Proper care of palm trees?

Orogogus

I bought a new home earlier this year, and there was a two month gap between the previous owner moving out and me moving in, during which the backyard wasn't getting watered. The leafy vines are doing fine, but I there are 5 smallish palm trees that looked like they were drying out. I've been watering them since I moved in, but they're still not doing well. The leaves are still turning brown or gray, and when it happens to a whole arm it eventually falls off, I think one every two weeks or so.

The trees are in one cluster of 2 and one cluster of 3, about 10 feet apart. My watering pattern is once a week, 40 seconds to each cluster, using a hose at full blast aimed at the base and surrounding earth. There was a month or so when I was watering twice a week for 1 minute per cluster, but it wasn't doing any good and I'd read that it's easier to overwater than underwater palms.

Pictures: http://postimg.org/gallery/g4y6svv2/

Am I still overwatering them? Or drastically underwatering them? Something else? I'm really not good with plants, but I'd rather not have these trees up and die on me. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Enc

You are probably reaaaally underwatering them. I live in Florida and even in the raining season we typically water twice a week for 10 minutes per zone (using a full yard irrigation system). In the dry season it is usually recommended for my soil type and setup to be 20+ minutes per zone three times a week (though I only rarely reset the system for that as its a lot of water). Blasting them for a minute might be the right volume of water, but it's not like they just drink it like a human does a glass of water. Most of what you are spraying, especially if it has been dry, is immediately going down into the soil and most wont be retained by the tree. Usually you need less direct water over a longer period to make sure the ground gets evenly saturated so that the tree has enough time to do it's thing.

I'd contact a local, reputable irrigation specialist to take a look at your setup and make some suggestions. You don't have to install what they suggest, but the consultation might be enlightening on what they think would be prudent for your plants. Generally irrigation guys make their money on the control box system, but labor and piping usually is a pretty fairly priced and generally will be suggested in a way to keep your stuff alive so that they get more contracts by word of mouth.