Not sure of its name - but I need some advice!

I purchased a tropical plant at the local grocery store and it was very healthy looking. I noticed that the soil was very dry, and that it was potbound, so i transplanted it into 2 bags worth of Miracle Gro Moisture Control potting soil mix. I then watered it with about 1 small pot of water.

2 weeks have passed, and several of the lower leaves are turning brown on the tips, then brown all over, then turning dry and crunchy. The soil is still moist to the touch, and I drained excess out of the saucer a week ago.

This picture shows the whole plant - note the very wilted leaf on the lower left.
My next message will show a close up of the damage.

I have not watered it since, thinking it may be too moist.....I hope it's not the soil itself though!

Attached is a close up of some of the damaged leaves. As I said, the hardest hit are the lower stems. The very top leaves still look great except for a hardly visible touch of brown at the tips.

I'm not sure exactly which palm that is. It looks like an Areca palm, but I don't think so. Perhaps one of our palm experts will happen along with a positive ID.

From the first photo, it looks as if this poor plant is practically sitting in the dark. Palms live (in the wild) in full sun, in hot, humid places. So if you're going to imprison one inside, it should get a minimum of 8 hours of full bright direct sun every day. Mist it a couple times a day so it feels like it's in humidity and do what you did with excess water: do not let the root ball sit in water. Palms don't like that. That's why there are few palms in swamps.

You can go ahead and trim off the dead parts. It could be, with that particular palm, that nothing is wrong at all. For many tropicals (like my cardomom plant), that's just a natural part of the growth cycle. Most palms put out new growth from the top of the plant and the older fronds at the bottom will yellow and die off, which is what looks like is happening with your plant. Give that bad boy a little more light and I think you'll be fine.

Incidentally, I have a plant that looks just like this in my greenhouse. I used to have two and both looked that healthy. I repotted one of them in a nice terra cotta pot -- that's the one that's dead now. I suspect this type of palm prefers to be root-bound. OR terra cotta pots suck too much moisture away from the soil so my palm wasn't getting enough water.

I just got some palms also and have to doing some reading
on them and some dont like chlorine or floride and will give
you the brown tips if there is to much of either.

not sure how you would get rid of the floride cept maybe
through a reverse osmosis unit .. the chlorine just leave
a bucket of water out for a feq hours befor using it.

the palms i got were just labeled palms / spath . got them
from walmart. cant say there the same as yours.






This message was edited Feb 10, 2005 11:23 AM

Looks like a 'date palm' to me.

Did you add anything to your soil to 'aerate' it, such as perlite, fir bark, orchid mix, etc..? Palms like well-drained soil.

I'd bet the browning was from lack of water before you purchased it.

That's a Majesty palm (though bad photo... try taking it with a dark background with light behind you, so we don't have just a sillohuete to look at- that way we can be sure what it is) I am pretty sure. THese are horrible house plants. Hate low humidity (really need humidity above 50%), and hate low light even more (need very bright light, though sunlight directly will burn leaves if not used to it). Also tends to yellow badly if given tap water (loves reverse osmosis water) or allowed to dry out. THis palm grows with its roots actually in rivers in the wild, so water is its friend. However, if kept in the dark with dry leaves and roots soggy, it will still rot, especially if not really warm. THis palm does well in a greeenhouse, though, with lots of humidity and plenty of light.. and can be raised successfully as houseplant if misted regularly, kept under a skylight or near bright window, and taken outdoors all year long while it's warm outside. Good luck.

I'd have to agree with Palmbob.... I too was mesmerized by the beauty of this plant. My Majesty palms are hanging in there but I have to keep water in their collection dish. They seem to like the spot I picked for them but they continue to have browning leaves - they don't seem to be dying and new leaves are growing..... they just keep turning brown..... I would have to say I'm glad I only spent 5.00 on them and I'm hoping to put them outside this summer but I doubt I'll have the patience to baby them along another winter in the house...... Wish there was better news.... but they are high humidity and high maintenance..... Unfortunately.....

Our resident palm expert speaks! And Dogzilla is proud to have not given dumb advice before Palmbob got here.

::bows to the Palm Guy::

Dear Palmbob: do you s'pose I killed the one because I let it dry out? The other one I refuse to repot because it seems so happy in it's plastic 5-gallon pot. (It's in the greenhouse, under lights and next to the space heater... as I type this.)

a Date palm is a phoenix robellini it should have sharp thorns on the trunk if it doews not it is a majesty palm. It needs light mine grow in florida around hte outside of my screen room. I use palm food and epsom salts on mine and water when it rains or drip irrigation when it does not. Give it light and let it adjust. It is in shock from being moved and not having the right atmosphere in the store or in the room it is in if that is all the light it gets. BEV

So no one feels that the Miracle Gro soil is the problem?

Here is a nicer picture of the plant.

One more picture...this one shows the nice leaves! Does everyone still concur on the type of palm it is?

One thing I wanted to mention is that this plant gets sun from the surrounding windows from about 6:30am till about 11.

I think maybe the soil is too moist....similar plants that I've seen lately like this one are doing well and their pots are bone dry.

This plant was pretty much 100% green and flexible before the transplant. I wonder if shock of transplant could be a factor too??



Thanks for all your expert help!

The miracle gro soil might be a tad rich, but it's really a pretty healthy looking palm. Palms here in the wild grow in sand that has virtually hardly any nutrients. Most are salt-tolerant, being coastal plants -- that's why Bev gives hers epsom salts. I just give 'em palm food and make sure they get watered.

Majesty palms eat up fertilizer... you CAN overfeltilize them, especially indoor plants that are growing slowly... but outdoor palms are difficult to give too much Miracle grow to. Palm looks pretty good to me for an indoor Majesty.

Thanks for all the advice. I'm having some palm food shipped to me along with some spray/mist bottles. I hope this helps it out.
I will set out my tap water for a day or two before using it to water or mist the plant.

I love the look of this plant inside my home...so I think it will be worth the time. Too bad they aren't more suitable for indoors.
(Darn stores that sell these great looking plants as indoors for great prices!!)

Once the summer comes, I'll be sure to place it out on the balcony for some warmth and high humidity.
(it sometimes gets near 100 degrees here in the summer with 100% humidity, and sometimes even dewpoints in the mid to upper 70s)

I take it that the yellowing and browning may also just be a part of the palm's natural aging process?

Thanks,
Travis

That's my opinion, Travis, that the browning is part of the process. Watch out for browning from the top of the plant, and as you watch this plant, you will see new canes pop out the top and slowly spread out to their frond-like appearance. (Kind of fun, actually.) The bottom fronds always die off. If you look at pictures of native palms in the wild, the bottom half of the plant is usually obscured by piles of dead fronds still clinging to the trunks.

Your summers should be fine for balcony living. I wouldn't put it out there until about Memorial Day (make sure it's good and warm out). You want daytime temps consistently above 65 and night time temps consistently above 45. If you are going to have a cold snap and night temps will dip below 45, bring your palm inside for the night. Many palms are more hardy than that, but where you live, I'd just use the 45-65 rule of thumb and then you don't have to worry too much about it. And yes, when your summer humidity kicks in, you get a vacation from the misting!

And, if you happen to go to Florida for a vacation or something, stop in a Target or Home Depot and pick up palm food -- I bet that would be far less expensive. (Maybe you have friends or relatives down here or something... If not, e-mail me and I'll pick up some for you and mail it to you and you can just reimburse me.)

I'm never going to disagree w/ palmbob on ID or culture.

I can tell you from experience that they love water and humidity.
I'm over-Wintering two here at the shop.
One is doing very well.
The other went south.
Same conditions, watering, spraying, etc...
Then I noticed the fading plant was right under the heat duct.
This was literally sucking the water out of it
It's been moved now for about 4 weeks and starting to make a dramatic comeback.

Come Summer yours should make a very nice outdoor display.

Ric

Yellowing and browning are NOT normal, but common in abnormal situations (eg. growing outside of Madagascar). This palm NEver yellows in Hawaii or other tropical climates, and you can keep it from yellowing by growing it outdoors in California in morning sun only and water the heck out of it, and fertilize it a lot. But nothing compares to growing it in the tropics.

Well, Ric, that's a point.... I have a heat vent above this palm as well. I left it turned on because I felt it would eliminate any draft from the surrounding windows. I take it that the heat vent running is probably worse than any potential draft. I'll turn that off, and increase my misting.

With the arrival of my palm food I should be in good shape.

Thanks,
Travis

Travis,
I'm on a better monitor now and just looked at your shots.
That is exactly how mine looked when I noticed it declining.

I think all of the above advice will certainly do the trick.

It's hard on a tropical, especially those which need special circumstances, to thrive w/ the conditions we have in our areas.

Barring getting a greenhouse you just have to expect to see a less than perfect plant in Winter.

W/ palmbob, Happenstance, and other Ubers tips I've managed to get my Succulent, Cactus and tropicals to start to approach looking like they were grown in their native areas.
I say approach looking because nothing beats growing a plant in it's perfect climate.
But remember even in CA and FL they have to give some extra help to get this one to flourish.
It should LOVE the sticky Summers in your area! lol

Ric

Hey guys -

I found another problem - bugs. Just a few here and there in the dirt, and around the base of the plant. Most are very small - so small I can't really make out their color. Then there some others that look like little black gnats - black bugs with tiny wings. They're crawling around in the dirt, and there are a few on the trunk.

I've seen pages talk about using alcohol mixtures and soap mixtures on the area, but what do you all suggest? I'm thinking I have a combination of mealy bugs and mites. There certainly are not enough at this point to consider tossing the whole plant and dirt away....I just want to know the best indoor insecticide, or home-made remedy that someone can suggest.

Thanks,
Travis

My Majesty Palm got torched by a freeze here this winter. Definately not very cold hardy but beautiful Palm when grown out door IMO.

Well I'll be! I didn't know the palm I've had for years on my patio was a Majesty Palm. Thanks for the ID palmbob. Mine has been in a large concrete planter and has been doing better the past couple of years. For the first time it looks like the smooth trunk at the bottom that are shown in the PlantFiles. Don't know how I'll get that plam clump out of the planter without hurting it. Should I use a shovel to divide it? Or is it better to transplant the whole clump of trunks?

Best to not divide it... but it won't hurt it any to yank it out of the pot... palms are pretty tough.. but once you start to untangle their roots from each other, that's when they get unhappy.

So the really small ones (after untangling) could go back into the pot? And the couple with actual 'trunks' could go into the ground? This could be good! After this past summer of hurricanes, am looking for alternatives to Queen palms. Found out they are the number 1 palm for not withstanding high winds. And I have been raising them from 'seed' and planting them around the place. : (

Still have one Queen that is leaning so much...the tree service said to give it a year and see what happens.

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(My leaning Queen palm)



Perhaps a Majesty could serve as a sentinel tree and help them get through the higher winds (not actual 100+mph, I'm sure). Would a cluster be even more stable? Haven't read anything about this as a viable strategy. Any suggestions?