A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Is my palm sick!? HELP

Bought my palm 4 weeks ago. I foolishly over-watered it about 3 weeks ago, and noticed browning on the ends almost immediately. After I cut the ends off, it seems to have slowed browning. I stopped watering and let the soil dry.

Currently: Keeping it in a pot with no drainage? Should I change this? (Sorry, I'm new). Also, it might just be me, but the fronds look to be a dull green colour now? I've been using a spray bottle to spritz it 3 or more times a day. Room isn't overly dry, but humidity isn't high... should I invest in a humidifier? Soil is still somewhat damp. Please help.... I love my new palm!

http://s1281.photobucket.com/user/geewebster/library/

Welcome to our Forum, geewebster.

I began to answer you and I realized that I had no idea if your potted palm was kept outdoors or in, so before I amswer you, I need to ask a few questions.

1) where do you live
2) is this palm living indoors or out.
3) how often are you watering & how much (a good guess will do)

Welcome geewebster. First of all your plant has too much water. It needs a pot with drainage. Let it get nearly completely dry between watering.
My suggestion would be to take it out of the pot and wrap the root ball in fabric, soil and all. Lay that on a sheet of plastic and let it dry out almost all of the way.
Find a pot slightly larger than the one you have with drainage and a saucer. When you do water it, don't soak it in the future.
After it is repotted, do not water so much and don't mist. You may end up losing some fronds but you will probably also see new growth. I think this plant is saveable.
Don't have it near any forced air vents. You can mist once a month or so to help keep dust off of the fronds.
Good luck!

Thank you for such speedy replies!

The palm is kept indoors. I live in Southern Ontario (Canada), the residence is heated to room temperature in the fall/winter. And I have only watered it once, it was 2-3 weeks ago. I soaked the soil.

I won't be able to re-pot for another week... is it in serious danger? I have let it dry out quite a bit. Top soil is dry.

Hello Tina, thanks for your speedy reply!

I won't be able to re-pot for another week.... will the plant be toast by then??? And I've heard palms love humidity.... should I look into a humidifier? It gets very dry in the winter here.

I don't think your palm is in mortal danger. I would still do something to lift the plant out of any standing water in the bottom of your pot. Crumble up some foil and have it under the root ball until you can repot.
Some palms love humidity. But here in the desert southwest they also thrive in the dry. I am not sure which type you have there. But most types for homes usually prefer a drying time.
Wait until the soil dries to at least two inches to water again. And not much water.

Took the plant out of the pot and wrapped in foil! No standing water at all... soil was slightly moist. Maybe I've already missed the worst of it. I believe it's a cat palm by the way.

However, could be wrong. Could be a majesty palm?

Hey G----

First off, not "wrapped" with foil, balled up foil put under the root ball inside the pot. Tina was suggesting something to raise the roots out of water that might be in the bottom of the pot.

A few words about house palms---if the soil that you found was moist, that's too wet! Potted palms in the house, unless they're by huge windows with blazing sun all day, need to have the soil get down to the slightly-damp to almost-dry stage between waterings. And that needs to be all the way to the bottom of the pot, not just on the top of the soil. Here's a video that explains a bit more.



Neither cat palms nor majesty palms are good indoor palms. The fact that some people may have them indoors does not mean it's easy to keep them, or that they will last for more than a few months. In any case, definitely not a beginner-level plant. (I can't really tell what you have from the pictures - you need to stand far enough back from the plant to get most of it into the shot.)

But since you have it now, do the best you can. You can always try again if this one doesn't make it. The first secret of green thumbs is big garbage cans.