I am caring for a palm for my daughter in law and would like to repot it. It is a parlour palm. I have had it for 2 + years and she had it for 7 yrs prior to that. It is happy in my east window as it constantly is getting its flowers (seed fronds). However each of the stalks have quite a bit of lean to the plant and I would like to plant it deeper. Is this possible or would I harm or kill it if I put it in the soil deeper?
I don't think plants generally like the soil level changed on their trunk, and if it seems happy the way it is, why not leave it? If you're afraid of its tipping over, you could pot it into something heavier, maybe slightly larger, or set the pot itself into a heavy pot that won't tip. Can you just turn it around so it's leaning away from the window, hoping the light will draw the stalks back toward the window? I know that is supposed to work, though it never did with another kind of plant on which I tried it.
My experience is that most palms don't like their roots disturbed. Whenever I re-pot I simply cut a hole in the bottom of the existing pot and then place that pot into a new, larger one; this allows the roots to expand and grow into their new environment without overly disturbing the plant (of course this only works with the softer plastic pots and a sharp knife). To correct the lean, you could place an inverted tomato cage - or something similar depending on the size of the current pot and plant - to help stabilize and keep the plant upright......might not look pretty but it works
