Question
QUESTION: We live in California in an area where it gets over 100 degrees in the summer months. I have 40 Pigmy Palms and some seem to be looking very sick. Drooping with brown forming on the leaves and a white powder in the root of the leaves attached to the stem. New leaves coming out are already dead and brown. Is it a fungus or a pest infection? And what can I do to cure the problem?

ANSWER: Hi Kathy, without seeing it , its tough to pinpoint it, but it sure sounds like Scale Insect, I would ask if you could possibly send me an image of it; if it is in fact, Scale, then it would be treated with a Horticultural Oil.

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White on leaves   QUESTION: Here is another photo of the Pigmy Palm leaves showing a white scale on the leaves besides the white powder at the base of the opening of the leaves in the trunk.

Answer
This photo was kind of inconclusive, but you alluded to another, so I am going to check it out....bring a sample down to your local Cooperative Extension Service Agent (a county office) and have either he or a Master Gardner check it out also, because I am not 100 per cent sure, also as an expert in here on "Insects and pests" or "Entomology" and see if he or she can reflect on it. Nick