Have you tried growing areca palms in shade?

[Sandy Loam]

Has anyone here found areca palms to be fast-growing in deep shade?..... Or the opposite? 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Which arecas? The Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens or the real Areca genus?

[Merlyn]

I've seen Chrysolidacarpus/Dypsis Lutescens in full sun and full shade.  They seem to do okay in both, at least here in swampy Floriduh.  I had some in full AM sun but full PM shade, and it grew okay.  A neighbor has some in full oak canopy shade and they appear to be somewhat slow...but I also don't know if they fertilize them or just leave them be.

As far as Areca, I have some Triandra in a part-shade spot and they are doing ok for growing as ~1 foot tall seedlings.  They can't tolerate full sun at that age here, so I'm still experimenting with placement.

[kinzyjr]

These 20ft+ Chrysolidacarpus lutescens have no issue with shade on the south shore of Lake Morton in the Garden District here in Lakeland.  The photo is almost two years old at this point, so they are larger now.

[chinandega81]

My experience just on sun alone is the following: they clump more densely in full sun whereas they have fewer pups in full shade. In shade, the tradeoff is a deeper, more attractive green foliage and green trunk as well as a very attractive form overall, despite being somewhat slower and less dense.

With that said, I think the ultimate deciding factor is water and fertilizer. If well fed, they grow moderately fast and robust in both either sun or shade. Without consistent water and feeding, the full sun specimens will grow and clump while becoming nutrient deficient and develop an unhealthy yellow. In shade, there are usually more nutrients that fall from the canopy and that keeps the soil richer, and it retains moisture longer, so a neglected areca in shade will be much healthier than one in full sun.

[Sandy Loam]

On 11/7/2022 at 4:44 PM, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Which arecas? The Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens or the real Areca genus?

Dypsis lutencs

[idontknowhatnametuse]

23 minutes ago, Sandy Loam said:

Dypsis lutencs

Those are easy in shade

[JohnAndSancho]

I dunno that I'd say fast, but mine got beat to hell in shipping and are pretty horribly under potted right now. 

 

And neglected. 

 

And just like everything else on my patio, they took a beating this summer. I need to repot them and probably start culling the herd. It's your standard big box dozens of seeds in a pot. 

[Gottagrowemall]

On 11/7/2022 at 6:52 PM, kinzyjr said:

These 20ft+ Chrysolidacarpus lutescens have no issue with shade on the south shore of Lake Morton in the Garden District here in Lakeland.  The photo is almost two years old at this point, so they are larger now.

My arecas are growing in a similar spot like this in palm coast Florida 9b. Underneath a huge oak tree canopy. They used to get more sun but the oak tree is getting bigger. They’re super green and if we have a frost the oak tree protects them. They’re growing at a good speed even though they get just filtered light 

[Billy]

I don't have any areca species in the garden but of the two Chrysalidocarpus lutescens that I'm growing here on the coast, the one that sees more sun looks best and is growing a bit faster. The other is planted about 10' to the east from the other, where it gets more shade from Archontophoenix canopy and isn't nearly as full. Just my two cents.