Dear all Since last week I noticed that entire leaves of my areca palm are turning yellow? This happened after I added some fertilizer per indication but the yellowing does not seem to be "fertilizer burn" In addition to the previous problem I have been having of the yellow and brown tips. I have the plant next to a window, try to moisturise the leaves everyday or every other day as it is not very humid, I water every 10 days or so when the soil gets dry. I got the plant 6 months ago, and this is the first time this has happened. I upload some pictures with the various problems. Thanks for your help.
You have only showed us the lower portion of the plant. Old leaves are going to die. If it's only one or two old leaves that are yellowing and dying off, that's supposed to happen - new leaves in, old leaves out. I have to leave the third photo for someone else - I can't tell if that's showing some problem or not. And I wonder if it's a lot of plant for that small pot.
Hi Juan. I'll second what Wendy said about it being common for old leaves to die, but I would add that your 3rd pic seems to show less-than-healthy leaves. That dull texture, lacking the shiny green vibrance of healthy palm leaves is unfortunately very common for Areca palms grown as houseplants. They are just not a good houseplant. It is really impractical for anyone in a heating climate to grow them indoors. Usually it is just a slow death lasting a 1-3 years as the weak plants slowly succumb to the relatively low humidity & light in our homes. They gradually look worse and the fight with spider mites gets harder and harder to overcome. I think it's a bit of a scam that they are sold so commonly throughout the world as houseplants in heating climates, even though most sellers know they are inappropriate for average houseplant conditions. If you want that same look in a palm that can handle houseplant conditions, look at Kentia palms, Howea forsteriana. I'll warn you that these are much more expensive, but they are more suited to being houseplants, and they are more beautiful too, with much longer hanging fronds. If the price is an issue, start with 4 of the young seedlings in one pot; you can get them cheaply from eBay. Btw, if you want to keep yours alive as long as possible, give it a shower every time you water it, spraying vigorously up underneath all the leaves and along the stalks. Do anything you can to raise the humidity in your home, and give it lots of sun.
