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Philly J

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and I jumped right into the difficult deep end.  I live in Saskatchewan, and right now we are in our coldest and thus driest part of the year.  There was a massive delivery of all sizes and types of palms at the big box store and i went for it.

I had read all about how impossible it was to have a Rivularis survive indoors, but I bought two 4 gallon big boys.  I also purchased two 10” Lutescens which are hopefully more forgiving.  I have had them all for under a month and only repotted one of the areca’s not for any reason just because I wanted to.  But with the more expensive majesty’s I don’t want to shock them.  Now to my environment:

Because the relative humidity is so low here now, I abandoned any notion of being able to keep these alive in my home.  We are constantly running the heat, sure, but there is next to zero humidity in my house so I decided the next best place was my office.  It is windowless, but with a humidifier running on low 24/7, excellent air flow exchange in the dropped ceiling prevents mold.  I am also misting daily.  I am lucky enough to be able to keep my three overhead LED lights on 24/7.  So we are doing....... just ok lol.

On my older fronds of the majesty’s I am not noticing so much brown tips but actually the leaves themselves losing all moisture and drying dark green.  My first guess is that it’s too close to the air exchange even though I am humidifying.  I am turning to the experts here for confirmation.  And here are my new family members:

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905C3359-E1D8-43FA-AC88-784A61E8C744.jpeg

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I advise you to take a tour on the forum's threads about indoor potted R. rivularis and D.lutecens issues. You'll get the general idea about it.

Greetings, Luís

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9 minutes ago, lzorrito said:

I advise you to take a tour on the forum's threads about indoor potted R. rivularis and D.lutecens issues. You'll get the general idea about it.

yes great suggestion thank you but I could not find a single thing about the leaves keeping their color but crumbling and the possible cause for that here in the forum.  

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1 minute ago, Philly J said:

yes great suggestion thank you but I could not find a single thing about the leaves keeping their color but crumbling and the possible cause for that here in the forum.  

You need to "dig" the forum a little deeper. R.vs are sold as indoor house palms, but they really do not perform well.

Leaves crumbling is transversal to so many other indoor potted palms, and to so may causes.

Greetings, Luís

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will do, thank you.  When I repot them, should i do a 50/50 mix of perlite and coco coir?  should i add some potting soil to that mix in some way?

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Welcome!  And greetings from a fellow Great Plainsian (though a fair bit south of you)  

Congrats on the Luties and the Majestics.  They both live inside, for a while anyway.  Humidity helps, but inevitably you're going to end up with at least brown tips.  It's just the way it is.  But don't let that stop you!  Everybody complains about R. rivularis not being an indoor plant, and yet they endure.  The only one I've ever lost was due to crown rot a couple years ago.  They can't be drowned, they keep throwing 2 or 3 spears at a time to replace the down & brown, and they just keep rolling.  (I completely forget my lutey for months at a time until I remember to trim out all the dead fronds)

Anyway, as Izorrito said, look deep in the archives for info on your palms.  (also, the potted plant forum is relatively new, so look in the main and cold forums too)  My best advice is put good potting mix under everything.  Even on a water-hog like the Majestic, a tight non-draining anaerobic soil pack will rot the roots out of anything and kill the palm.  If the roots are well drained and get oxygen you can drown them weekly without worry.  Also, especially over the winter with no natural sunlight, consider an LED grow bulb/array.

You live in a cold dry environment, your palms will never look perfect without way too much work.  But they look great so far.  Keep them as happy as you can and enjoy them for what they are, where you are.

Cheers!

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"Ph'nglui mglw'napalma Funkthulhu R'Lincolnea wgah'palm fhtagn"
"In his house at Lincoln, dread Funkthulhu plants palm trees."

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3 hours ago, Funkthulhu said:

Welcome!  And greetings from a fellow Great Plainsian (though a fair bit south of you)  

Congrats on the Luties and the Majestics.  They both live inside, for a while anyway.  Humidity helps, but inevitably you're going to end up with at least brown tips.  It's just the way it is.  But don't let that stop you!  Everybody complains about R. rivularis not being an indoor plant, and yet they endure.  The only one I've ever lost was due to crown rot a couple years ago.  They can't be drowned, they keep throwing 2 or 3 spears at a time to replace the down & brown, and they just keep rolling.  (I completely forget my lutey for months at a time until I remember to trim out all the dead fronds)

Anyway, as Izorrito said, look deep in the archives for info on your palms.  (also, the potted plant forum is relatively new, so look in the main and cold forums too)  My best advice is put good potting mix under everything.  Even on a water-hog like the Majestic, a tight non-draining anaerobic soil pack will rot the roots out of anything and kill the palm.  If the roots are well drained and get oxygen you can drown them weekly without worry.  Also, especially over the winter with no natural sunlight, consider an LED grow bulb/array.

You live in a cold dry environment, your palms will never look perfect without way too much work.  But they look great so far.  Keep them as happy as you can and enjoy them for what they are, where you are.

Cheers!

A wise concise speech, @Funkthulhu.

@Philly J, these are good advices to follow. And...beware with the new pot size.

Greetings, Luís

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26 minutes ago, lzorrito said:

A wise concise speech, @Funkthulhu.

@Philly J, these are good advices to follow. And...beware with the new pot size.

Thanks to both of you!  This forum is for sure the place for me.  Today was the day I did my first major leaching of both rivularis’ in the large basin sink in the building, only using distilled water.  Since they are both 14” four gallon nursery containers, I gave them 8 gallons of water each.  With them being so tall they almost reach the dropped ceiling tiles which puts the most etiolated fronds right in the air exchange path unfortunately, and those few leaves in that path are getting completely desiccated so quickly that they don’t even have a chance to turn brown just dark green dust.  I have to move things around and for sure get more than the 40w grow light 4 arm thing I have in the corner (currently in use trying to see how fast I can get a Benjamina to bud new leaves after losing every single one LOL).

my cat and both arecas are needing considerably less care which I knew would be the case.  When should I do the 8 gallon soak and drain again for the 14” majesty’s?  More than once a week?  I add 2 cups a day to keep the top moist, and when I check the drainage holes it’s always soggy so then I’m worried about possible lack of O2.  On and on haha.  If I can keep these going, I am liking my chances of doing a possible 3 bunch Adonidia in a huge planter in the atrium next to my office and then if it’s happy, moving it to my house with vaulted ceiling.  As ambitious as it gets haha.
 

Thanks for the advice all, much appreciated!

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