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.

It definitely looks like a washingtonia robusta to me. I would repot it in a large pot and soak it (make sure its a good draining pot). Once you soak it, only water it when its dry. They can handle moisture but they do like it dry. They also love the sun so the more, the better especially heat!
I agree, they are only cold tolerant to about 20F in my experience but can recover from a little lower. With protection they should survive a zone 7 winter, but there is no chance of it surviving a zone 7 winter without protection.

Post its progress, it looks like it should make a recovery with no problem!
Good luck!
-Alex

Looks like a W. robusta. It needs a bigger container first of all (remember, it wants to be a tree and sooner rather than later) --Use a good quality, well-draining soil (you can add some coarse sand). Consider the depth of the container as well as the width. They are heat lovers but in a small container on a very hot, concrete terrace in the urban heat island of Philadelphia, they'll suffer. I don't think your palm is suffering from over watering, more likely excessive heat at the root level in its tiny, black plastic pot. (In nature, the roots would be growing in a relatively cooler and more moist ground.)--Larger container will help keeping it both cooler an moister. Definitely not winter hardy in Pa. though. Was this sold to you as a Windmill? Good luck!

Thank you all so much for your quick, helpful, and thoughtful advice!

I thought it didn't quite look like the windmill palm pictures I saw online, but I didn't know enough to second guess the bozo that sold it to me. So it sounds like I have quite a challenge on my hands, if this little guy wants to grow to 75 feet! And while downtown is a little warmer than elsewhere in my zone, I'll almost certainly have to bring him inside to get him through the winter. I have pretty tall ceilings, but yikes!

For now, I've brought him in to cool down, dry off, and hopefully acclimate to more sun (if that's part of the problem). I'll repot him too.

Thanks so much for the tips! I'd be happy to take any advice you might have for height management, but it sounds like I might ultimately need to find him a more southern home.

All the best,
~derek

There good in pots for a while (you can keep it in a pot for at least another 4 or 5 years) but eventually you are going to have to send it south. You probably shouldnt even look for a profit if you are giving it to someone in the south because even large ones are very cheap.
Good luck!

You don't have to worry about heat/sun with this palm,the more the better,remember they grow in the deserts
-like Phoenix AZ and Palm springs California,it will never get to hot for it there-it will just grow faster!

Re-pot,water liberally in warm/hot weather,cut back on water when temps cool into the 60s for highs.

These grow like weeds in the desert southwest.

Hi All,

I thought my little guy had stabilized somewhat, but it seems like every time it rains or I water it it gets a little worse. He's now probably beyond redemption, but I thought I'd ask one more time.

I tried repotting, and the rootball was very tightly packed around the outside of the existing pot with few roots in the middle. I teased them apart as well as I could (damaging some in the process) and repotted in a well-drained mix. I know the new pot is still too small, but that's all I've got for now.

I'm down to basically one decent frond, and it has folded up like a paper fan.

I'm now starting to wonder if my observation that it gets worse with water is incorrect; for example, if the problem is really insufficient water but the effects lag the conditions by a couple-few days?

Think there's any hope? {{gwi:1150764}}From Windmill Palm Photos

That's not really a side-view of the frond, it's just folded up.

Thanks!

~derek

P.S. Fortunately I also have a majesty palm (as long as that's not also mis-ID'd!) which really seems to be loving life on the sunny patio.

I'm afraid that as long as your palm is being confined to a small ceramic pot, it's going to suffer in a hot/sunny site (your terrace). I don't think your palm was being over watered--especially if it was as root-bound as you describe. Sometimes, when the situation gets to this extent, water can literally pass directly through the soil without it even being absorbed by the plant. And note that even though Washingtonia grow in hot and arid/semi-arid places, they set down deep roots to tap in subsurface water. Air temperatures have been very high (90 to 103 F. in the shade) and your plant is on a windy terrace that probably gets even hotter and the plant responds by dropping leaves (to conserve moisture). You also have to be rather careful with palm roots--they're fragile. Your new container still looks kind of small (hard to tell based on the picture). I would move it into SHADE at this point. Let it recuperate some from its recent operation. Maybe by transplanting, loosening up the roots and adding some soil, it'll begin to settle down. Once it does and begins to show some vigor again, I would replant it into a larger container (at this point it can go into a hotter/sunnier position). Good luck!