Learning! Potted King Palm help!

[Allison W]

New to California and to Palms. Really trying to figure out the watering demands of potted palms. I had hard time finding info on King Palm potted indoors. I have great mixed indirect and direct  light. The King was doing well for about 3 weeks until last week. One of the tri stems (?) st bases started hanging down/droopy, a few leads flat out dried up brown, some larger tips are fraying and browning. Tried extra water keeping meter in more upper moist (previously keeping low moist since thought maybe was overwatering before). 
Seems to maybe improved some with actually more watering keeping mid upper moist zone in moisture meter about 6” down) but I truly don’t know how much to water or if something else going on

I treated the top soil with neem since noted knats and seemed to get this controlled (and hydrogen peroxide water mix to kill larvae). I made sure to use only native water from outdoor hose  (not indoor  soft water/salts).

 

i did notice some shrooms on outer edge of pot so now I am not sure if too wet despite what the moisture meter says!

I just unsure how much watering to do on this king palm. Or if it’ll survive indoors and in pot.  The nursery said I could keep it in its same size pot for years and it would do well until too tall. I literally left it in its original pot and placed inside a prettier slightly larger pot. Soil was obviously mixed to begin for palm and I put rocks in base of outer pot to rest the inner original container for drainage.

air is dry so I spray leaves with water every two days

any thoughts? Or is it just stupid to think I could keep a king palm inside in a pot? 

(otherwise my indoor majesty, pony tail palm,  dracaeda, alocasia, philodendron Hope, and other plants are doing very well with researched followed care- included pics for fun

thanks in advance!

Allison

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, Allison W said:

New to California and to Palms. Really trying to figure out the watering demands of potted palms. I had hard time finding info on King Palm potted indoors. I have great mixed indirect and direct  light. The King was doing well for about 3 weeks until last week. One of the tri stems (?) st bases started hanging down/droopy, a few leads flat out dried up brown, some larger tips are fraying and browning. Tried extra water keeping meter in more upper moist (previously keeping low moist since thought maybe was overwatering before). 
Seems to maybe improved some with actually more watering keeping mid upper moist zone in moisture meter about 6” down) but I truly don’t know how much to water or if something else going on

I treated the top soil with neem since noted knats and seemed to get this controlled (and hydrogen peroxide water mix to kill larvae). I made sure to use only native water from outdoor hose  (not indoor  soft water/salts).

 

i did notice some shrooms on outer edge of pot so now I am not sure if too wet despite what the moisture meter says!

I just unsure how much watering to do on this king palm. Or if it’ll survive indoors and in pot.  The nursery said I could keep it in its same size pot for years and it would do well until too tall. I literally left it in its original pot and placed inside a prettier slightly larger pot. Soil was obviously mixed to begin for palm and I put rocks in base of outer pot to rest the inner original container for drainage.

air is dry so I spray leaves with water every two days

any thoughts? Or is it just stupid to think I could keep a king palm inside in a pot? 

(otherwise my indoor majesty, pony tail palm,  dracaeda, alocasia, philodendron Hope, and other plants are doing very well with researched followed care- included pics for fun

thanks in advance!

Allison

Allison W,   

Welcome to the forum..

 

If you're seeing Mushrooms, chances are the soil is staying too wet. Those moisture meters? wouldn't trust em'.    While Kings ( and other palms like Majesty ) love moist soil,  soil that can't drain or breathe can cause Hypoxic conditions > ..Where the organics in over saturated soil mix quickly break down and suck all the oxygen out of the soil, creating " sludge " that can suffocate the roots ..which then start rotting. <   In nature, while these palms would grow right next to ..or in water, it is always moving and full of Oxygen, never stagnant..  Might also remove some of the rock atop the soil ( Can also hold in too much moisture ) Anyway,

Might repot into fresh soil and try to save the King..  but honestly, not sure it will make it long term

Living where you're at, try to find a couple Kentia Palms.. Those generally do much better indoors than either Kings or Majesty palms.   Planted everywhere there in Camarillo / Santa Barbara.

Hopefully some other California folks will chime in w/ their thoughts..

 

[Rickybobby]

Looks to me like maybe some root issues. Possibly staying wet too long. 

[JohnAndSancho]

Welcome to PalmTalk!

 

Lots of possibilities. 

Is there any drainage in that pot? 

You've got 3 plants fighting for water and nutrients. 

It's hard to give them as much light and humidity as they'd get outdoors. 

Is your outdoor water really on a different system than your kitchen sink? 

How long have you had them? 

[Allison W]

Hello! Thank you so much for replying!

outdoor hose/water can either be from city or switched to soft water system. I’m using city/no soft water on indoor plants s I’ve read the soft water could hurt them?

 

I’ve had the king palm for aboit 5 weeks. It had appropriate soil from nursery and drainage pot but still may not be draining well

the other two pictured are thriving pretty well

i really also appreciate everyone’s reply!!! I’m still figure if out how to reply to all messages (:

thank you!

Edited May 19, 2022 by Allison W

[Silas_Sancona]

3 hours ago, Allison W said:

Hello! Thank you so much for replying!

outdoor hose/water can either be from city or switched to soft water system. I’m using city/no soft water on indoor plants s I’ve read the soft water could hurt them?

 

I’ve had the king palm for aboit 5 weeks. It had appropriate soil from nursery and drainage pot but still may not be draining well

the other two pictured are thriving pretty well

i really also appreciate everyone’s reply!!! I’m still figure if out how to reply to all messages (:

thank you!

   Think you figured out how to reply.. 

As far as using soft water over city stuff,  because many systems use salt to soften tap water, that extra salt might be an issue for plants in containers since it is more of a challenge to flush accumulated salt from the soil ..compared to plants in the ground..  Now, if you were using water off an RO system, that would be ideal for potted things.. But a good RO system isn't cheap either, lol.

While the soil the nursery put the King in may be good, when the pot sits in a decorative pot w/ out any drain holes for awhile, that can cause trouble since drain holes also allow oxygen to circulate through the soil, as well. 

Other plants look great, though keep an eye on your Majesty.. they really aren't the most ideal indoor palm even though they're sold in every houseplant section of the big box stores.. As mentioned earlier, Howea (  Kentia Palm ) are a better choice for indoor life.

Rhapis ( Lady Palms ) and some Chamaedorea species ( sometimes called " Bamboo " Palms ) can handle the low light / sometimes dry climate of indoor life a bit better.  W/ Chamaedorea, you can choose between species that look like any other palm, and a couple species that have " Whale's Tail "- type of leaves and generally stay small-ish.   Chamaedorea metallica  being the toughest of the Whale's Tail species looks great in groups of 3 or more and will take it's time getting bigger..   Somewhat harder to find, but worth it. Lots of great growers to contact around Southern California, if interested, or just curious about other options.  ..Several post here on Palm Talk fairly regularly..   Chamaedorea also do great outdoors in shade as well, especially out there.

[JohnAndSancho]

Honestly, I'd try to repot in a better draining pot and use better draining soil. I like to use bottom watering/"self watering" pots so I can drain if I overwater, even though I water from the top. I also bought a water filter for my sink to get the bulk of the chemical/salt/crap out of the water. I used to buy distilled water but that gets expensive fast. Last but not least I'd try this one outside. I'd keep it mostly shaded at first, but long-term these love sun. It's also possible that it's unhappy going from either sun or greenhouse conditions to inside a dry house. 

 

I got my kings as seedlings, and the 5 on my patio are a lot happier and growing a lot better than the one indoors. 

[PalmsandLiszt]

18 hours ago, Allison W said:

It had appropriate soil from nursery and drainage pot but still may not be draining well

Soil that works in nursery conditions won't necessarily work in domestic conditions. In fact, rarely, I'd say. Was the nursery growing it in a greenhouse or outside? Either way, it was probably getting a lot more humidity and light than it's getting in your house. All its leaves will be tuned to the light and humidity conditions in the nursery (chloroplasts, chromoplasts, stomata, etc.), and now it's suddenly in conditions where none of them work nearly so well; it's like a massive organ failure for the palm. You might well have root rot problems as knock-on effect of this. To wit, if the leaves are transpiring much more due to low humidity, say, the roots need to do more work to get water to the leaves; to do this they need more oxygen; without that oxygen, the soil becomes anoxic and rot sets in. I can't remember exactly what my A. cunninghamiana is potted in, but it's a sandy loam base with a lot of pine bark chips and pumice, and it drains in a few seconds.

I don't think these make terribly good indoor plants in that they need a much higher light level than the typical house can provide; they work much better in a conservatory or similar room with light from above.
Also, better to start with much smaller plants, so they can acclimate as best they can to less than ideal conditions before putting large amounts of bioenergetic resources into much bigger leaves. They do grow quickly, at least.

All your other plants look the picture of health, but even common palms can to be fussy things indoors.

[Diane Lee]

A year ago, moved my potted outdoor King palm from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and it seemed to be doing "all right" - In 1/2 sun and 1/2 shade. Repotted it after 3 months - a month later moved it to full sun. Now it's about 110 degrees out in mid-day. It's struggling, but I keep the soil moist; not soggy. New fond was coming out - then almost overnight, it's now dried up and dying. What am I doing wrong. Is it sunburned? Or ... does my fellow just not like the high desert (it seemed fine in the cold winter). Was I hoping for too much bringing it with me?