My new areca palm is dying

Discussion in 'Outdoor Tropicals' started by PalmBoy, Nov 1, 2005.

  1. PalmBoy

    PalmBoy Member

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    Location:
    Hobart, IN
    I have a new Areca palm about 8 inches tall. It has Yellow spots all over the leaves and some of the fronds are dying. I keep it in indirect light and keep the dirt moist. I never overwater it either. Can somebody help me?
     
  2. ValleyGirl

    ValleyGirl Member

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    Swansea, UK
    Did you every get to the bottom of this? I've got the same problem.
     
  3. LPN

    LPN Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Courtenay, Vancouver Island
    Check for mites on the undersides of the leaves.
    Cheers, LPN.
     
  4. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Location:
    Siloam Springs, AR, USA
    The name of your plant is Chrysalidocarpus lutescens H. Wendl., commonly called the Areca Palm or Butterfly Palm. The Areca Palm is an easy to grow plant from Indian Ocean Island of Madagascar provided you give it full sun. This is another of those palms that is frequently sold in grocery stores as a "house plant" It is not a not a "house plant". Chrysalidocarpus lutescens loves direct sun. Lots more sun than you can likely ever give it in your home.

    It is prone to grow large. Perhaps 20 feet tall! Now if you have a sun room in your home that is mostly glass and has very high ceilings, perhaps you can grow this plant as a "house plant". Otherwise, you shouldn't waste your time and money. Thousands upon thousands are killed each year! But since you've already been sold on the plant there is little you can do unless you live in a sub-tropical climate.

    The palm is commonly used as a landscape plant in the southern portions of Florida. One of our neighbors had a thick "hedge" grown from these palms. I always thought it made an ugly hedge. They are high maintenance. The fronds grow fast, then yellow and die frequently. If you live in a sub-tropical climate you'll find yourself out in the yard often cutting off sad looking foliage. But if you keep it nice, the plant can be beautiful! Especially if it is grown as a specimen plant with few other large plants around.

    The "Areca" grows a large thick trunk in clumps that get ever wider and wider. That's likely why it is popular with plant sellers. It grows quickly and reproduces often. This is another plant that grows well in relatively poor soil. It does great in the sandy soil of Miami and South Florida. But if you're growing one as a specimen give it good, rich, well drained soil mixed with peat and sand. Keep it damp, but not soaking wet.

    The Areca was reportedly introduced from Madagascar to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands before the turn of the 20th century and has spread throughout the Caribbean and southern United States ever since.

    Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But what you are experiencing is experienced by thousands and thousands of people every year who are told by some nurseryman it is a "good houseplant". Sorry about that.
     
  5. abbotsfordpalmman

    abbotsfordpalmman Active Member

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    Location:
    Abbotsford Canada
    i keep my areca palms outside year round only taking them inside on cold winter days. they tend to look best in spring and fall. this summer they almost died outside in the direct sun, the ones kept in the shade flourished! they seem to be quite sensitive to change
     
  6. Chuck White

    Chuck White Active Member

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    Location:
    Florida,USA
    As you transition plants from shade to sun (inside by a window to outside in the sun) it should be common practise to do this over a period of time, and not abruptly. Customarily, our arecas are all outdoor plants, and it would be considered 'strange' to grow one inside here. They do thrive in full sun. But then, they have (since seedling) been nowhere but outside in the sun. The parlor palm, (considered more of an indoor palm) also grows well outside here. As for arecas taking sun, you bet they will! They are an outdoor palm!
     
  7. ajlennon

    ajlennon Member

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    Location:
    Bangor
    I have the Areca Palm plastic tag that was sold with my plant and it says in big letters - 'No Direct Sunlight' - Yet one of the experts here says it needs direct sunlight.... which is right.

    This plant came from one of out top garden centres here in Ireland
     

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