What Causes Brittle Leaves on Palm Trees?

Nutritional Deficiency

• A palm tree with brittle leaves may be suffering from nutritional problems. Palms often receive insufficient amounts of minerals such as potassium, magnesium, manganese and nitrogen. The typical culprit is an improper pH level in the soil, a condition that prevents the roots from absorbing those vital minerals that offer sustenance to palm trees and their leaves. A deficiency of potassium causes the leaves to dry, turn brittle and develop dead tissue and normally appears first on older leaves.

Root Rots

• Palm tree leaves -- fronds -- turn brittle when afflicted by root rot diseases. Various forms of fungi cause the roots to decay rendering them unable to uptake nutrition and water from the earth and distribute it to the leaves. Pink rot caused by the fungus Nalanthamala vermoeseni displays as a rotting and killing along the tips of leaves, usually on younger fronds. The trunk can also be affected with brown liquid oozing from the bark.

Fusarium Wilt

• The fungus Fusarium oxysporum produces the disease known as fusarium wilt and causes the leaves on a palm to turn brown, brittle and eventually wilt. Even though they are dead, the leaves remain hanging on the tree. Older leaves are first affected before the fungus moves on to newer foliage. In some cases, only one side of the leaves may be damaged. Fusarium wilt is nearly always fatal to a palm tree, although death may occur within a few months of infection or symptoms may linger for several years.

Weather Damage

• When a palm tree is suffering from brown or brittle leaves, gardeners should first consider whether the specimen is receiving an appropriate amount of water. Like any plant, drought will dry the foliage turning it brittle. As nearly all species of palm thrive only in tropical or sub-tropical climates, winter weather or freeze damage may also turn the leaves of the palm brown and dry. The cold-hardiness of a palm tree depends on the species in question.