Sick Madagascar Palm

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by Quinn Watson, Sep 15, 2020.

  1. Quinn Watson

    Quinn Watson New Member

    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Ephrata, Pennsylvania
    I've had this Madagascar Palm for over a year and have had absolutely no trouble with it. Today I noticed it has started to tilt and there are these big crevasses in between the spikes. There is also many black spots on the cactus itself. I water it roughly once a month, which might be too much. There is new growth at the top of the plant. Does anyone know what's wrong or how to help it? 16002205214962416066881417190151.jpg 16002205428351845025319292163114.jpg
     
  2. Tom Hulse

    Tom Hulse Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    479
    Likes Received:
    85
    Location:
    Marysville, WA USA
    Hi Quinn, welcome to the forum. :)
    I'm trying to understand how long it has been like that. It seems you're saying you've noticed no trouble at all until yesterday, but when did all the leaves fall off? This time of year it should have a big mop head of long slender leaves. Is this how it looked when you first bought it, in the picture below?

    The first thing I see is in your second pic it seems to perhaps show mealybugs in the upper 1/3 of the plant. They are small white cottony bugs that build sticky white nests. Could you perhaps get a magnifying glass and see if that is what you have?

    I'm concerned about your soil. The Madagascar palm in my photo below gets watered about every 6 days. Yes it's rootbound, but if you only need to water once a month, that sounds like the soil is possibly too water-retentive for this kind of succulent plant. Is your pot plastic or clay? Does it have a good drainage hole? Thanks!

    Edit: didn't mean to say you should be watering more frequently. These need close to zero water when they don't have leaves, but you really should have leaves this time of year. Could you also tell us about what kind of soil you have there? Thank you!
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Sep 16, 2020
  3. Quinn Watson

    Quinn Watson New Member

    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Ephrata, Pennsylvania
    To answer your first question, I noticed the lean, as it is in the pictures of the first thread, the day before I posted the thread. There were only 7-8 leaves when I bought the plant, and they fell off during the first winter and never really grew back. They only partially grew back, you can see some shriveled up leaves in the pictures on this reply. I found a magnifying glass and took as close of a picture to one of the white spots as I could, there has also been a sticky sap like liquid on the plant since I got it. The soil is just regular potting soil. The cactus is currently in a plastic pot, with no drainage, I've wanted to repot it into a clay pot, but haven't had the time. The lean has definitely gotten worse and I was lightly poking it, while taking the pictures, and it was somewhat soft, which it never was before and I assume is pretty bad. I also noticed a somewhat sizeable hole on the opposite side of the plant, which I have attached a picture of below. At the rapid state of decline the cactus has gone through the past couple of days, I'm not too optimistic for the survival of the plant. Where it is situated at the moment, it doesn't get a lot of sunlight, and my room is rather cold most of the time, I don't know if those factors would have any significant effect on the health of the plant. I have a feeling there's multiple things wrong here, but I just don't know what. Thank you so much for your help already.
     

    Attached Files:

  4. Tom Hulse

    Tom Hulse Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    479
    Likes Received:
    85
    Location:
    Marysville, WA USA
    Sorry Quinn, yes I believe you're right that its a goner. Just so you know for the future, anytime you see long cactus-like spikes on a plant, that most often means the plant will require more sun than other average tropical houseplants. For instance right in a full South-facing window, although this plant would do fine if it was right in front of an East or West window. However, if it's farther away from those windows, where it doesn't get full sun on the leaves, or it's in a North window, then it will probably need supplemental lighting. Also, spiky plants often like it a little warmer & drier. So clay pots make it easier to dry out faster and avoid overwatering.

    Low light, cold temps, pots without drainage, and overwatering all work together in an evil downward spiral to produce the exact same mushy result. So even if you only watered once a month, those 4 things conspired together to give you the same result as if you had watered 4 times a week. It's a balance, so in the future when you give your plants more light and their favorite pot and soil, then they will be much more forgiving on watering or temperature mistakes, or vice versa.

    Also, your plant seller didn't do you any favors by giving you a weak plant (only 7-8 leaves) that was infested with mealybugs. In the future try to buy from reputable sellers and closely inspect not only your plant, but all their plants to see that they don't have serious pest problems. If you do get mealybugs again, they can be cured by blasting them (and their sticky white nests and sap) off your plants with a sharp spray of water every time you water for a couple/few months. Always make sure all your plants get some water washing their leaves once in awhile. Don't give up! :)
     
    Quinn Watson likes this.

Share This Page