Here is what it looked like yesterday as I began to remove dead leaves compared to it in its glory days. The change in the palm is sad and pathetic. The leaves are rotted where they meet the trunk or branch and sooty fungus is everywhere. I can see the leaf hoppers but they don't wait to be photographed.
Today I got rid of most of the dead leaves. The wind was really bad this afternoon and the top of one of the branches just fell off (second from the right).
This a photo of all the leaves that have been killed and now removed. The branch top that fell off is in the foreground. I think one other branch has had it and will fall off (extreme right branch in previous picture).
Removing the dead leaves supposedly reduces the leafhopper population and impacts on the sooty fungus.
As well, I have drilled holes in the truck and branch and used a syringe to inject a systemic insecticide (Yates "Success" - one part to three parts water). The holes will be plugged with plastic bungs, which supposedly will aid healing of the drill holes.
