Areca indoors

[Patrick Palms]

Just like to know, is my Areca lacking something?

Maybe needs more freed or water?

I have herd that Epsom salts is good ?

I have contemplating buying a self watering pot 

[Rickybobby]

Maybe time for a larger pot?soil looks dry 

im just a palm newbie but those fronds are reaching a lot for light 

[SouthSeaNate]

That's a Kentia palm (well actually several),  Howea forsteriana, not an Areca palm. The compost looks very dry, you should never let them dry out completely, keep them just moist at all times.

[Patrick Palms]

Ok thks. I was thinking of getting a self watering pot. 

[Steve Mac]

Self watering pots are a good 'idea'. We have used a few in the past. Sometimes they work sometimes not, there are a few variables. We found that the soil type/growing medium has to be in balance with the transpiration rate of the plant. Often larger plants can still dry out the soil more quickly than the water can soak into it from the bottom. We found that a heavier, denser mix not usually recommended with extra wicks going through the soil and into the reservoir worked better than a soil designed to drain well. Also the soil had to have been soaked in a surfactant first or it would not draw water well or evenly.

I would suggest that you try one first and see if it works for you, but we found that they were still a bit more work than we had expected, not the easy solution that we had hoped. 

[piping plovers]

Patrick, I've grown Kentia palms indoors for many years.  What has worked for me is a thorough, drenching watering when the top inch or two of soil felt dry.  I would then empty the standing water in the drainage tray soon after.  I have heard to never let them stand in water, so I have been careful with that.  For fertilizer, I used a standard houseplant fertilizer, diluted to 1/2 strength and used every other watering.  For many years I used a commercial houseplant potting soil mix (perlite & peat)  mixed with sand and that worked fine.  I have now been experimenting with some of the suggested palm mixes I read about on here (tree bark, peat/perlite mix, and the clay nuggets) for better drainage.  Best of luck! - Joe