Poor lady palm

[Pegi]

I cant get this palm yo respond to anything. Any ideas as to what's wrong with it?

[Pal Meir]

Do you know the very useful »Culture Tips for All Rhapis« here:

http://www.rhapisgardens.com/rhapis-palms/

[palmad Merc]

Firstly, what's the soil like, is it free draining light, or heavy and wet?

Edited September 4, 2018 by palmad Merc
Spell check

[Pegi]

Hi, I use miracle grow potting soil.

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, Pegi said:

Hi, I use miracle grow potting soil.

If you have not amended it with something like perlite, your soil is probably poor-draining muck. Your soil needs to be light and free-draining and plain potting soil tends to turn to sludge that suffocates roots. You also need to have large and adequate drain holes in your pot and the pot should never sit in a tray of water. And I would bet you are overwatering the palm too. Water only when the top 1" of soil is dry - overwatering kills more palms than underwatering. Finally, Rhapis prefer shade to full sun.

[mdsonofthesouth]

Miracle grow potting soil nearly killed a magnificent chamaerops cerifera. It's not ideal for palms In my opinion and honestly you can go with a good garden soil and be just fine. But then again that may be a temporary solution if it's not planning on being planted. 

[ZenMan 1]

You might get it out of direct sunlight, mine grows best in shade. I've had it since 1989. Split it up many times. Gave away to some friends several years back and they fried them in direct sunlight more three hours in the Summertime. Spring and Winter, East side sun shine few hours. Good drainage with a few dry days. Good growing.

 

[Manalto]

Will Rhapis tolerate a rainy climate if drainage is good? Or does it just prefer a sparser rainfall? 'm thinking I should probably move mine under the overhang - if it's not too late. When I was in Raymondville, Texas, my lady palm did spectacularly well on nothing but rainfall (~26"/year, plus roof runoff). Now this one is getting ~70"!