Two things: I'm not an expert but based on your description: the opening that you left at the top (with some of the fronds sticking out) served as a catch for any water from rain. Gravity sent the water down the frond to the crown where it collected and with no air to keep it dry-fungus and bacteria formed to eat away at the crown and then downward. Ironically, given the size and your Trachy coupled with your mild winter, you probably would have not had any problems had you left it unprotected with only sprays and mulch. Two: when you bought the palm, was the connecting trunk exposed(above the dirt line)? I ask this because it is bad to raise the dirt line on any tree and I noticed that you can't see it in the pictures. As far as a remedy, Jim gave you the best advice to save the taller trunk. The only other thing I would do is spray the top of the new trunk with copper fungicide to make sure it is all killed. You can use my Beet/Banana formula to give it a nutrient rich boost which couldn't hurt. Hopefully the whole specimen can come back. Good question about cutting away the damaged trunk-I honestly have no idea. Logically speaking, it's not like they share a heart or any other vital organs so I don't why it can't be done. But again, that is an opinion and not based on expertise. Either way, I would hold off and see if you can save it as a whole first. Good Luck and I wish you Guys the best. This post was edited by Kokomo-JB on Mon, Apr 8, 13 at 10:42

Hi DarthBrader. Well, first of all that is not a Windmill Palm. (Trachycarpus Fortunei) That looks to me like a Washingtonia Robusta. If it is not that then it is most likely a Washingtonia Filifera. OR, it COULD be a Washingtonia Filibusta, which is a hybrid (cross) between the two I mentioned previously. Most likely, it is a Robusta. They all look very similar when young though. As for what the problem is, well I'm really not sure. Washingtonia's in general are more arid climate palms, and do better in drier and hot climates, though they will TOLERATE humidity. If it was in a green house before, and was shaded, then it could perhaps be sunburn. It could be a combo of too much water and sunburn also. It my just have a little bit of shock from its move if its conditions were changed dramatically. I would let it dry out thoroughly between waterings if possible. You may also want to slowly give it direct sun if it was in full shade before you brought it home. Though, Washy's usually take full sun like a champ. Also, perhaps repot it to a slightly larger pot (maybe a few inches deeper and wider only) and pot it in PALM/Cactus/Citrus soil. They are fairly hardy palms and usually will bounce back. It does not look too bad, and the two newest leaves look very good. See if it keeps putting up new fans. Those things usually take off when the heat hits. Also keep in mind while they are somewhat cold hardy, they are no where NEAR the cold hardiness of Windmill Palms, and they will NOT survive outdoors in your area without serious protection, and I mean the kind of protection like building a small heated "greenhouse" like structure around it. Hopefully someone else who is more knowledgeable about Washy's will come along and give you more help than I can offer. Keep us up to date on how it does! Best of luck with it.

What wetsuiter said. Even if some fronds may not look the best but are still mostly green, they are probably still doing their jobs and providing the plant with much needed energy from photosynthesis. Leaves, while they are pretty/ nice to look at, are an extremely important organ for any tree/ plant. Leaves also perform sevreal important functions on plants such as respiration and transpiration. If you ever get the chance to study plants / trees and all of their organs that help to make them function you will be amazed at the complexity. The palm you got from walmart, ericthehurdler got it right. Parlour Palm. The scientific name or botanic name is Chamaedorea Elegans. Those are a fantastic family of palms. Chamaedorea Elegans are in fact a SOLITARY palm. The reason they come how you got them, with many plants all clumped together is because growers often just germinate 10-20 or so seeds in a pot, and poof, you have a 'plant'. But, what you in fact have in that pot, is probably 10-20 small individual palms. It is up to you if you wish to separate them out. Often in the past what I have done is separated out the 1-3 largest ones and left the others to grow more. Also another thing that can, and does happen is that some of them may eventually die off. Personally, I find a single one of these palms in a pot by itself more appealing, espeically when they get older. I have a few, and one of them I got from a pot similar to yours. It was the largest, but still a young plant with no trunk. It now has about 7 to 10 leaves, has shed about 6 leaves, and has about 4 inches of clear trunk on it and is taking on the classic palm tree appearance. Mine is about 4 years old now, (the amount of time I have had it) but it is probably more like 6 years old in total. They grow fairly SLOW. They are probably one of, if not THE easiest palms to take care of. Virtually bullet proof. Very hard to over / underwater them, though I would err on the side of underwatering them because they can handle that easily, and also do not need tons of light. You can successfully grow one of these in a north facing window that gets hardly any direct sun with no problem. In fact, since they are an understory palm that grows only several feet or so high on the forest floor, they prefer mainly indirect or very filtered light, and NOT direct sunlight. Direct sunlight can burn the leaves. I have had one burn on me with just one day's exposure to full sun. Also, this palm, and all the other palms in its genus (Chamaedorea) are mainly jungle palms, so many prefer the lower light conditions, somewhat elevated humidity, and fairly warm temps. Definitely NOT cold hardy. That said, there are some that can HANDLE some abuse, and the palm that you have gotten is one of those palms. Anyway Best of luck with both of your palms!

You must have been using some large/hot lights if they were the cause of the die back. Were your lights on consistently throughout the season, or were they used sporadically. Is it possible that your environment was warm enough to encourage active growth which then got burnt when the lights and heat were turned off? A plant might tolerate a particular cold temperature in a dormant winter stage, but expose the plant to the same temp in the growing season, and it can outright kill it. I would NOT be watering it or feeding it at all this time of year by the way (normal rain and snow should be enough). Even if the palms do not die outright from whatever the cause was, they did take a big hit obviously and this will make their winter survival this year all more questionable. Growth for the coming growing season may also be stunted compared to normal (vigor will increase in subsequent years). But many palms can and DO SURVIVE from pulled buds.(I've had successful recovery from bud pull on Phoenix roebellini, and Washintonis in the past--one from cold, one from excessive summer rainfall.) Frankly, if they were mine, I'd be tempted to dig them out (don't know if your ground is frozen or not), containerize them, protect them from hard frost, give them an early start on the growing season, and see if they recuperate--betting that they would eventually. Good luck!