What's eating my cabbage palm?

Cabbage Palm (Sabal palmetto) is Florida's state tree and notably tough, but palm leaf skeletonizer and palmetto weevil are genuine threats. Ganoderma butt rot (a fungal disease) is often more damaging than insects. Avoid wounding the trunk — it creates entry points for weevils and fungal pathogens.

Sudden collapse of the spear leaf; larvae tunnel through the crown, causing rotting and usually killing the palm. Prevention is key — avoid pruning wounds during adult flight (spring–summer). Apply preventive systemic insecticide (imidacloprid) to the crown area. Infested palms rarely survive and should be removed to prevent spread.

Leaflets skeletonized with webbing, particularly on the outer, older fronds; heavy infestations disfigure the canopy. Spray Bt or spinosad to frond undersides early in the larval cycle. Prune and bag infested fronds before treatment to reduce pest load.

Armored scales encrusting frond midribs; fronds yellow and brown off in large colonies. Apply horticultural oil spray during crawer emergence. Natural parasitic wasps suppress populations in established landscape plantings with minimal intervention.