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Dying Palm Trees
Hi,
We have just arrived in Cartaya close to Ayamonte to find palm trees dying in the streets, we have six palm trees and the tallest one has just flopped over dead, we have visited just five minutes ago visited the town hall and they could not care less about the situation - I am livid. If anyone has any information on who or where we can get the spray to kill these beetles it would be most helpful - I can´t tell you how sad it is to see all these dead palm trees and with the attitude the town hall have, it´s only going to get worse. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
Hi
Marbella lost thousands a couple of years ago - we in Cádiz are losing some this year Davexf |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
The authorities have not got to grips with it. They left them too long when they were dead as the red palm beetle then flies on to another healthy tree. We lost two mature trees. The beetles are massive like cockroaches. Read last week it is now spreading to Alicante region:(
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Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by Katee
(Post 8314299)
Hi,
We have just arrived in Cartaya close to Ayamonte to find palm trees dying in the streets, we have six palm trees and the tallest one has just flopped over dead, we have visited just five minutes ago visited the town hall and they could not care less about the situation - I am livid. If anyone has any information on who or where we can get the spray to kill these beetles it would be most helpful - I can´t tell you how sad it is to see all these dead palm trees and with the attitude the town hall have, it´s only going to get worse. I watched the spraying of palm trees for this beetle take place. You need a 'cherry picker' to do the job and a drenching in chemical from above the tree for several minutes per tree and again a few months later. These were large old trees but must have been EXPENSIVE! |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
There is an epidemic all over Spain, around here the council used to cut them down and burn them for free, but there are so many they now charge.
There is not much you can do apart from spraying , but this is really is a waste because so many trees are affected. There are previous threads on the subject, also type palm beetle into Google. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
I used to pass a dead one nearly every day when I went to the shops. You could see the horrible beetles crawling on it. Was months before they cut it down.
One or two companies are leafleting claiming they have a cure for it, they don't. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by jdr
(Post 8316924)
There is an epidemic all over Spain, around here the council used to cut them down and burn them for free, but there are so many they now charge.
As we lost 3m thay paid 240€ - that's more than our annual council tax bill!! |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
I'm assuming we are talking about the Rhynchophorus ferrugineus or Red Palm Weevil here?
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Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by rugbymatt
(Post 8319791)
I'm assuming we are talking about the Rhynchophorus ferrugineus or Red Palm Weevil here?
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Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by jdr
(Post 8319849)
Thats the one, grubs like a Wichiti, rolls itself in the palm hessian type thread and turns into a fully grown weevil. :eek:
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Re: Dying Palm Trees
Once they have got hold they are very difficult to eradicate.
Prevention is always better than cure and one insecticide that can be used by direct application around the base of the tree is Confidor which is readily available in Spain. It can also be injected into the tree in areas of infestation. Spraying is a last resort, very expensive and can be dangerous to anyone around as the amount of spray is very high and most of the insecticides used are pretty nasty. It is normally only the date palms that are affected but there have been reports of other common palms like Washingtonia being affected. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
Over 30 varieties of palms are so far susceptible to attack, including at least a dozen found in Spain.
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Re: Dying Palm Trees
We lost three in our garden, I don`t know if it is the grubs that eat the tree or the weevils on the way out.
One tree was about 3 mtrs high, first of all the new branches at the center started to fall sideways instead of reaching for the sky, and if you put your ear near the trunk you could actually hear munching. The council cut them down and took them away, they cut it about half a mtr from the ground and there were channels about as fat as your little finger chewed through from the top. Since then the last half mtr has rotted away and while chopping it away I came across live grubs and live weevils. A Dutch guy I know has a yellow plastic bucket that he half fills with water, it has four holes in the lid and a packet of stuff that attracts the weevils to it, they land on the lid and fall in the water while trying to reach the bait. He is catching about ten a week in it. :eek::eek: |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
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Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by jdr
(Post 8320056)
We lost three in our garden, I don`t know if it is the grubs that eat the tree or the weevils on the way out.
One tree was about 3 mtrs high, first of all the new branches at the center started to fall sideways instead of reaching for the sky, and if you put your ear near the trunk you could actually hear munching. The council cut them down and took them away, they cut it about half a mtr from the ground and there were channels about as fat as your little finger chewed through from the top. Since then the last half mtr has rotted away and while chopping it away I came across live grubs and live weevils. A Dutch guy I know has a yellow plastic bucket that he half fills with water, it has four holes in the lid and a packet of stuff that attracts the weevils to it, they land on the lid and fall in the water while trying to reach the bait. He is catching about ten a week in it. :eek::eek: |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
I found some useful information on www.livingonthecostas.com - we are going over next week and the first thing I will do is check my trees!!! It sounds as though the local councils are being a bit slow on the uptake, there are so many trees where we are, if they were lost it would have a huge impact.
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Re: Dying Palm Trees
I've been sent a pdf on the Red Palm Weevil - the Picudo Rojo - in Spanish if anyone wants a copy...
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Re: Dying Palm Trees
We have a few of the palm trees with the base like a massive pineapple.
The largest is dying I think.The base stinks and is full of disgusting larvae. Its a big palm. I can only guess that these weevils are the problem and there is no hope for the tree and possibly all the palms around us on our estate. Will see what the ajuntament says. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by paintermujer
(Post 8646860)
We have a few of the palm trees with the base like a massive pineapple.
The largest is dying I think.The base stinks and is full of disgusting larvae. Its a big palm. I can only guess that these weevils are the problem and there is no hope for the tree and possibly all the palms around us on our estate. Will see what the ajuntament says. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
The only chance you have is to drill holes in the base and inject large quantities of Confidor.
A friend had this problem and after lots of effort did save it. It was so bad you could hear the grubs eating it! |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by Fred James
(Post 8646983)
The only chance you have is to drill holes in the base and inject large quantities of Confidor.
A friend had this problem and after lots of effort did save it. It was so bad you could hear the grubs eating it! |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
I had to cut down three palm trees last week after the inside green leaves fell out. There's a nasty smell from them as well. I photographed the weevil (on Spanish Shilling).
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Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by Fred James
(Post 8646983)
The only chance you have is to drill holes in the base and inject large quantities of Confidor. would this help kill the bugs cos the tree is dead.
A friend had this problem and after lots of effort did save it. It was so bad you could hear the grubs eating it! The weevils are disgusting in the pineapple base now.weve tried allsorts on it including fire,which we cant do now.sulfumant,bleach etc. The smell is getting worse all the time. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
You can buy Confidor but unless you buy a large bottle (1 litre) it works out expensive.
If the tree has had it it needs to be dug up, taken away and burned. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by Fred James
(Post 8724896)
You can buy Confidor but unless you buy a large bottle (1 litre) it works out expensive..
Can this be used as a preventative or is there something else? My palms look ok but this is very worrying as have lots of them. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by whitelinen
(Post 8724919)
Can this be used as a preventative or is there something else?
My palms look ok but this is very worrying as have lots of them. Sorry cant help more but it is a real problem.You just cant kill the bugs.Had one yesterday walking around on the pineapple bit thru bleach and sulfumant. He looked healthy enough to me. Vile.:eek: |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by whitelinen
(Post 8724919)
Can this be used as a preventative or is there something else?
As I said, it's expensive in the sort of bottles you get in the Viveros made by Bayer, but it is available as the basic insecticide under the chemical name Imidacloroprid if you go to one of the agricultural suppliers at a much lower cost. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
Our local garden centre told us that confador was not effective against the palm beetle. There are companies on the CDS advertising preventative treatments but heard they are useless. One golf club who used them lost around 10. Problem is you don't know you have it until it's too late.
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Re: Dying Palm Trees
Originally Posted by jackytoo
(Post 8725036)
Our local garden centre told us that confador was not effective against the palm beetle.
A simple Google search of "red palm beetle confidor" will come up with many recommendations. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
They only used to eat the date type palm trees, but in our garden we have lost one of the pineapple type palms and it looks like a second one is suffering too now.:eek:
I know people that have paid lots of money to have them sprayed regular., but they have still died |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
I think you will find that what people often call the pineapple palm is a type of date palm. Any of the Phoenix palms can be affected and these include various date palms - Phoenix Dactilifera and Phoenix Canariensis being the most common.
The most common palm around in Spain is the Washingtonia and there are reports that this can also be affected although it is much less likely. From what I have read, just spraying is often not enough - they need soaking with insecticide - like about 30 litres per tree and every month. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
I found this article in the Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...alm-trees.html However, the two-pronged foreign insect invaders may have finally met their match. After a variety of increasingly desperate ad unsuccessful pest control attempts, experts believe the palm's saviour could be a microscopic ringworm that latches on to the moth and weevil larvae. The worm is a type of nematode, some of whose relations can be terrible plant pests – killing off grape vines and pine trees, while others can be lethal to humans. This type is harmless to man and plants but kills any insect larva it meets. "It finishes them off by septicaemia," said Caroline Gutleben, researcher at Plante et Cité, which has been testing the worm's effects. Controlled tests have proven 100 per cent effective, she said, while recent field tests in eight sites in the Hérault and Côte d'Azur regions have shown a "stabilisation or improvement of treated palms", bringing near-condemned plants back to life. The worms are sprayed on to the palms in a water-based solution. |
Re: Dying Palm Trees
the trees that we sprayed last year,. even some that were half dead, are now healthy and green.
we used to use a long arm sprayer, not a cherry picker, and a large compressor. the set up works. we would spray around 100 L of chemical / water mix PER TREE. cost was only 50€ / tree / per spray. if you´ve got two or three, obviously its a "bulk price". i think we lost 1 of the 50 or 60 we were looking after, and we covered velez malaga to estepona. it is possible to save the trees, as long as all the leaves havent dropped, but obviously the chances drop exponentially as more and more dies. we were called in to remove two 3m ish trees. wow.. they stink !!! and why am i not still doing it ? people stopped paying. nobody cares about trees, they would rather buy beer. its a shame. the grubs : http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Photo-0027.jpg the flying bugs: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Photo-0034.jpg |
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