any tropical palm you grow as houseplant indoor?

[Mohsen]

Hi All

anyone growing any tropical  palm you grow as houseplant indoor in pot?

I remember Pal said he had a large coconut inside

I have my Licuala elegans inside and am about to receive a Areca Vestiaria and I intend to use it as houseplant , anyone has any success on this?

any suggestions about soil, watering...?

[Alcibiades]

I grow many tropical palms indoor as houseplants. Licualas are a bit tricky indoor. Maybe you can grow them in your bathroom.

[sashaeffer]

11 hours ago, Mohsen said:

Hi All

anyone growing any tropical  palm you grow as houseplant indoor in pot?

I remember Pal said he had a large coconut inside

I have my Licuala elegans inside and am about to receive a Areca Vestiaria and I intend to use it as houseplant , anyone has any success on this?

any suggestions about soil, watering...?

I have had 0 luck when trying Areca Vestiaria  both Orange and Maroon variety, although they do hang in there for a period of time. Could be though they were in too much sun (east window) and plan on ordering one each again when weather warms and try them in my master bath where I've had a Joey palm growing for some time.

As far as tropical?  Mentioned Joey palm. Dwarf Betel Nut palm also has done very well. Yellow and Blue Latania's have been easy as well.

[Kai]

Licuala ramsayi has proven itself as a formidable houseplant for me. It withstands dry central heated air during wintertime without any leaves getting brown edges and doesn't need much light. I have it on a north facing window doing just great. Easy as a Chamaedorea.

[alex4294]

I have two coconut palms I bought reduced from my local Homebase early last year. 'Forced' under hot house conditions in The Netherlands, they're distributed all over Europe as houseplants but are so weak they rarely survive. I've managed to keep both of mine going through winter, although they've lost a quite a few fronds to RSM and surprisingly, underwatering (they're pretty thirsty things). Still, they're slowly pushing out new fronds even in dull dark february, and I think I've finally managed to eradicate the red spider mites so I'm hoping they'll make a full recovery this year. Still, I'm pretty chuffed with their progress considering I didn't even think they'd last a couple of months! Reckon they need a repotting too. I moved them up a couple of pot sizes over summer but they've been laying out plenty of new roots over the last six months or so! I also have a Nypa fruticans but it's little more than a stump at the moment. Just suddenly seemed to give up! Looks like it's starting to come back though, fingers crossed.

Edited February 18, 2016 by alex4294

[sashaeffer]

12 hours ago, Kai said:

Licuala ramsayi has proven itself as a formidable houseplant for me. It withstands dry central heated air during wintertime without any leaves getting brown edges and doesn't need much light. I have it on a north facing window doing just great. Easy as a Chamaedorea.

I've also had good luck that that species of Licuala

[PalmatierMeg]

18 hours ago, alex4294 said:

I have two coconut palms I bought reduced from my local Homebase early last year. 'Forced' under hot house conditions in The Netherlands, they're distributed all over Europe as houseplants but are so weak they rarely survive. I've managed to keep both of mine going through winter, although they've lost a quite a few fronds to RSM and surprisingly, underwatering (they're pretty thirsty things). Still, they're slowly pushing out new fronds even in dull dark february, and I think I've finally managed to eradicate the red spider mites so I'm hoping they'll make a full recovery this year. Still, I'm pretty chuffed with their progress considering I didn't even think they'd last a couple of months! Reckon they need a repotting too. I moved them up a couple of pot sizes over summer but they've been laying out plenty of new roots over the last six months or so! I also have a Nypa fruticans but it's little more than a stump at the moment. Just suddenly seemed to give up! Looks like it's starting to come back though, fingers crossed.

Coconuts want heat, humidity, sun and lots of water. They don't take life in a pot well. If you get a string of warm days, let it go outside. Spread used coffee grounds around the surface of the pot to discourage mites, scale and mealy bugs.

Nypa is uber tropical. I've not heard of one raised as a houseplant. I can't grow it (wanted to) because my winters are too cold. The few I've seen in SFL grow at the edge of ponds and lakes - in the water. My canal has the water but my winter is lethal. This palm is pretty much aquatic so yours probably isn't getting the water it needs - assuming it is still alive. Kudos to you for trying this difficult palm.

[PalmatierMeg]

19 hours ago, sashaeffer said:

I have had 0 luck when trying Areca Vestiaria  both Orange and Maroon variety, although they do hang in there for a period of time. Could be though they were in too much sun (east window) and plan on ordering one each again when weather warms and try them in my master bath where I've had a Joey palm growing for some time.

As far as tropical?  Mentioned Joey palm. Dwarf Betel Nut palm also has done very well. Yellow and Blue Latania's have been easy as well.

Scott, I am impressed with your expertise in keeping potted tropical palms (aside from the usual suspects). Wish I'd had that info when I tried keeping palms indoors when I lived in VA. I've learned the hard way that Areca vestiaria is difficult even in my climate. I've lost orange, yellow, maroon varieties. They moped & lingered a while then croaked. I have an orange triple I got before I woke up & smelled the coffee. It/they are actually doing pretty well in a 5g pot but if/when they keel over I won't try that species again.

[Kai]

A Cocos wil need extra attention when tried indoors. Lots of extra attention, but where there's a will, there's a way. I've had a cocos sprout from the same grower for about 8 years and it thrived. In the end it was a large plant (for a houseplant) with a crown of fully pinnate leaves. I loved that palm, but ssdly couldn't take it with me when I moved back to Amsterdam. I always kept it as close as possible to my largest south-facing window and had a large tropical reeftank in the same room for humidity. Temperature was always above 20 C. In summer on 20 C plus days I put it outside in a partly shaded spot. The indoor grown coconut got burned fast by direct sunlight. Carefull with that!

[Pal Meir]

I had no problems with my Cocos nucifera, except that it became too tall after eight years for further growth. As soil I used a pure mineral coarse loamy granite grus. I kept always a lot of water in the deep saucer. The temps never fell below 18°C. — Here two photos showing the same Cocos in 1981 (sorry, couldn’t find a better one) and 1977:

[sashaeffer]

4 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Scott, I am impressed with your expertise in keeping potted tropical palms (aside from the usual suspects). Wish I'd had that info when I tried keeping palms indoors when I lived in VA. I've learned the hard way that Areca vestiaria is difficult even in my climate. I've lost orange, yellow, maroon varieties. They moped & lingered a while then croaked. I have an orange triple I got before I woke up & smelled the coffee. It/they are actually doing pretty well in a 5g pot but if/when they keel over I won't try that species again.

What is odd about that species Meg an that the first Orange one I bought, a really nice 5 gallon I bought from a ebay seller in the L.A. area. stunningly beautiful palm with very orange trunk. It was the ONLY palm I had ordered from him(and I buy a lot) that got lost in the mail so instead of 2 business days it was 6 during the summer. Palm looked great when I got it finally, potted up and at first left indoors in dappled light. Started to look not so good so put outside in dappled light again but it died very quickly. Couldn't figure out how it grew so well for a grower in a dry/hot climate and so poorly in mine(much more humid)  Bought a maroon and orange variety from grower in Florida but much smaller palms and kept inside in front of east facing floor to ceiling window and both seemingly did good for a while with the maroon version pushing and opening a new frond so thought I was home free.....but 6/7? months after getting them the fronds started to dry up one by one until palms died.  It "might" have been they got too much direct light? not sure. Going to try...one more time and this time keep in master bath with my Joey. Just waiting for weather warm enough to order.

[PalmatierMeg]

My triple orange sits on a dolly on the back lanai under two layers of shadecloth - our summer (overhead) sun is brutal. Little ones don't take sun well at all. Some Arecas are just tough grows, at least for me: guppyana, ipot, latiloba have all failed. I'd love to have all three. Right now I have A. catechu dwarf, hutchinsoniana and macrocarpa (2). The A.h. got swarmed and badly damaged by spider mites before it was properly treated. It is putting up a new spear so I hope it survives. My macrocarpas, aside from being ultra tropical, have done surprisingly well. Both are about 4' tall. I have a few A. trianda seedlings that look a bit peaked. That species is supposedly one of the "cold-hardier" Arecas, if there is such a thing.

[sashaeffer]

Here are 3 together indoors all the time and while the Chamaedorea warscewicsii wouldn't be considered "tropical" like most Chamaedoreas it does well indoors.

below it resides a Licuala ramsayi (most spoked licualas do well for me indoors, but not the grandis) Newest addition I brought back with me from S. California from Josh-O here on Palm talk  Pinanga SP. Thai Mottled  has done great indoors and bought it in it's pot but has actively been pushing a new spear, although slowly. I have since seen two other pop up on Ebay from different growers and won one bid, and bought the other outright because they look so cool. I don't have much luck at all with the Pinanga species but you know how it is, they are beautiful palms so want to have a nice specimen in the house and this species seems to do well. Leaves are much thicker to the touch than other Pinanga's

 

  

[alex4294]

6 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Coconuts want heat, humidity, sun and lots of water. They don't take life in a pot well. If you get a string of warm days, let it go outside. Spread used coffee grounds around the surface of the pot to discourage mites, scale and mealy bugs.

Nypa is uber tropical. I've not heard of one raised as a houseplant. I can't grow it (wanted to) because my winters are too cold. The few I've seen in SFL grow at the edge of ponds and lakes - in the water. My canal has the water but my winter is lethal. This palm is pretty much aquatic so yours probably isn't getting the water it needs - assuming it is still alive. Kudos to you for trying this difficult palm.

I agree with you there! I give them as much water, warmth and sun as I can. They are an absolute magnet to RSM but funnily enough I did start mulching with coffee grounds last week! They're giving bags of them away for free at my local Starbucks which I think is fantastic. Only thing is the smell! Humidity in my plant window is around 60-70 so I'm hoping it's not too low for the palms. The Nypa definitely has enough water; it's in a water bath with my Typhonodorum seedlings set at 30 degrees C. A bit on the warmer side I know but it's just to keep ambient temps up. I lost one of my Nypas to a mystery spear pull earlier in the month

 

5 hours ago, Kai said:

A Cocos wil need extra attention when tried indoors. Lots of extra attention, but where there's a will, there's a way. I've had a cocos sprout from the same grower for about 8 years and it thrived. In the end it was a large plant (for a houseplant) with a crown of fully pinnate leaves. I loved that palm, but ssdly couldn't take it with me when I moved back to Amsterdam. I always kept it as close as possible to my largest south-facing window and had a large tropical reeftank in the same room for humidity. Temperature was always above 20 C. In summer on 20 C plus days I put it outside in a partly shaded spot. The indoor grown coconut got burned fast by direct sunlight. Carefull with that!

I have neglected them a bit over winter but have started giving them a bit more TLC! Such a shame about how big they get! One of mine is in the windowsill of my south facing window, and the other is above my reef tank, next to a halogen spotlight which I keep on during the day. The lights on the tank keep the roots and crown warmer whilst the evaporation from the water helps to stop the leaves from drying out. The windowsill plant is much faster growing despite the cooler nights and temps dipping sometimes down to 16-17C, it just goes to show you can't beat proper sunlight! Unfortunately sunny days aren't too abundant in winter where I live, otherwise it might have performed better!

 

2 hours ago, Pal Meir said:

I had no problems with my Cocos nucifera, except that it became too tall after eight years for further growth. As soil I used a pure mineral coarse loamy granite grus. I kept always a lot of water in the deep saucer. The temps never fell below 18°C. — Here two photos showing the same Cocos in 1981 (sorry, couldn’t find a better one) and 1977:

Pal, your posts are a complete inspiration to me and undoubtedly most other people on this forum! You clearly have a fantastic understanding of so many palms, something I hope to achieve eventually! At the moment my Cocos is planted in standard houseplant compost with perlite added in for drainage. I was thinking about repotting it in compost with a higher ratio of perlite and some bark, the reason being that it would be faster draining and I could water it more thoroughly and frequently, what do you think? Also, how often did you repot your palm? 

Edited February 19, 2016 by alex4294

[foxtail]

41 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

My triple orange sits on a dolly on the back lanai under two layers of shadecloth - our summer (overhead) sun is brutal. Little ones don't take sun well at all. Some Arecas are just tough grows, at least for me: guppyana, ipot, latiloba have all failed. I'd love to have all three. Right now I have A. catechu dwarf, hutchinsoniana and macrocarpa (2). The A.h. got swarmed and badly damaged by spider mites before it was properly treated. It is putting up a new spear so I hope it survives. My macrocarpas, aside from being ultra tropical, have done surprisingly well. Both are about 4' tall. I have a few A. trianda seedlings that look a bit peaked. That species is supposedly one of the "cold-hardier" Arecas, if there is such a thing.

Hi Margaret, do you use coffee grounds for the spider mites in your outdoor palms also?

Sorry for the off topic.

[sashaeffer]

2 minutes ago, foxtail said:

Hi Margaret, do you use coffee grounds for the spider mites in your outdoor palms also?

Sorry for the off topic.

I'm glad you asked cause I'm curious too and if she does, how much do you add to any potted palm?

[PalmatierMeg]

57 minutes ago, foxtail said:

Hi Margaret, do you use coffee grounds for the spider mites in your outdoor palms also?

Sorry for the off topic.

For mites on my outdoor potted palms I use a generic brand of Avid miticide I bought off eBay. Miticides are very expensive but I got a quart for $115 or so including shipping. It should last my lifetime as I use only 12 ml per gallon of water. I just re-treated my cold-sensitive potted palms after they had to spend 4 days and nights indoors because of low temps in case mites planned another attack. It is not for use indoors because of toxicity issues, which is why I mentioned coffee grounds. I do use coffee grounds on my potted Cycas revolutas to ward off Asian scale. Coffee grounds also acidity soil and repel mealy bugs as well as add nutrients. Used tea leaves are also nutritious.

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, sashaeffer said:

I'm glad you asked cause I'm curious too and if she does, how much do you add to any potted palm?

I don't measure, just sprinkle a layer of dried grounds all around the stem. I save them up till I have a good lot, then distribute them. You could also water palms with diluted black coffee (no cream or sugar for palms). I will do that if I see an attack of mealybugs or scale and want to jump on them. Then I follow up with used grounds.

You could treat mite-infected potted palms with a miticide but do it outdoors on a calm day and wear mask/vinyl gloves. I learned that most insecticides are not effective on spider mites (which are arachnids). Big Boxes and garden centers don't carry effective miticides. But I've lost a lot of potted palms and seedlings to mites (aside from my Cham tuercks, which are notorious spider mite magnets) that I finally bit the bullet and spent the money.

[foxtail]

43 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

For mites on my outdoor potted palms I use a generic brand of Avid miticide I bought off eBay. Miticides are very expensive but I got a quart for $115 or so including shipping. It should last my lifetime as I use only 12 ml per gallon of water. I just re-treated my cold-sensitive potted palms after they had to spend 4 days and nights indoors because of low temps in case mites planned another attack. It is not for use indoors because of toxicity issues, which is why I mentioned coffee grounds. I do use coffee grounds on my potted Cycas revolutas to ward off Asian scale. Coffee grounds also acidity soil and repel mealy bugs as well as add nutrients. Used tea leaves are also nutritious.

Thanks,  product brand? 

[sashaeffer]

I bought some Avid online 1oz bottle for $20 and use 50 drops per 1 qt spray bottle and spray infected palms in garage, let dry before bringing them back inside. Only really have issue with mites on certain palms, and only if they are close to windows.

As far as coffee grounds I wasn't sure if you could add to much and have adverse affect on any palms. I've heard of others using weak coffee in a spray bottle to control mites as well but don't know if there is any truth in good control that way.

[Matthew92]

There's some kind of clustering, non-trunk forming fishtail palm growing inside one of the buildings at the college here: it's very healthy. Maybe I'll get a picture of it soon.

[knell]

24 minutes ago, Opal92 said:

There's some kind of clustering, non-trunk forming fishtail palm growing inside one of the buildings at the college here: it's very healthy. Maybe I'll get a picture of it soon.

Caryota mitis, monostachya, or ophiopellis... perhaps?

I am really interested in growing Caryota indoors and out, so I would love to see a picture if you pass by it again.

[PalmatierMeg]

3 hours ago, foxtail said:

Thanks,  product brand? 

Ardent, the same formula as Avid (and made by the same manufacturer). It's much cheaper. I got a quart of it from a seller on eBay who offered free shipping - a bargain at $115. I think you can get smaller sizes but price skyrockets out of proportion.

You can also spray weak coffee on insect pests as well use it as a drench. I haven't had problems spreading used coffee grounds around my plants. You could also drench affected pots with imadicloprid or (outside) spray infested plants with it. For a few plants you can buy it as a liquid concentrate or RTU spray bottle at your local garden center. Bayer makes it but their stuff has a very low concentration of imadicloprid, maybe 12%. I buy it as a 75% powder by Merit that makes 100 gallons per bottle. But you can't find it at your local retailer. I get mine from a seller in Punta Gorda and pick it up to save on shipping. She also sells on eBay. Imadicloprid is not effective on spider mites.

[sashaeffer]

8 hours ago, knell said:

Caryota mitis, monostachya, or ophiopellis... perhaps?

I am really interested in growing Caryota indoors and out, so I would love to see a picture if you pass by it again.

I have a nice sized Caryota but I don't know specific species because I bought it for $13 (close to this size) from a nursery that takes in peoples house plants that out grow their house, so a real deal for me. Have had it now almost 3 years and almost to the point of opening a new frond. It's in front of large East facing windows and has been rock solid indoors. No bugs of any kind, and I simply take it outside a couple times during the summer to hose it off.

While palm has large main trunk that you can see, it has a small sucker coming out from the base so if anyone can tell me what specific species it is that would be great.

 

 

[Mohsen]

On 2/18/2016, 5:44:15, PalmatierMeg said:

For mites on my outdoor potted palms I use a generic brand of Avid miticide I bought off eBay. Miticides are very expensive but I got a quart for $115 or so including shipping. It should last my lifetime as I use only 12 ml per gallon of water. I just re-treated my cold-sensitive potted palms after they had to spend 4 days and nights indoors because of low temps in case mites planned another attack. It is not for use indoors because of toxicity issues, which is why I mentioned coffee grounds. I do use coffee grounds on my potted Cycas revolutas to ward off Asian scale. Coffee grounds also acidity soil and repel mealy bugs as well as add nutrients. Used tea leaves are also nutritious.

Thanks for the info , where we should get coffee ground...the only issue I am having here inside and outside palms is mealy bugs I need to find a way to treat them ?

[Pal Meir]

13 hours ago, alex4294 said:

Pal, your posts are a complete inspiration to me and undoubtedly most other people on this forum! You clearly have a fantastic understanding of so many palms, something I hope to achieve eventually! At the moment my Cocos is planted in standard houseplant compost with perlite added in for drainage. I was thinking about repotting it in compost with a higher ratio of perlite and some bark, the reason being that it would be faster draining and I could water it more thoroughly and frequently, what do you think? Also, how often did you repot your palm? 

The first pot was a 28x28cm plastic pot, and when the palm was three (?) years old I repotted it in the wooden container (the diameter was 50cm or so, I don’t remember). As soil I was using a pure mineral one, without organic matter, because I wished to avoid any kind of rotting. The plastic and also the oak container stood always in 5-15cm deep water (wet feet). – If you can’t get granite grus, you could try it with a mix of coarse sand + loam + (±crushed) LECA, I think …

[foxtail]

11 hours ago, sashaeffer said:

I bought some Avid online 1oz bottle for $20 and use 50 drops per 1 qt spray bottle and spray infected palms in garage, let dry before bringing them back inside. Only really have issue with mites on certain palms, and only if they are close to windows.

As far as coffee grounds I wasn't sure if you could add to much and have adverse affect on any palms. I've heard of others using weak coffee in a spray bottle to control mites as well but don't know if there is any truth in good control that way.

Excellent, thanks Patrick.

[Pal Meir]

10 hours ago, knell said:

Caryota mitis, monostachya, or ophiopellis... perhaps?

I am really interested in growing Caryota indoors and out, so I would love to see a picture if you pass by it again.

Caryota mitis is one of those palms which most easily can be grown indoors. They accept hard water, wet feet, etc. One problem however is it grows too fast, so you can‘t keep it for a longer time inside a "normal" living room. (The photo was taken in 1984; since 1993 this palm is inside the library of Ruhr-Universtät Bochum (with very dry air); maybe it is still alive, though it didn’t get enough water daily.)

 

[knell]

Thank you for the beautiful Cayota pictures shaeffer/pal, I am definitely ordering more Caryota seeds and seedlings to get started.

Has anyone thought of a Johannesteijsmannia or a Sabinaria indoors? Surely its possible if Pal can grow such a beautiful Cocos.

[Matthew92]

On 2/18/2016, 10:02:50, knell said:

Caryota mitis, monostachya, or ophiopellis... perhaps?

I am really interested in growing Caryota indoors and out, so I would love to see a picture if you pass by it again.

[Coco Bonsai]

I only have coconut trees using bonsai technique to make it grow slowly for indoor purpose.......
the younger with coconut shell to makes stunning form as ornamental plant, the older are the real coconut tree bonsai without shell anymore cause of broken or cup off
 

[Pal Meir]

Those are masterpieces!

[Howeadypsis]

I would like to try that bonsai technique! I didn't realise that coco bonsai was a member on here too!

[sashaeffer]

Another Thai Mottled and Thai Mottled "blue seed" added to collection. Blue seed version is a little less mottled than the regular Thai mottled

 

 

[cisco]

I live in Finland. I have Phoenix roebelenii. I bought it about a year ago. In the winter I keep it indoor, but the summer it will grow on my balcony in full sun. It may have been all winter very well and makes now the new leaves. The pot is 30 liters. I water the plant every two weeks, So that I will bring it to the shower and the water culture medium completely wet. After that I will give to drain the plant very well and I will bring its own place. Soil I have done myself because here in Finland is not available in soil within the meaning of palm trees. I use pinepark, perlite, coconutfiber, Leca cravel and coarse sand. The bottom of the pot is among the blood meal, banana peels dried and ground, egg shells, coffee grounds, and chicken manure.
I hope you will find out what I wrote. My native language is not English  

[Matt in OC]

I have some Licuala grandis germinated that I will try as houseplants. They're too tender to keep outdoors here. 

[Pal Meir]

19 hours ago, Matt in OC said:

I have some Licuala grandis germinated that I will try as houseplants. They're too tender to keep outdoors here. 

Good luck! Licuala grandis makes an excellent  indoor palm, here photos of the same palm, grown up inside a "normal" living room with relatively dry air:

[sashaeffer]

1 hour ago, Pal Meir said:

Good luck! Licuala grandis makes an excellent  indoor palm, here photos of the same palm, grown up inside a "normal" living room with relatively dry air:

Amazing pictures..as usual. Have had minimal luck myself but want to try again when I can find one of a decent size to buy.

[Mohsen]

This is my small one, living beside others in living room...

[Pal Meir]

26 minutes ago, Mohsen said:

This is my small one, living beside others in living room...

Looks very happy beside the other palms! — In 2004 my Licuala lived together with a Chamaedorea seifrizii and a Ptychosperma macarthurii (besides some other seedlings) in my library: