How To Look After Indoor Palm Plants – Indoor Palm Care Tips

Indoor palm care
 
Indoor palm plants have a beautiful tropical appeal and are often used as ornamental plants in households, as nothing screams of tropics more than a majestic palm.

 

Their beautiful and lush fronds can elevate the look and feel of your home or office. Of course, growing an indoor palm plant can add to the home’s aesthetics, but that is not all.

 

Unconsciously, they do much to your home that people do not even acknowledge. But, just like any other indoor plant, even they have a specific care requirement.

 

Fortunately, the indoor palm care requirements are minimal and pretty straightforward. Most indoor palms can take care of themselves, all they need is some cleaning (pruning) and watering, and they can handle the rest.

 

So, how to look after indoor palm plants? How to keep palm trees alive indoors? Let’s jump in!

 

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Let us get started and discuss the care guidelines one by one.

 

Indoor Palm Maintenance Guide

Indoor Palm Maintenance Guide
Confused about how to take care of indoor palm trees? Follow the below-discussed indoor palm care and maintenance guide, and you will see your indoor palms thriving and blooming.

 

Choose A Variety Meant For Indoors

One of the biggest mistakes people make is picking plants not meant for the indoors. Hence, before making a selection, talk to the owner at the nursery or search on the web whether your chosen plant can survive indoors or not. Only after that should you invest your time learning how to keep palm trees alive indoors.

 

Here we will enlist a few indoor palms that can thrive in your household, provided you offer them the necessary indoor palm care:

 

Select The Right Spot

A quintessential step in learning how to take care of indoor palm trees is finding the right placement spot. See, where you keep the plant depends on a host of factors.

 

The placement must not hinder the light requirements of the plant. Further, you must keep it away from the vents, doors, and windows from where the cold wave may be leaking.

 

In addition, if you live in colder climates where a fireplace or a heater can suck the humidity from the air, keep it away from that room, and use a humidifier to strike a balance.

 

Pot Size

Typically, all indoor palm trees have a shallow root system. Hence, for correct indoor palm care, proper container selection is vital.

 

It is also essential because palm trees hate repotting. So, if you are interested in how to keep palm trees alive indoors, you must pick a container that is big enough to accommodate the palm for the coming two-three years.

 

Container selection can also help when you wish to curtail the size of the plant. If you opt for a big-sized container, the palm’s roots will have a good room to stretch, and they will grow faster, provided you offer the necessary care.

 

In addition, the chosen pot should have drainage holes to allow the palm to practice self-care.

 

Do Indoor Palm Plants Need Sunlight?

Sunlight is a quintessential requirement for every plant. Unfortunately, not every home receives good, bright sunlight all 12 months. However, the good thing is palm trees are not overly demanding.

 

But, for proper indoor palm care, you need to ensure that the palm tree receives bright but indirect sunlight.

 

How to care for indoor palm plants in winters? Even though bright sunlight is a prerequisite for proper growth, they will not die in a few months of low light, winter conditions.

 

On the contrary, placing the palm under the direct, harsh sun may scorch the leaves. Also, if you have placed your indoor palm outside the home, please bring it inside in the afternoon.

 

Alternatively, you can move it under shade. During the afternoon time, the sun’s rays are harsh. Hence, exposure needs to be avoided.

 

How Often Do I Water My Indoor Palm Plant?

Understanding how often to water indoor palm plants is also mandatory for proper and absolute care. Of course, palms love water and enjoy moist soil, but if you overwater or the soil is waterlogged, or there is sitting water in the pot, the surface becomes soggy.

 

It is something that all plants hate. Further, it can also make the root rot and be a breeding ground for insects.

 

See, the indoor palms are tolerant to underwatering, but only if their water requirements are met will they grow and thrive.

 

Hence, for comprehensive indoor palm care, the soil should be moist. Further, good drainage is also quintessential for the plant’s growth.

 

So, water the plants well till you spot droplets coming out of the holes. You can leave the plant for a few days and then check the soil. If it appears dry, you can rewater it.

 

Fertilizer

How to look after indoor palm plants’ feeding habits? The correct nutrition and feed will help with your indoor palm growth. During the growing season, the plant will need fertilizer. You can use a dedicated palm fertilizer or any fertilizer that bridges the deficiencies in the soil.

 

The fertilizer should be rich in manganese, potassium, and a few vital micronutrients. A water-soluble, slow-releasing fertilizer is suitable.

 

Humidity

Palm trees love good humidity. Unfortunately, some households can be very dry for indoor palms. How to take care of indoor palm trees if your house does not have the needed humidity levels?

 

Well, you can frequently mist the leaves or use a humidifier to ensure that the air is moist and humid. Alternatively, using a humidifying tray can also be beneficial for indoor palm care.

 

Temperature

How to care for indoor palm plants if the temperature settings are not in your favor. See, if the temperature in the room is perfect for you, it will be so for your palms.

 

Yes, that is how low-maintenance a palm is. Palm trees enjoy balmy weather. The ideal temperature for indoor palm is between 65 and 75-degrees Fahrenheit. Further, the night temperature should not drop below 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Soil

Planting them in nutritious soil is mandatory for proper care and knowing how to keep palm trees alive indoors. A loose, porous soil containing a nice blend of shredded bark, leaf mold, and peat moss is the best selection for indoor palm care.

 

You can also invest in the palm or cactus soil mixture designed specifically for indoor palms. Alternatively, the general-purpose soil will also suffice.

 

Pruning

How to care for indoor palm plants when it’s time to prune them. Typically, the palm plants are self-cleaning. It means they automatically drop the dead yellow leaves.

 

These leaves do not revert to their green hue. Hence, it is best to get rid of them. However, at times, the dead leaves still hang onto the plants. They then inhibit the growth.

 

Thus, it is quintessential to get rid of them at the earliest. For this, you need to prune or chop off these leaves.

 

Follow the below-listed pruning guide for proper indoor palm care.

  • Be gentle while pruning.
  • While pruning, you need to use a fresh, sharp blade.
  • Always clean the blade before using it on the next plant to ensure that the pest and infections of one plant do not transfer to the other.
  • Between two uses, clean the blade with dabbing alcohol.

 

Repotting

Regardless of how much your palm hates repotting, you will have to repot the plant from time to time.

 

But, as a general rule of thumb, repotting must be undertaken strictly when needed. Almost all palm tree species have a shallow root system, and any disturbance caused is unappreciated.

 

So, when you repot the plant, be gentle and delicate. After repotting, do not feed any fertilizer for a few weeks. Ensure that the plant gets good watering and indirect sunlight.

 

How to Take Care of Indoor Palm Tree Problems

How to Take Care of Indoor Palm Tree Problems
If you do not follow the requisite indoor palm care guideline, it can hamper the plant’s growth and even kill the plant. Here are some prevalent concerns associated with indoor palms and their solution.

 

Old leaves start dying

Potassium deficiency could result in the old leaves dying. It starts from the tips, and eventually, the leaves drop or die. To prevent this, you need to take remedial action to overcome potassium deficiency. You can add a slow-release potassium supplement in the palm.

 

Leaves turning brown or gray

If you have been inducing too much fertilizer in the palm variety you have, the leaves may start changing their color. To overcome this problem, move your plant to a shady spot. Alternatively, you can thoroughly run water on the plant to help it eliminate all the excess fertilizer.

 

Underwatering is also a sign of brown leaf tips. If the plant looks dull and the soil is dry, you need to water your plant immediately.

 

At times, overexposure to the cold can also result in the browning of the leaves. You can bring the plant indoors, place it in a warmer spot, and keep it away from cold vents.

 

Yellowing leaves

If the leaves start turning yellow, you are overwatering the plant, and the plant fails to acquire oxygen from the soil. Alternatively, if the plant does not receive adequate sunlight, that, too, can make the leaves yellow.

 

Pests and diseases

In most houseplants, pests, mealybugs, scale insects, and spider mites can be concerning. Anytime you see them on your plant, you need to immediately use neem oil or insecticidal soap to save your plant.

 

Indoor Palm Care Frequently Asked Questions

Ques 1. How to keep a palm tree alive indoors during winter?

Ans. To keep your indoor palms thriving in winters, you must instantly move the plant indoors. Further, put it in a warmer spot that receives bright, indirect sunlight.

 

If it is impossible to bring the plant indoors, you can cover the palm with a heavy frost blanket designed for horticultural use before sunset. You can also use a heating lights or insulated pipes.

 

Ques 2. Why are the tips of my indoor palm tree turning brown?

Ans. Tips may turn brown because of the following reasons:

  • Overfertilization
  • Low humidity
  • Overexposure to the cold
  • Underwatering

 

We have already mentioned the remedial action for each of the problems in our guide above.

 

Ques 3. Should I cut off Brown palm leaves indoors?

Ans. Yes, cut the entirely brown or yellow leaves from the base.

 

Ques 4. Can you overwater an indoor palm?

Ans. Even though your palms can survive underwatering, overwatering can cause root rot and kill the plant.

 

Ques 5. When should I cover my palm tree for winter?

Ans. For someone who stays in Vancouver, the cold weather starts in mid-November. So, before winter starts, cover the plant with a blanket meant for horticulture use.

 

As soon as the weather starts warming up (in February), remove the sheet. If you leave the blanket on for longer than necessary, it might rot the plant.

 

Ques 6. Are all indoor palms pet safe?

Ans. No, all indoor palms are not pet-safe. There are some pet-friendly palms, while there are also some palms that are toxic for pets. Ingestion of the fruits or leaves of such plants can have severe implications.

 

However, there are indeed several pet-safe palms. A few of the pet-safe palms that you can have in a home with pets are:

  • Golden Palm
  • Areca Palm
  • Ponytail Palm

 

On the other hand, the Sago Palm and Cycad Palm are toxic to pets and humans. Hence, be cautious.

 

That’s all from us on indoor palm care. Hope you find this read helpful. Keep growing keep learning!

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