Hi Does anyone have any views on cleaning and shining plam leaves In the Indoor Plant Identification section, you will see a post from me on a Lady Palm (Rhapsis Excelsa) and how I tried - with some success - using freshly squeezed lemon juice directly wiped onto the leaves. My only concern longer term is that I know lemon juice leaves a sticky residue when dried out which may either harm the leaves or (remote hope) feed them in some way. I suspect the answers may be just clean with water but again this could leave unsightly water mark residues. At least the lemon juice keeps a sort of natural leaf shine for some time, with no apparent (as yet) detriment to the palm I also have a parlour palm which I May try this on unless I get any dire warnings back from the any seasoned palmists (if that is what you are known as?!) David
You chould try a feather duster. There are also "leaf shine" sprays you could try, but I can't really give you a product review on those. Personally I would go for fresh water and if there is any sticky bits wipe them with a soft cloth. If you do spray down the leaves It would be a good idea to let it dry out of direct sun.
Please do not use leaf shine products on plants. They make the leaves shiny, but the plants hate it. Clogs up the surface of the leaves. Best thing to do is put them in the shower and use tepid water. I've never had a problem with water marks. If you do, that is from old residues that were on the plant ie. dust, old leaf shine, grease from cooking, pesticides. New leaves that have not been exposed to that sort of thing will come out just fine. Not really shiny like they do with leaf shine, but that is a bit like lip gloss. Shiny, but not exactly natural.
I use milk to shine up the leaves on my houseplants. Take a little bowl of milk and a soft cloth, dip the cloth in the milk and wring it out, then wipe the leaves with the cloth. You'll have to dip and wring often to rinse the dust off of the cloth. I've used this method for many, many years on all of my glossy leaved plants. It works well to make them shine and there have never been any adverse reactions from the plants.
i have a fairly large jade plant and was wondering if i could put it in the shower to get the dust off?? any suggestions
Absolutely. I do that about this time of year, when increased watering is a good idea. Cleans the plant and gives 'er a good soak. Just make sure the water is tepid.
