Why is my parlor palm dying

November 11, by Jamie Jamison Adams 4 Comments. Good Luck. I hope this information has been helpful. Comments Reginald McPherson says:. June 30, at pm. Rachel Brantley says:. July 1, at am. Reginald, Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Kitty Principal says:. June 12, at pm. Jeffrey Balch says:. Parlor palm requires constantly well-watered soil and high humidity, specifically in summer. In summer, make sure to water your plant frequently, plus spray the leaves once a day. This will help increase humidity, which they need. Open windows regularly to let the fresh air in.

Use pots that have drainage holes , and always throw away any leftover water in the saucer. While Parlor palm requires the soil to be wet all the time can dry out slightly between waterings in winter , you must not overwater the plant or leave any water in the saucer.

Avoid soggy soil. Please note, that frequency of watering will depend on which pot your Parlor palm is planted in, soil mix, and air humidity. Porous unglazed terracotta pots, for example, tend to have a faster water evaporation rate.

Glazed terracotta or plastic pots will slow down water evaporation through the sides of the pot. In drier air, you will also need to water your Parlor palm more often, plus take care to spray its leaves daily.

Once-twice a month, give it a soak in the shower or wipe its leaves thoroughly with a sponge. Another mistake that might cause your Parlor palm to start drooping or dying is using cold water to water your plant. Palms come from tropical or subtropical areas of the world, which means they need warm air and water temperatures. When watering your Parlor palm, make sure that the water is at around 86 Fahrenheit 30 C. You must not use cold or room water temperature to water your Parlor palm.

This way, you can make sure that water is not too cold or hot when watering the Parlor palm. Watering your Parlor palm with warm water will help improve its growth and general well-being. Unfortunately, Parlor palms can become affected by pests and diseases. If left untreated, the Parlor palm will start drooping and can even die. Two of the most common pests that can affect Parlor palms are spider mites and thrips. Spider mites are very small — reaching the size of a pepper grain.

However, they can inflict lots of damage to the Parlor palm, sucking out important nutrients, and leaving webbing and white spots. Spider mites can be of different colors, and because they are so small — make sure to examine the leaves regularly. If you notice any spider mites, you can use insecticidal soap like this to get rid of the problem naturally. Horticultural oils and even finger rubbing in very mild cases might help too.

Thrips cause leaf stippling and silvery patches due to them feeding on leaves. They look like small black dots and often attack young and tender parts of the plants. If you notice any thrips, you can use insecticidal soap to get rid of them. Another possible cause of a drooping Parlor palm is root rot.

If you're trying to find out how often you should water your Parlor palm, you should ask yourself these questions:. These questions will help you to figure out if you need to water more often or less often. If you have a small Parlor palm in a large pot, you won't have to water as often, as it takes much longer for the soil to dry out.

Than the soil, which we'll go over together in a later section, is also an important factor when figuring out how often to water your plant. If your soil retains water for a long time and doesn't drain as well, you'll have to water less often.

If you have a well-draining soil, you'll have to water more often. As a good target, you can start with watering your plant every two weeks. Then, before you water again, check if the soil is dry. If it's still moist, wait a few days and repeat this until the soil is dry. When the soil is dry, you can water your Parlor palm. A Parlor Palm, as opposed to some other palms, prefers a darker spot in your house. This small palm doesn't tolerate direct sunlight at all, as this will burn its leaves.

The Parlor palm doesn't tolerate direct sunlight, so exposing your plant to direct sunlight will cause sunburns on your palm's leaves. These sunburns are permanent unfortunately and look like this:. When you see this happening to your Parlor palm, be sure to move it to a darker spot.

You can trim off any of the burned leaves, as these won't return to it's normal green color. Trimming off the burned leaves will give some nutrients back to your plant, which helps it to grow new leaves.

The leaves should be darker green, than you know it's not getting too much light. When your leaves look like this image, you know it's getting the perfect amount of light.

You can see if your Parlor palm is getting the right light by checking young leaves. Older leaves that have turned light green and yellow won't turn back to the darker green.

By looking at the new leaves that your Parlor palm is growing, you can determine if your plant is now getting the right amount of sunlight.

Earlier in this guide, we've quickly mentioned the soil for your Parlor palm and the effect it has on how often you need to water your plant. The ideal soil for your Parlor palm is a soil that retains water for a few days.

This type of soil is perfect for the Parlor palm, as it loves the soil to be moist for a few days. However, it's also important that the soil you're using doesn't compact too much when it's moist. Compacted soil makes it very difficult for oxygen to reach your Parlor palm's roots. This will cause root rot, even without overwatering your plant. You can prevent your soil from compacting too much by adding wood chips, Perlite or pumice.