BIGGER one this time too! =o)

Well, it's a learning experience. Hopefully, this will help someone else with their palms. I will have to think about it but I think maybe I will put a Waggie in that spot. They are so expensive but they are more tolerant of cold, too. Thanks, guys !

T. Wagnerianus kind of gets mixed reviews when it comes to more cold tolerance than Fortunei. However, some people say that when young, waggies are less tender than Fortunei and less likely to get spear pull. I wouldnt spend too much money on them since it is just an experiment, but if you can get a nice sized one at a decent price, then definitely give it a try!
Sabal minor or birmingham might be an option. My Sabal minor is more tender than my trachy, however, they might be less prone to spear pull and rot which was the problem with your trachy mentioned here.
Good luck!
-Alex

OMG that is awful, sorry to hear.

@ jim, thanks for the tip, had i known this years ago, I would have tried what you did, that is awesome

(-:

I absolutely love Waggies-one of my favorite Trachys....

come to think of it,I have never lost one to cold!

Try and find a Waggie or Fortunei with a nice kink at the base of the trunk,
they generally grow slower but I believe they are more cold tolerant as well.