I just bought my first Dypsis lutescens (clump) at a local nursery to use as a potted plant. What are some things I should know about these? How fast do these grow? I saw some big ones in the nursery that had full sized trunks. Would it be possible to separate some of the smaller ones from the edge of the clump without hurting the others? 

Yes you can separate them. Just keep in shade for a month or so afterward. The color of your plant looks shade grown so be careful about putting it out in full sun all at once right away.

I have grown many from seed. And I keep them seperate in pots so they don’t look as clumped as yours even though they start to sucker at two years old. They do grow prettt fast for a Palm and are easy to keep In pots. I find them water hungry but good drainage is needed I give mine led lighting and lots of warmth 

They are clumpers but most commercial palm sellers peddle them with multiple seedlings stuffed into pots. They compete with one another until most of the smaller/weaker plants die and leave a few strong ones. I found that by potting up individual palms I end up with multiple plants that are stronger by not having to fight to survive. This species is beautiful and colorful when it is thinned to several trunks and you can see each one. And occasionally D. lutescens produces solitary trunked palms.

I agree with Meg and Rickybobby, Arecas are much more pleasing to the eye when not clumped as thick.  I'm also a fan of keeping my palms very aggressively trimmed back, you could definitely cut away a lot of the smaller leaves at the base to expose the larger trunks better.  I really love how delicate and slender the trunks look when they are thinned out, I actually just separated a few smaller shoots from one of my Areca palms, here are some photos so you can see what I'm referring to

Loch

 

Funny to see a thread pop up on this palm, because my weekend project last week was purchasing, separating, and repotting a $35 clump of what was probably started as 20+ seedlings at one point in a 5 gallon pot.

I’ve never been a particular fan of this species because I associate it with the overgrown, crowded clumps I’d often see in South Florida, but I recently came across a clump of just 4-5 palms that was looking great. I could actually see their trunks and they do make for an attractive species to say the least. 

I ended up keeping five palms in my clump as well, and I’ll be clipping off any suckers that show up as they grow. I love how red their bases are - definitely a nice splash of color in my container garden. 

Edited March 5, 20215 yr by chad2468emr