Whats wrong with my pygmy date palm?
I live in Palm Springs, the same climate as yours and know what’s going on. The problem is likely that this palm was grown in shade or under shade cloth at the garden center where it came from. Sometimes they can be in greenhouses at the grower or they were raised up on the coast. You take it out in direct morning sunlight which is brutal in the desert summer – it’s the highest UV rating in North America. This little palm reacts with drooping leaves to reduce the amount of surface exposed to the sun. That is a means of limiting moisture loss. Before you do anything else, take it out of all direct sunlight for a week and see if it perks up. It’s likely just reacting to the direct exposure of its new desert digs!
