My theory is that palms from different continents have trouble combating pathogens that aren't common in their native habitat. Like Native Americans being felled by European disease (smallpox, etc), PTVT can't handle pythium.
Gary Levine had a HUGE one that got the trunk wet with avocado spray emitters. This thing was healthy one year, dead the next from pythium. Rotted from the bottom up. Pythium needs 2 things....heat and moisture. Keep the 2 away from the trunk, and you'll be fine.
I also lost a bunch of 8' plants last year moving them from 25 gallon felt grow bags to the ground. I moved them in the heat of mid-summer, and I think that the feeder roots that were torn away with the felt allowed pythium to get into the roots. Keep waiting for an extended cooling trend to try a cold weather move(with Subdue included), but these Santa Ana conditions are making for a weird winter. My Rav Glaucas and Dyp Fine Leaf are opening leaves in January.
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