I see the magnificent Palm at the front of Mora La Nova station appear to have been killed by the Red Palm Beetle.
:-[

One of many, in the area.
Sad to see so many if these palm trees affected.

The trouble is there are some many unattended plots that could have effected palms and get no treatment/observation etc and I note from the attached below that cutting like a pineapple shape which I try to do, The resulting flesh wounds created giving that effect can attract the red palm beetle from over half a mile away due to the scent given off from the freshly cut palm.The article below is American but give a good incite with good pics re the problem. I see our local council are still allowing cut palm leaves to be admitted to our local tip/dump thus transporting the bugs to do their work elsewhere,When they should be burnt as a safety measure but nothing appears to have been done in that regard.Effected trees should be cut down by specialists and removed for burning.I am unsure but I do not think Joe Public are not allowed to chop down and burn effected trees.I suspect when all the palms on the sea front have met their demise old Miguel the ajunterments DIY man will wheel his rusty spray set up onto the scene in the hope all will be well. I think this problem should be tackled properly now. I see enough effected trees locally for the councils in our area to act.  >:(   

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st439

Some people are finding this a cheap and effective preventive treatment.

http://fertitienda.com/insecticida/confidente-5l.html

Gencat have known about the problem since 2005 but appear to have done nothing to disseminate the information which might have prevented this devastating plague.
Treatment is a good idea as long as you start before any signs of attack appear but there's no guarantee.
Lots of info here :-
http://www.sospalm.com/index.php/en/
All the bits and pieces can bought at Sol D'Ebre but not much point in starting treatment until about March.

I have 4 palms, 1 small, 1 medium 1 large & 1 very large Washingtonian.  Does anyone know what the cost of these treatments are?

You can treat them yourself.  Kit available at Sol D'Ebre.  You need to start in about March.  Haven't heard of the Washingtonian being affected.
More info on treatment available if required.

Think you should be safe with the washingtonia palms, I have quite a few of these ranging in sizes & none have been effected by the beetle, The date palms seem to be there favorite. Hopefully they dont start eying up our washingtonia's when they run outta date palms!!

Meant to say the first 3 are date palms only the very big one is Washingtonian !

Bigyin.  The DIY kit you mention.  Is it a one off or annual treatment and at what sort of cost?  Do you know the name of the product?  Having lost two mature trees it would be nice to keep the small ones that I have planted.

Thanks
Mike

If you go to Soldebre they can tell you the name and the cost.
We saw leaflets on the counter in there, advertising the treatment about a year ago?
I mentioned it on a thread, on this same subject some time ago, but now a new one has been started!
For anyone interested I have just found two previous threads on this subject, which may contain some interseting information.
Look under the section 'Fruit, nuts and vegetables' headed Red palm weevil, dated March 24th. 2012, and another thread on November 24th. 2013.

Rita...  Do you think it would be worth creating a "Sticky" on this as it's an ongoing problem and people are asking the same questions as they become aware of it ?  I'm happy to gather the relevant information if needed.

The chemicals you need are:
Clorifos 48, you add 2cc to 1 litre of wáter
Confidor 20, you add 1cc to 1 litre of wáter

You need to treat the trees every 30 - 45 days, alternating the two chemicals.
I treat mine by mixing up 8L of wáter with the relevant chemical and emptying the watering can into as close to the middle of the tree that I can get (it is a bit tricky with all the spines!). Two or 3 watering cans per tree usually does the job.

Nigel does that mean you do not 'inject'?   What happens if it is impossible to reach the crown the tree being to tall!   How does this ruddy beetle find it's way into the palm?  through the trunk or the leafy crown?

You can spray only or spray AND inject.  The beetle lays eggs in the crown.  These hatch into big horrible larvae (about the size of a witchety grub).  These bore holes (tunnels) through the interior of the trunk and leaf bases which causes enough damage to kill the trees.  I inject and spray big trees and just spray small ones as there's often no trunk to inject.  You could also apply the diluted chemicals as irrigation which MAY have the same effect as injecting.  If you Google Red Palm Weevil, there's a stack of info out there.

I made a DIY 'injection' system for one of my trees.

I drilled 10mm holes at an angle (they recommend 3) to the centre of the trunk then inserted a thin plastic tube, sealed the space between the tube and trunk with silicon then filled an old fairy liquid bottle with chemicals, made a small hole in the bottom of the bottle, connected the tube to the top of the bottle spout and hung it upside down above the hole.

Job done!

OR...  You can buy the long drill bit, plastic canullas and mastic from Sol D'Ebre.
http://www.sospalm.com/index.php/en/

Bigyin wrote on Jan 27^th, 2015 at 6:03pm:

OR...  You can buy the long drill bit, plastic canullas and mastic from Sol D'Ebre. http://www.sospalm.com/index.php/en/

10 euros Vs free.....

Both options available.

All summer my 3 palms have had the treatment supplied by SolD'Ebre & the 2 large ones in the front garden have lost fronds from the crown. We are very sad about this, is there anything that can be done now?

Sadly, probably not but if it were me I'd continue the treatment.

We are just getting over the shock of this & will get some professional advice but one of the palms is very high so we can't even pour the insecticide right on top of the crown to get at the blighters!

Obviously it's up to you what route you take but "professional advice" may well be costly and only the same as what's been said on here and what you'll be told at Sol D'Ebre.  They buy their bits and pieces, chemicals and offer the same advice as from Sospalm. http://www.sospalm.com who are apparently the leading firm of experts.  Lots of info here.
I presume you've been injecting as well as spraying.  If not, spraying alone is unlikely to be effective.
How tall is your "very high" one ?  A couple of mine are about 5 - 6 meters and I just use a back pack sprayer (mochilla) with an adjustable nozzle and adjust it to a jet rather than a spray and can easily reach the crown and all other fronds this way.  Advisable to wear a face mask when doing this.

My biggest one is the same height as yours. Have your palms shown signs of this beetle or are they healthy? We have been injecting but not spraying ours.

Sorry to hear about your palms, we lost two beautiful ones but what we noticed was rather than them looking infected, the first thing that drew our attention was a crackling noise coming from them and after speaking to Sol D Ebre they thought this was the grubs inside and said we were too late to treat even if they did not look sick. Hope you have better luck.
Yours Bulldog. 

We weren't here in the summer so never heard any noises from the palms!  What is so upsetting our palms have had the injection treatment from early spring & through the summer & are infected while others nearby are unaffected & untreated!  Tomorrow they are being sprayed by a gardener.

We weren't here in the summer so never heard any noises from the palms!  What is so upsetting our palms have had the injection treatment from early spring & through the summer & are infected while others nearby are unaffected & untreated!  Tomorrow they are being sprayed by a gardener.

Right outside my house today was a smart handsome Palm beetle & this is winter! So be on look out & start spraying! Needless to say ! bashed him to death!
Difficult to buy killer products now since EU banned those without a licence to obtain them! Solebre won't sell! >:(

You may wish to contact,
Cerca Sebastia, SL
Teballs Aricoles i Seveis
C/Major, 43
Jesus, Tortosa.  Tel 610285308
Or look at www.sospalm.com