A short, honest field guide to the pests and diseases that actually
threaten trees in Central Florida — what each one looks like, whether
the tree can be saved, and what we do about it.
What is actually killing Central Florida trees?
In the greater Orlando area, a handful of specific threats do most of
the real damage — and it helps to know which are fatal and which are
fixable. On palms, the two killers are lethal bronzing
and Ganoderma butt rot; both are incurable once
symptoms show. On hardwoods, laurel wilt is a fast
killer of bay trees, while oak decline is usually a
slow, stress-driven problem that is often reversible if it is caught
early. And a good share of what looks like disease is really a hungry
tree — Florida’s sandy soils leach nutrients in days, and the fix is
feeding, not a fungicide. We would rather correct a treatable problem
than sell you a removal, so the honest first step is figuring out which
of these you actually have.
The single most useful thing you can do is watch the direction and
speed of change. A problem that is advancing week over week, conks
appearing at the base of a palm, or bronzing climbing up a palm’s
canopy all mean it is time to have it looked at — not next season, now.
The threats that matter in Central Florida
These are the pests and diseases our crews are trained to catch — named,
with the early symptoms that separate a fatal case from a fixable one.
Lethal bronzing (Texas Phoenix palm decline)
A phytoplasma — a bacteria-like organism — spread tree to tree by planthopper insects. It hits sabal (cabbage), queen, and Phoenix (date) palms hardest.
Symptoms: The oldest, lowest fronds bronze and die first, and the browning climbs up the canopy. Fruit and flowers drop early, and the spear leaf (the newest, upright leaf) collapses.
Can it be saved? No. Once a palm is showing symptoms there is no cure — removing it is how you stop the disease from moving to the palms around it.
What we do: We confirm the ID, remove the infected palm, and protect nearby healthy palms with over-the-counter trunk injections every 3–4 months for two or more years, following the UF/IFAS protocol.
Ganoderma butt rot
A fungus that attacks the base of a palm’s trunk and kills it from the ground up. It is common across Central Florida and there is no treatment.
Symptoms: Hard, shelf-like fungal brackets — called conks — forming low on the trunk are the tell. By the time a conk appears, the internal rot is already well advanced.
Can it be saved? No. There is no cure for Ganoderma butt rot.
What we do: We remove the palm before the conks release their spores, and we never move the infected debris or grind-chips near other palms — that is exactly how it spreads.
Laurel wilt
A fungus carried by the tiny redbay ambrosia beetle. It kills redbays, swampbays, and avocados — sometimes in a single season.
Symptoms: Whole sections of canopy wilt to a purple-brown and hang on the tree rather than dropping. It moves fast, often top-down through the crown.
Can it be saved? Once a tree is infected, usually not — but a high-value, still-healthy tree in an active area can be protected before it is hit.
What we do: For a tree worth saving, we apply a preventive systemic injection of propiconazole ahead of infection. On trees already lost, removal limits the beetle’s next host nearby.
Oak decline (and an oak-wilt caution)
Not a single disease — a stress-driven decline of mature oaks. The usual causes are soil compaction, fill dirt piled over the root zone, and drought.
Symptoms: A thinning upper canopy and branch dieback that worsens over several seasons, rather than the sudden collapse you see in a disease.
Can it be saved? Often, yes — decline caught early is frequently reversible once the underlying stress is relieved.
What we do: We diagnose the actual stressor and address it — decompaction, root-zone care, deep-root feeding — and we prune oaks only in the cooler months to reduce the risk of oak wilt.
The workaday pests: scale, borers, mites & aphids
The everyday insects that feed on trees. Left unchecked they weaken a tree until a disease finds the opening, but most are very manageable.
Symptoms: Sticky honeydew and black sooty mold, stippled or yellowing leaves, small round bore holes in the bark, and thinning or dieback on affected limbs.
Can it be saved? Yes. Caught in time, these are treatable without harming the tree.
What we do: We use Integrated Pest Management (IPM): scout the tree, identify the pest by species, treat only when the population crosses a threshold worth treating, and reach for the lowest-impact option first.
Nutrient deficiencies that mimic disease
Not a pathogen at all. Florida’s sandy soils have almost no capacity to hold nutrients, so fertilizer leaches away in days and trees go hungry.
Symptoms: Frizzletop on palms — new fronds emerging stunted and frizzled, a manganese deficiency — and interveinal chlorosis on oaks, where the leaf yellows but the veins stay green (an iron shortage).
Can it be saved? Yes, readily — these are correctable, not fatal, when addressed.
What we do: We correct the specific deficiency with deep-root feeding on the cadence Florida soil actually responds to, rather than one big seasonal blast that flushes straight through the sand.
When should you call an arborist?
You do not need to diagnose the tree yourself — you just need to know
the moments that are worth a professional set of eyes. In Central
Florida, call when you see:
Anything advancing week over week — decline that is visibly worse than it was a few weeks ago is moving, and moving problems don’t wait for a convenient season.
Conks at the base of a palm — the shelf-like brackets of Ganoderma butt rot mean the palm needs to come out before it fails or spreads spores.
Bronzing climbing up a palm’s canopy — the signature of lethal bronzing, and the window to protect the palms around it closes quickly.
The threats above are exactly what our
plant health care program is
built to catch and treat, and palms get their own attention through our
palm tree services. Because
so many of these problems turn on catching them early, ongoing
monitoring is worth more than a one-time visit — that is the whole idea
behind our tree care plans.
And when a palm or tree truly cannot be saved, prompt
tree removal is how you protect
the healthy trees standing next to it.
Every estimate is done in person, in writing, and free. A real answer
requires seeing the tree — and telling a fatal disease from a treatable
one is exactly the call worth getting right the first time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is killing my palm tree in Florida?
In Central Florida, the two diseases that most often kill palms are lethal bronzing (Texas Phoenix palm decline), a phytoplasma spread by planthopper insects, and Ganoderma butt rot, a trunk-base fungus. Both are incurable once a palm is symptomatic. Nutrient deficiencies in our sandy soils and pests like palm weevils can also decline a palm but are often treatable. Because the fatal diseases and the fixable problems can look similar early on, have a certified arborist confirm which one you are dealing with before you act.
Can lethal bronzing be cured?
No. Once a palm in Central Florida is showing lethal bronzing symptoms — older fronds bronzing and dying upward, early fruit drop, a collapsed spear leaf — it cannot be cured, and removing it is how you stop the phytoplasma from spreading to nearby palms. Healthy palms close to a confirmed case can be protected preventively with over-the-counter trunk injections every 3–4 months for two or more years, following the UF/IFAS protocol.
What are the shelf mushrooms at the base of my palm?
Hard, shelf-like brackets at the base of a palm trunk are conks — the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma butt rot, a fungal disease that kills palms from the ground up. There is no cure, and by the time a conk is visible the internal decay is already advanced. The palm should be removed before the conks release spores, and the infected debris must not be moved or chipped near other palms. Have it confirmed by an arborist, since the palm may fail without much warning.
Is Spanish moss killing my oak tree?
No. Spanish moss and ball moss are epiphytes — they perch on the branches for support but take no nutrients from the tree, so they are not parasites and do not kill oaks. Heavy moss on a declining oak is usually a symptom of a thinning canopy letting more light in, not the cause of the decline. Mistletoe is the one exception in Central Florida: it is genuinely parasitic and is worth addressing.
How do I know if my oak is declining?
Watch the upper canopy: an oak in decline thins from the top down and dies back at the branch tips over several seasons, rather than collapsing suddenly. The usual Central Florida causes are stress — soil compaction, fill dirt piled over the roots, or drought — and decline caught early is often reversible once that stress is relieved. If the thinning is worsening season over season, have a certified arborist diagnose the cause before it passes the point of return.
