Image - Wikimedia / David J. Stang
Palm trees can sometimes have a few problems when grown indoors. Drafts from the air conditioning or fan, frequent sprays, poor watering ... all this can make the leaves look ugly. Therefore, I wanted to show you the change so spectacular that a plant can give with just a few small touches.
It was the turn of a Chamaedorea elegans, a palm tree that is widely grown indoors, but in hot climates it can also be grown outdoors. It is one of the easiest to take care of, as it is very adaptable, although the wind and / or air harm it when it is inside the house.
How to recover an indoor palm tree that is drying up?
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- Before
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- After
If your palm tree has started to have more and more dry leaves, it is time to take some measures so that it does not go overboard. Therefore, I recommend you follow these steps:
Remove dry leaves
Without a doubt, the first step is to take the palm tree to the hairdresser. To the vegetable hair salon, of course. Jokes away, we have to remove all dry leaves or leaves that look very bad to give a new life to the palm tree, a new color, using scissors. If it is going to be more comfortable for you to remove it from the pot, as long as you can extract it taking the whole root ball with you, you can do it.
Transplant your dry palm tree to a new pot
We continue to give you a a little bigger pot the one that had to which we will add a new substrate, that is, that we have not used before for other plants. This substrate must be a mixture of mulch with 30% perlite, or the like. You can get it from this link.
Regar
Once we have the palm tree in its new pot, it's time to water it generously. To do this, we will fill the watering can, and until we see the water coming out quickly through the drainage holes, we will not finish watering. If necessary, tap the pot so that all the substrate is soaked.
Clean the leaves and stems
To finish giving a new look the palm tree, we can only clean the leaves and stems. I really like to use the Aloe vera wet wipes they use for babies, but you can use a cloth with soft water.
(OPTIONAL): water above dry palm trees
In case you do not trust that any chemical in the wipe is harmful to the plant, water it over. Thus, in addition, it will finish cleaning everything.
Enjoy!
Bit of a change, right? It's not as pretty as when you bought it, but don't worry, spring will take care of that. But yes, it does not hurt to treat it with systemic fungicide, since in that state it is vulnerable to infections. Thus, your palm tree will recover.
Why can indoor palm trees have dry tips?
There are many reasons why a palm tree, grown indoors, can start to run out of green leaves:
Air currents
Be those of an appliance (air conditioning, fan) or those that we generate ourselves when passing by plants, for example. If they are strong and / or constant, the moisture contained in the leaves is gradually lost, until they finally dry out. First it will be the tips, then these can be broken, and later, if the problem persists, the entire sheet will end up drying.
Therefore, it is important that they are not placed in busy areas. In case there is no other option, they must be at least one meter from the transit area. That is, if the corridor is about 3 meters wide, the palm tree will be placed about 15 centimeters from the wall, already about one meter from the center.
Sudden changes in temperature
You may think that this does not happen indoors, but ... imagine that it is summer and it is very hot. You come from the street, where they are registered we will assume 35ºC. You get home and notice a drop in temperature: it's five degrees lower. It is still a lot, so you decide to turn on the air conditioning, which is at 22ºC.
What is going to happen to the plants you have in that room? Well, they can dry. Even if your indoor palm tree is far from drafts, that drastic drop in temperature will make it suffer. Hence, it is not advisable to put it where there are these types of devices.
Low ambient humidity
Most of the palm tree species considered 'indoor' come from tropical forests where the humidity remains high, above 50%. Inside the house that only happens when you live on an island, near the coast or a river / swamp / lake; even within the same island for example there are more humid points (those that are close to the sea) and others drier (that are those that are further inland).
But assuming you live on the peninsula, far from the sea, the humidity in your area, and that of your home, will be low. And that can harm your palm tree, unless you do the following:
- Buying a humidifier and put it to the side;
- o fill containers with water and put them around the pot.
Another thing that will do well is to spray / spray its leaves with rainwater or water suitable for human consumption, daily if it is summer and the environment is very dry (with a humidity percentage below 50%), or on alternate days or every other day if it is winter.
It is very important that if the humidity in your area is high, DO NOT spray its leavesWell, you don't need it. What's more, an excess of humidity could rot these leaves. Of course, you can (and should) dust them with rainwater, distilled water, or milk, but beyond that, you don't have to do anything else.
Can it be prevented that the leaves of the palm tree are dry?
Yes, of course. In fact, in addition to everything we've said before, it is necessary to keep the palm tree well watered. In general, it will be watered when you see that the substrate is drying, both on the top and on the inside. You can check the humidity of it with a meter, or with a wooden stick.
It is also very good to pick up the pot after watering it, and again after a few days. Dry soil weighs less than wet soil, so this difference in weight will help you know when it's time to water again.
When you have to, pour water until you see it coming out of the holes in the pot. You do not have to pour a glass and that's it, but you have to leave the soil moist, otherwise, roots may remain without the precious liquid. And of course, if that happened, they would dry, first they and then the leaves.
Another topic to talk about is the plate. Plants that are kept indoors are usually put a plate underneath, or even inside other pots that do not have holes. And that is often a mistake. The water that remains in the dish and / or in the bottom of the pot without holes rots the roots. Therefore, they should be avoided, or at least, if you put a plate on it, you have to get used to emptying it after each watering.
And nothing more. We hope it has served you.
What to do when most of the leaves are dry, my palm is on the terrace and there is a lot of sun
Hello rosa.
I recommend putting a shading net on it so that it can be protected from the sun. You can remove the dried leaves.
A greeting.
I have a Chamaedorea elegans and last year it was really pretty, but I was admitted to the hospital for a while and all the leaves have fallen and many of the stems are dry, there are like four branches and are cut off, do you have a solution or I don't know can you recover? Thanks in advance
Hello Rocio.
I recommend that you cut everything that is dry, and water it once or twice a week at most in winter and a little more (3-4) the rest of the year. He is sure to recover.
A greeting.
I have a palm tree and its leaves are turning yellow and some have dried. I don't know if it is very exposed to the sun.
Hello Maria.
Where do you have it and how often do you water it?
If you want, send a photo to our Facebook.
A greeting.
Hello, I moved from home to a place with cold and windy weather and my palms suffered a lot and it was toppled that they fell sideways and the leaves dried up. What can I do?
Hi Lily.
Are they still green? If so, keep them at home until spring returns, and reduce watering.
You can water them with homemade rooting agents for a time.
If they are brown or blackened, nothing can be done 🙁
A greeting.
Regards….
I bought a palm tree a month ago but because I went on vacation I had to leave it in charge of a colleague in the company. He is sad and most of his leaves are burned ... now that he returns, cut the leaves in bad condition and take a cloth with vinegar and this per branch begins to clean it all. I threw two jugs of water filtered to the climate …… .I want to know that I can give it ……. I still have it in a large bag as it is sold in the planter since the plateau I had to ask for it in another place because where I live it does not have yes not small, this one arrives like Sunday. please don't want me to die
Hi Georgina.
I recommend you keep it protected from direct sun, and water it (wetting the soil, not the leaves) about 2-3 times a week if you are in summer, or every 4-5 days if you are in winter.
And the rest is to wait. Let's see how it goes.
A greeting.
Help, my little palm tree is drying up, it only has 3 twigs left, I see its trunk is dry. I rescued it from the garbage two months ago and changed its substrate and sprayed its branches to hydrate them but nothing. What I can do??
Hello Sandra.
In addition to spraying it, how often do you water it? It could be that it was having a bad time due to excess humidity, spraying and irrigation.
If the environmental humidity is high, as it happens on islands or places near the sea, it is not necessary to spray, since this would only worsen its condition. You can see if there is a lot in your area by consulting a weather website (if you are in Spain, the AEMET website, for example).
It is also important to bear in mind that it should be planted in pots with holes in their base, and that if you put a saucer under it or put it in another pot without holes, it must be drained after watering.
Also, let the soil dry out a bit before adding water again, so that the roots do not rot.
Luck!
My palm tree is turning brown, I water it very little what can I do to save it
Hi Patricia.
How often and how do you water it? It is important that, every time it is watered, water is poured until it comes out through the holes in the pot. And if it has a plate under it or if it is inside a pot without holes, remove the excess water after watering, otherwise the roots will rot.
Also, you have to let a few days pass between one watering and the next, so that the soil has time to dry out a bit. If you have doubts, it is interesting to get a soil moisture meter, since it will be enough to introduce it into the soil to know if it is dry or not.
Greetings.
I have a large indoor palm tree, it started to dry out and there is only one green in the center without opening and it has been like this for a few months, but it neither pulls nor dries up. What do I do?
Hello Carol.
Try pulling that remaining sheet up, without much force. If you notice her very strongly, then she is still alive, but if she comes out... no.
A greeting.
Hello, I have a 16-year-old chamadorea and the leaves have turned brown or brown... what can I do, if I change the land or I am desperate.
the earth is dry. Thanks for the help
Hello Geovanny.
I recommend that you take a wooden stick -or plastic- and insert it into the ground to the bottom. As you pull it out, check to see if it is dry - in which case it will come out practically clean - or if it is damp. If the land is dry, you will have to water; but not if it's wet.
In any case, it is also important that it be kept in a pot with holes in its base. You can put a plate under it, but always remember to drain it after watering.
A greeting.
thanks for the help