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This is the current state of my beloved palm tree that I've owned for 2 years now. This past year has just gone downhill. I have it positioned in a corner next to a window where it catches the sunrise to midday rays. At first the tips were turning brown so I began to water it more. Watering twice a week during the summer, and once a week in the winter. Then all different things starting happening to it, and I have no clue what I'm doing wrong. If someone could please help me bring this plant to the thriving state it once was! I can't lose this tree, it is a symbol of my brother who passed away 2 years ago.
Last edited by Dedeemorales; 10-07-2016 at 05:07 PM..
Reason: No picture
Brown leaf tips on palms may be caused by one or more of the following:
Dryness. If the palm is not getting enough water, or if the humidity is too low, the leaf tips will turn brown. Water more frequently and on a regular basis.
Salt. Salts from water accumulate in the soil over time. The salts may come from fertilizer dissolved in the water or from minerals in the water itself. Excess salts are taken up by the plant and deposited in the tips of the leaves, causing burning and browning. Prevent the salt buildup by leaching (flushing) the soil with distilled water periodically
Chemicals. Some chemicals such as chloride and borate can accumulate in leaf tips and cause browning. If your water source has chloride or borate, use distilled or rainwater instead to water plants. You can trim the brown leaf tips to keep the plant more attractive. Avoid removing the entire frond before it turns completely brown. As long as the leaf has some green tissue, it's photosynthesizing and contributing to plant growth. Over fertilizing can cause root burn then leaf burn.
Speaking for myself if that was my plant here's what I'd do with it:
I'd snip off all the dead leaves then remove the plant out of the pot. I'd remove and rinse off as much soil as possible from the roots to get them bare then submerge the entire plant in a tub of room temperature water with a few drops of dish soap in it. Swish it around gently to cleanse it of the mites and their eggs as well as webbing and any salt and dust accumulations sticking to it. Then empty the soapy water out and rinse the plant thoroughly in a shower of fresh cool running water (not cold water). Shake off excess water and immediately repot the plant in new, clean soil in a new, clean pot and mist it all over very lightly with a diluted insecticidal soap mixture.
So I was reading that miticides or an insecticidal soap is effective in removing them and putting moss at the base to increase the moisture levels surrounding the plant. Would you recommend that? I'm just afraid that I would destroy the plant in the process of removing them. I can definitely see the webbing I didn't know if that was a house spider or something I should have been concerned with. Clearly it's the later 😩
Both members have offered great advice in my opinion OP. And you will not kill it by doing as Zoisite mentioned. I've had to do exactly what they said to plants in the past-in order to save them.
Are you using the right fertilizer? Palms are picky feeders. Try a time release Green-Rite brand Palm and Citrus fertilizer, sprinkle on soil top.
A new Miticide out there that is organic, (we use it) called Mantis- smells great and can help you control the mites in the future.
To help keep the palm healthy in the future, you can use a good minor element spray called
Southern Ag Chelated General Purpose Minor Element Nutritional Spray. Home Depot and Lowes sell it.
It's a liquid spray (foliar feed) that helps keep palm trees healthy. I placed a link to the larger bottle that we buy, (we have over 20 large palms so need it that big) Home Depot has the smaller ones for about 10.00 or 11.00 bucks.
That palm is saveable-but you need to get rid of the mites---now. Zoisite's method will get rid of them right away.
So I was reading that miticides or an insecticidal soap is effective in removing them and putting moss at the base to increase the moisture levels surrounding the plant. Would you recommend that? I'm just afraid that I would destroy the plant in the process of removing them. I can definitely see the webbing I didn't know if that was a house spider or something I should have been concerned with. Clearly it's the later ��
I understand that you'd be worried about baring the roots and giving the plant a bath but it's not a difficult thing to do. It looks to me like your palm may have been ailing and vulnerable in some other way to start with because of problems with the roots and/or the soil, and ailing plants will attract and be attacked by mites. So the mites are only part of the problem but you absolutely have got to get rid of the mites first before you can fix the rest of the plant's other problems.
Think of the roots as the heart of the plant. If you take the plant out of the pot, bare and rinse the old soil off the roots thoroughly it will give you an opportunity to examine the roots to look for root rot or other nasty problems at the roots. If you find roots that are dead, rotting, brown, peeling, mushy or have molds and fungi growing on them then you can cut the bad roots off leaving only clean, healthy white roots. If you find some other insects (other than mites) that have been in the soil eating and destroying the roots then you can wash away those bad insects and their eggs from the roots, in addition to washing away the mites and their eggs and feces from the stems and leaves. But you won't know if there is a problem at the roots if you leave them in old soil and can't examine them.
When the plant is washed, rinsed, repotted in fresh, clean, pest-free soil and misted with miticide it will be like you have taken soiled diapers and dirty clothes off a grimy, sticky, sickly baby, given the baby a nice refreshing healing bath, cleaned up its hurts, powdered it's bum and then redressed it into all new fresh, clean clothes. Both the plant and the baby will feel better and then the rest of their needs can be more easily attended to.
I have been using miracle-gro all purpose plant food, lol probably not the best option for my palm. Do you have any recommendations on soil? I am definitely doing this today and plan on purchasing a new pot and all.
Miracle Gro Cactus and Palm potting soil is good DeeDee. And yes, the Miracle Gro all purpose fert is definitely not good for palms.
Palms can easily suffer from a lack of magnesium, and the leaf will tell... That's why I suggested the chealted foliar spray feed. It will get the plant back to it's optimum health. Green-rite Palm and Citrus fertilizer contains some extra micro-elements that many time release fertilizers don't. Palms don't need a lot of fertilizer, but they need the right fertilizer.
Don't worry, I have a feeling your palm will be just fine, and you'll become something of an expert on palm care after this.
Good luck to you, and hope you post pictures of your brothers memory palm soon.
So now it seems like the plant isn't bouncing back! I didn't spray it with the insecticidal soap because I tested one leaf and it seems to discolor it. I think it's traumatized because it's very limp and all of the branches are so wilted that they are bending. I tried putting a hanger around the base to try and help support it but it doesn't seem to be helping!
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Response to zoisite
