Indoor palms

[Patrick In MN]

This may sound strange to those of you lucky enough to live in warmer climates.  Would it be possible to start a discussion for peoples experience with growing palms indoors?  If so who would I ask?

Thank you

Patrick

[chris.oz]

Consider it started.  many species of palms have trouble in houses because of the dry air,  and the tendency for infestation of mites.  Some palms are notably resistant and these are among the most common indoor palms for this reason.

Whish one do you want to grow ?

[Patrick In MN]

I've tried several over the past few years and surprisingly I have been surprised how many varieties have done well.  I have a Pigafeta that grew beautifully.  I didn't think it would tolerate the dry air of indoor heating but did fine.

[DoomsDave]

Patrick!

If I recall, you were on the old board?  Or the Old-Old Board?

In any case, welcome to our family.

Hmm.  I'm from Ohio, originally, and I remember the hideous dry air of winter houses, mucus membranes all KFC'd, and how many plants simply would not grow.

And the lack of light in the far-northern winter.

Hmm.  I forum on indoor palms might be a capital idea!

dave

[MattyB]

Hello Patrick.  I've only grown two palms indoors but both have done great.  The first is Basselinia gracilis.  It's done fine in a medium light situation (no direct sun).  I make sure and take it outside and spray it off and leach the soil out about once every month or so.  I do not have central heating or attic insulation and my house gets down into the 50's F regularly in the cold of winter.  It dosen't mind the cold but might suffer from dry heating, I wouldn't know though.  The second palm is Chamaedorea tepijilote, and like most Chams. it did great.  So great that the cable guy was drooling over it so I gave it to him.  haha.  Almost any chamaedorea is probably a safe bet.  That's cool that you got a Pigafetta to grow inside.

[quaman58]

Great topic. I broke down and bought a H.D. Hyophobe L. (bottle) last week. Gonna give it a go inside- it's a fairly well lit room with a couple sky lights in the ceiling. Anyone else tried these?

Bret

[surgeon83]

(quaman58 @ Nov. 18 2006,10:40)

QUOTE

Great topic. I broke down and bought a H.D. Hyophobe L. (bottle) last week. Gonna give it a go inside- it's a fairly well lit room with a couple sky lights in the ceiling. Anyone else tried these?

Bret

Bret, I had 3 bottles (along with dozens of other palms) in my sunroom last winter and they did well.  I did try to set them outside if there were 3 or more nights that weren't forecast to get below 60.  My sunroom doesn't even have skylights (yet).  I kept it open to the rest of the house, which, on cold nights was heated with central heat.  Yours will do fine too.  

Moved them in last night b/c its supposed to get COLD this week  

[SunnyFl]

Thanks for this thread!  I was thinking of starting it, too.

The palms I'd like to grow as indoor palms (and maybe indoor-only) are the bottle, definitely dypsis lutescens, and areca guppyana.  I doubt that triandra or fine-leaf would stay small enough although if they're good as permanent container specimens, we could have them outdoors upon occasion, depending on what the future holds.

[JakeK]

Hi Patrick,

I live in Cincinnati Ohio, which means all of my palms excluding my two Rhapidophyllum hystrix, are brought inside for at least 6 months.

Right now I have the following growing indoors:

1. Ceroxylon quindiuense

2. Drymophloeus beguinii

3. Drymophloeus sp. "Irian Jaya"

4. Dypsis pembana

5. Wodyetia bifurcata

Right now I have continued growth indoors from the Dypsis pembana, D. beguinii & the C. quindiuense.

I am thinking of trying a few Chamaedorea species including metallica and tepejilote.

Does anyone else have suggestions for unique palms that can habituate to indoor life for part of the year?

Thanks,

Jake

[Jeff Searle]

I have had good success with large Betel Nut palms,Areca catechu. Also many years ago, Andrea and I had good luck with Cyrtostachys renda, the Sealing Wax. And of course, many species of Chamaedoreas hold up well also.

   Jeff

[SunnyFl]

Does anyone else have suggestions for unique palms that can habituate to indoor life for part of the year?

I've never grown palms indoors - but in addition to the others I mentioned, I'd certainly like to try dypsis onilahensis and licuala cordata.

In a previous thread on the old board (not the Old-Old board) there was a potted-palms thread that mentioned palms that have large-ish roots relative to the size of the palm.  I looked back at that thread and couldn't find advice on keeping lutescens in a container.  You see this palm indoors a lot - but the one I had potted up kept getting rootbound.   Keeping it in a container just wasn't an option.

http://palmtalk.org/cgi-bin....in+pots

[BobbyinNY]

Hi Patrick, and welcome... I am also from a cooler climate (New York).. Although not nearly as cold as minnesota, I still can't grow most species outdoors - but I go to great lengths to keep my ever-growing collection alive. Inside my house, I currently have a 12ft Adonidia Merilli which has been here over 3 years now and has done absolutely fantastic. I give it supplemental lighting with compact flourescants on a track run by a timer and I also use a humidifier for the really dry months from Mid Dec thru March - this works wonders.. You definitely WILL have a problem with mites, but it's relatively easy to correct with a spray.  If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me.

[DoomsDave]

(JakeK @ Nov. 18 2006,11:42)

QUOTE

Hi Patrick,

I live in Cincinnati Ohio, which means all of my palms excluding my two Rhapidophyllum hystrix, are brought inside for at least 6 months.

Right now I have the following growing indoors:

1. Ceroxylon quindiuense

2. Drymophloeus beguinii

3. Drymophloeus sp. "Irian Jaya"

4. Dypsis pembana

5. Wodyetia bifurcata

Right now I have continued growth indoors from the Dypsis pembana, D. beguinii & the C. quindiuense.

I am thinking of trying a few Chamaedorea species including metallica and tepejilote.

Does anyone else have suggestions for unique palms that can habituate to indoor life for part of the year?

Thanks,

Jake

Try C. metallica, for sure.  I've tortured them with dryness no end, and they survive.  Not so sure about C. tepijilote . . .d

a

ve

[Jeff Searle]

(JakeK @ Nov. 18 2006,11:42)

QUOTE

Hi Patrick,

I live in Cincinnati Ohio, which means all of my palms excluding my two Rhapidophyllum hystrix, are brought inside for at least 6 months.

Right now I have the following growing indoors:

1. Ceroxylon quindiuense

2. Drymophloeus beguinii

3. Drymophloeus sp. "Irian Jaya"

4. Dypsis pembana

5. Wodyetia bifurcata

Right now I have continued growth indoors from the Dypsis pembana, D. beguinii & the C. quindiuense.

I am thinking of trying a few Chamaedorea species including metallica and tepejilote.

Does anyone else have suggestions for unique palms that can habituate to indoor life for part of the year?

Thanks,

Jake

GO  REDS!!!! The Big Red Machine!

Sorry everyone, it's not palm related, but I could'nt resist.

[tropicalb]

surprisingly not mentioned in this thread yet:

Howea forsteriana does GREAT indoors...I got one for a friend this past summer who is a notorius plant killer, and his looks great!

[Jeff Searle]

(tropicalb @ Nov. 18 2006,23:12)

QUOTE

surprisingly not mentioned in this thread yet:

Howea forsteriana does GREAT indoors...I got one for a friend this past summer who is a notorius plant killer, and his looks great!

The Kentia palm has been the workhorse for interior palms for over 100 years. The only drawback is the rate of growth, which is extreamly slow. Therefore, growers have to grow these for many years, which ties up valuable space in the shadehouses. This then leads to the high cost to buy one of these. They are very expensive.

   But they do add beauty and richness to any room.

  Jeff

[amazonman]

Can King Palms be kept indoor?  I saw a seller on ebay stating they could be kept indoor. ???

[The Germinator]

I need advise on Growing Manilla Palms indoors, is it possible. I brought one back from Hawaii and it is taking a nose dive. I brought it to work where there is more light and humidity.

Ed

[Jeff Searle]

I personally have never tried a King Palm inside, and never heard of them being used as an interior palm. Maybe someone else can share some info. that they know.

The manilla palm has been used for many years as a interior palm, especially large ones used in hotel lobbies. But remember, palms that are used as an interior palm need to be grown in shade first for some time, so that they can be acclimated to the low light levels in a room.

  Jeff

[JD in the OC]

My experience is

GOOD

Kentias

Livistona chinensis

Dypsis lutescens,decaryi

Chamaedorea

Kerriodoxa

Licuala

Caryota

small Chambeyronia

Carpoxylon (suprisingly)

BAD

some Dypsis

Ravenea rivularis

Cocos

Wodyetia

Hyophorbe

Oraniopsis

[Kamipalms]

I've had some mixed success with many diferent species but ( as mentioned before) Howea's do very well, most Chamaedorea - including C.tepejilote perform extreamly well ( possibly the best would be C.hooperiana)  and Rhapis take a lot of abuse. I had a R.tenzan indoors for 2 years srtaight  with the occasional half yearly drag out side and hose off.

short term ( if you wanted to impress some holidaying guests) just about anything would be great -well anything except for Phoenix and the like.... Ouch!  

the biggest issue with indoor palms is pest controll.  Low air movement compounds pest infestations so you will have to keep a close eye on this.

J.

[Neofolis]

I was surprised to see Ceroxylon quindiuense listed as an indoor palm, there aren't many houses with 200' high ceilings.

Most of my less hardy palms will be tried indoors at some point, but the house is barely habitable for humans at the moment let alone palms.

My palms have mostly been doing well in the permanent confines of my polytunnel, but the lower temperature, light and humidity of the house will definitely be a challenge.  I've heard that regular misting and small gravel trays can help to overcome the humidity issue and most of the species I will try are understorey palms, so light will be less of an issue than it would be for sun loving species.

[Trópico]

Currently trying:

At work (strong A/C, fluorescent lights that will keep you awake):

C. cataractum - a few acclimatization pains but now doing good

T. nanus - doing good but slow

C. renda - don't even try.

At home (no A/C or heat unless unbearable hot/cold):

Permanent:

L. weddellianum - still acclimatizing, outside siblings are doing 200% better.

Season (south facing window, room gets warm in the afternoon):

C. renda - 50ºF minimum was the allowable limit this year. Went in Nov 12... expected to go outside sometime in late March.

H. pinangoides - had to take inside because it was getting some cold damage.

L. grandis - All sprouts, no first leaf yet.

[oppalm]

Welcome.  Everybody has listed some excellent palms to try inside.   Of course your success growing anything indoors  will depend on how much attention to the proper environment you can provide.  Mites can be a big problem inside.    I have a big bank of windows, lots of light , on the west side of my house.  My wife does not allow me to place as many palms as I'd like in front of the windows (another topic) but I rotate palms from a basement greenhouse (artificial lighting) to the windows upstairs.

I have had mites before (actually my palms have) but have had no problems for several years now.   Mist your plants several times each week (spray bottle) and provide air movement (ceiling fan or oscilating fan) for 6-10 hours each day and you can keep them at bay.   I also keep buckets of water in my basement greenhouse to provide adequate humidity in the dry eviron.

When spraying check for infestations and webbing, if you see either, hit with a pesticide right away.   With indoor palms in a dry , motionless  enviroment, mites can destroy palms fast.  Be diligent  and you'll be fine with everything you grow.

[Sdeez3]

Where I'm at right now, I'm renting a house so most of all the palms I have are growing indoors, except maybe 3 of them. My first C. Mitis grew so big, I threw it outside in a shaded area and it did well. V. Arecina and R. Regia I was afraid of growing them indoors, so I left them ouside.

The ones doing well so far indoors are:

C. Mitis (a new replacement form the one that got too large)

C. Renda (gave me 3 leaves this year)

R. Excelsa (takes a lot of abuse and handles low light well)

H. Forsteriana (OK I know this was and easy one)

H. Belmoreana (One of the slowest ever, got 4 leaves in 2 years)

C. Macrospermum (still unsure on this one)

V. Merrilli (I got these from Christian F, and they grew like a weed, It gives me 2 to 3 leaves every 3 months).

A lot of these are now (H. Forsteriana, C. Mitis, R. Excelsa) are already 9 feet in height. Mites has been the problem (now corrected) and having 20 palms (ranging from 9 to 3 feet each) in the livingroom is also causing strife from the Mrs. as well and the funny part is she bought half of those herself.

[Zac in NC]

Welcome to the board Patrick. I see mention of the Old-Old Board and I wonder how many here remember it. I do. I was searching something a while back and one of the links was the old old board and it was like a time machine and it was a weird moment. I think I was on that one about 6 months to a year before we went to a format with usernames and passwords because of a Stumpy infestation.

Zac

[JakeK]

(Jeff Searle @ Nov. 18 2006,22:41)

QUOTE

GO  REDS!!!! The Big Red Machine!

Sorry everyone, it's not palm related, but I could'nt resist.

Those were the days!!! Some of the greatest players all assembled on the same team.

Actually, the Big Red Machine was about 2 years before my time, but I vividly remember the 90' Sweep of the A's and the Bash Brothers. The Nasty Boys (Charleton, Myers & Dibble) were a great triple threat and one of the reasons why the Reds swept.

[JakeK]

(Neofolis @ Nov. 20 2006,06:07)

QUOTE

I was surprised to see Ceroxylon quindiuense listed as an indoor palm, there aren't many houses with 200' high ceilings.

Well, right now it is barely .3m tall, but it has pushed nearly 5 new fronds since I received it. It is also my fastest growing palm, but the Dypsis pembana could overtake it once it settles in.

[PhilPalma]

My vote for the best indoor palm is Chamaedorea cataractum.

[Patrick In MN]

Thanks everyone for the welcome

Some of the palms I remember having had luck with were;

Adonidia merrillii(green and gold), Various Archontophoenix (Alexander was the most attrative one), Areca catechu, Areca vestiaria (maroon and orange), Bismarckia nobilis (only grew a few colorful straps before giving it away), Caryota zebrina, Chamaedorea adscendens/Plumosa(looked like a mini queen)/Radicalis, Chambeyronia macrocarpa,  Cyrtostachys renda, Dypsis ambositrae/decaryi/decipiens/lutescens/rivularis, Hedyscepe canterburyana, Howea belmoreana/Forsteriana, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis/verschaffeltii, Kentiopsis oliviformis, Lytocaryum weddellianum, Neoveitchia storckii, Pigafetta filaris, Ptychosperma elegans, Ravenea rivularis/glauca, Trachycarpus fortunei, Welfia regia, Wodyetia bifurcata

I found best luck with ones grown from seed or purchased as young seedlings.  I don't know why I'm so into palms but have had a lot of fun growing them.  I had most of them in a sun room with a humidifier.  I discovered that bringing plants in from outside in the fall brought with them mites.  That was taken care of by buying preditary mites that eat them

Can you tell I'm bit by the palm bug

[Patrick In MN]

I keep wondering if there would be a market for growing this up here in the midwest.  It seems that everyone can't wait for the growing season and more and more are getting into tropicals.

[DoomsDave]

Hmm.

King palms will grow indoors, though you might get mites (homononomonymynyminy . ..  .. )  Keep well watered.

dave

[chris.oz]

Indoors I am growing  Oraniopsis appendiculata and  Hyophorbe langenicaulis [ 3-4 leaves per year ] but scale is my biggest problem with Hedyscepe cantaburyana  [ 2-3 leaves per year ] all are growing near windows.

[BobbyinNY]

The manilla palm has been used for many years as a interior palm, especially large ones used in hotel lobbies. But remember, palms that are used as an interior palm need to be grown in shade first for some time, so that they can be acclimated to the low light levels in a room.

 Jeff

Ain't  that the truth, Jeff...  

That's what happened to my Adonidia when I first brought it inside 3 years ago... I lost so many fronds that it looked like Charlie Brown's christmas tree because it was outside in a full-sun location.  It was a long recovery process, but now it's as lush & green as can be and it has grown over 1 1/2 feet.

Plants, unlike people, do not like change... Once they're happy in a spot, they want to stay there.

[oppalm]

Bobby - if you check back on this one, could you post a picture of your indoor Adonidia.  THANKS.

[BobbyinNY]

Bobby - if you check back on this one, could you post a picture of your indoor Adonidia.  THANKS.

Sure... Here is a picture of it (2) years ago... I'll take another one tonight when I get home and you can see how it's grown.

[Scott]

Bobby - HOLY COW!

[Alan_Tampa]

Bobby, people don't like change either, unless it falls under the category of: this new chick is so hot, dude! I won the lotto!  CEO of the company, I guess I could do that, or something not everyday and good in awetastic ways.  Change someones work schedule or overtime (down) or the way they have to do a job and they get just as pissed as an adonidia in Bobby's living-room.  

Alan

[Sdeez3]

(BobbyinNY @ Nov. 21 2006,14:54)

QUOTE

Bobby - if you check back on this one, could you post a picture of your indoor Adonidia.  THANKS.

Sure... Here is a picture of it (2) years ago... I'll take another one tonight when I get home and you can see how it's grown.

Wow!!!! Bobby, that's one hell of a palm there. How old is it, and what size pot is it in? Was this ever grown outdoors at all.  How many years did it take to get that size?

Picking up my jaw off the floor.......

[BobbyinNY]

Wow!!!! Bobby, that's one hell of a palm there. How old is it, and what size pot is it in? Was this ever grown outdoors at all.  How many years did it take to get that size?

Picking up my jaw off the floor.......

Here is a picture of it when I first got it in April 03... It was grown outside in South Florida and It was outdoors for the summer of 03 in my backyard. I brought it indoors in October and it's been there ever since. I have (2) more that are a little bigger than this one that I keep outside and bring to a greenhouse for the winter.

Oh yeah.. that's me too.