CANARY PALM IN SPAIN
I am probably almost last person in Spain to have realised that the beautiful Canary Palm (Phoenix Canariensis – otherwise also known as the Canary Island Date Palm or Pineapple Palm) is under devastating attack. Indeed, it is being decimated by a beetle (the Red Palm Weevil), the larvae of which eats the inside of these lovely palm trees resulting in their total destruction.
The Canary Palm is a spectacular palm tree and, I suspect, beloved of anyone with a garden in Spain. Apart from being elegant the Canary Palm is great for producing shade and is so statuesque that it is often a ‘critical’ aesthetic feature in Spanish gardens. I have several and would hate to lose them as it would change the look and ‘feel’ of my garden radically. Meanwhile, to replace my Canary Palms with mature replacements would be very expensive.
The wretched Red Palm Weevil originates from Asia and has been making its way around the world having evidently reached Spain in 1994. However, although its destructive progress in Spain may have been slow to start with, it is now rampant. In my own area, suddenly neighbours are finding their Pineapple Palms collapsing and dying with incredible rapidity. Horribly, when their Pineapple Palms are attacked they can actually hear the larvae (which grow up to 5cm long!) chomping away in the palm trees concerned.
Sadly, by the time you have realised that your Canary Palm has been infected by the Red Palm Weevil larvae it is often too late to do anything. Needless to say, knowing whether your Pineapple Palms are already infected (by the Red Palm Weevil having laid its eggs inside the tree) is virtually impossible. In fact, often the first noticeable signs are when the leaves of the Canary Palm suddenly droop and simply fall out of the palm concerned. This is often swiftly followed by the crown of the palm collapsing altogether. By this stage the chances of a Pineapple Palm recovering are slim.
So, what can you do?
Well, I have been advised to spray a preventative insecticide into the centre of the crown of my Canary Palms and to do this every two weeks until the weather cools and then every three to four weeks thereafter. This, in theory, should keep the Red Palm Weevil away from my palm trees and stop it laying its eggs.
CANARY OR 'PINEAPPLE' PALM
However, are my palms already infected and, if so, what should I do?
The advice I have received is that if I know my palm trees have been infected then I should use a different type of insecticide that is designed to kill the Red Palm Weevil larvae. This, I gather, is done through spraying the entire trunk of my Pineapple Palms and the area around their base.
Of course, the obvious question is how the insecticide will work on larvae that are firmly within the centre of the palm tree trunk itself? This is a conundrum – although I have heard that some people have inserted pipes right into the trunks of their Pineapple Palms and then pumped in the correct insecticide, so that it goes right into the trunk and ‘directly’ onto the larvae.
Oh, dear – kill or cure, I fear!
As I am no specialist on gardens in Spain let alone palm trees and weevils you may want to have a look at some information below, which is more authoritative that I could ever be on this subject!
I guess the important thing, if you have a Spanish garden with Canary Palm trees, is to realise that these palms are really under threat – and so you must act now if you are to save the ones you have…
Nick Snelling – Culture Spain
RELEVANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE RED PALM WEEVIL AND CANARY PALMS
The Red Palm Weevil in the Mediterranean Area
Information about the Red Palm Weevil
Hi Nick
This has been going on for a while and in fact they have now reached Inland Spain, chomping their way through the Palm trees.
There are many prevention advice namely:
1. Beatles enter the palm from a “Cutting Point”. This means your palm gets infected after you have cut or trimmed the tree. Apparently the little blighters can smell a cut palm from 12 KM away! This means you don’t need infection next door, you just need it in your area. To prevent cross infection you should first only ever cut or trim your Palm at the coldest possible time of the year. Secondly as soon as you have cut it you need to paint the area with both insecticide and then paint over it with special tree sealant to prevent entry.
2. If your tree is infected you must start to spray it or if it is too far gone, then must carefully cut, transport and destroy it. Transportation must be done in a covered vehicle to prevent the blighters flying on to the trees on route. Don’t even think about burning it as the little darlings survive the temperatures that your normal garden fire can produce. They need a proper furnace at extremely high temperatures and even then there is a real debate as whether they are killed by it (sounds like fiction doesn’t it)
3. Once you have a tree that is infected apparently you have to spray it every 4 weeks for the remainder of its life! Yes, because these beetles have lifecycle like all other beetles but you can have the full range of the life cycle in a single tree simultaneously. Which means you may kill the larvae but the eggs will be unaffected so they will start the whole process again.
The real problem is people who have infected palms are not taking effective action, and that includes the Town Halls who are responsible for the tree-lined streets. This Careless attitude has accelerated the rate of infection and the geographical reach of the beetle, so the estimates are that within 30 years, you will not see any more of these lovely trees. The real worrying thing is that there are rumours that this little beetle has started to develop a taste for other trees. And a parting note: According to one unfortunate friend who has these unwanted guests in his garden, you can really hear the devils in your tree.
Carolina
What an excellent piece of advice, thank you. Really good and very helpful – and a ‘must read’ for anyone with palms. Well done!!!