THE TIME TO START THE PREVENTIVE TREATMENT IS NOW ............................ ONCE A PALM TREE IS INFECTED IT'S TOO LATE !
“Deadly Palm-Tree Disease is Spreading”
“…an infected tree will be a goner within six months.”
Venice Gondolier 7/24/19
“Thousands of palm trees are dying from a new disease.
Tampa is ‘ground zero.”
Tampa Bay Times 7/7/19
About Lethal Bronzing Disease
“The disease that afflicts these trees, lethal bronzing, has a name similar to the color it turns diseased leaves, a brown that slowly morphs onto each leaf until the whole tree dies. The first characterized case of lethal bronzing occurred in Texas in 2002, according to Brian Bahder, an assistant professor of insect vector ecology with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. But it wasn’t until 2006 that the disease was first identified in Florida. The disease starts with a tiny insect. The aptly-named plant hoppers feed on the tree’s sap and inject their saliva into its tissue through their “needle-like mouths,” Bahder said. When a planthopper feeds on an infected tree, they become a carrier of the disease. Once a planthopper feeds on a healthy tree, the disease is instantly transferred. And just like that, a quick feeding process turns a healthy tree into a sick one. ………By 2006, scientists found that the disease had spread to other parts of the country, including Florida, where it was centered in Hillsborough County. Since then, lethal bronzing has trickled to 31 counties in Florida as far north as Duval and as far south as Broward. ….When a tree is infected with lethal bronzing, the symptoms start slowly. First, the tree will drop its fruit prematurely. If there are flowers on the tree, those will slowly die, eventually browning the oldest leaves. There is no chance of a tree surviving once the spear leaf, or the youngest leaf of a palm tree, gets diseased. It takes four to five months from acquiring lethal bronzing until death, Bahder said. There’s no treatment. “Lethal bronzing is different than lethal yellowing at the molecular level," Bahder said. “It always kills the palm when it gets into it.” …..Right now, there is one solution: Pump unafflicted trees full of an antibiotic every three to four months.” Tampa Bay Times – 07/09/19
Palm Trees Affected by Lethal Bronzing
These palm trees are susceptible to the disease:
Christmas
Bismarck
Pindo
Carpentaria
Coconut
Chinese
Canary Island Date
Edible Date
Pygmy Date
Wild Date / Sylvester
Fiji Fan
Buccaneer
Mexican Palmetto
Queen
Chinese Windmill
Sabal / Cabbage
Lethal Bronzing is the new name for Texas Phoenix Palm Decline