help with cat palms

[user.10394059]

im in Sacramento California (zone 9b) and I  planted a cat palm about a month ago on the north side of my house.. The leaves have burnt up even though it only gets about 4-5 hours of sun, is this just transplant shock because it was greenhouse grown?(bought from home depot)

[Harry’s Palms]

I think transplant shock but also , 4-5 hours of summer sun may be too much for that palm . They need more shade and filtered sun , not direct. Harry

[user.10394059]

i was thinking of planting a bizzie in the front lawn next spring but until that grows and provides some shade what should I do to help it?

[Harry’s Palms]

Anything , like a small shade cloth or umbrella that keeps any direct sun off it . A canopy of some type is ideal for understory palm , particularly a newly planted one. I have used patio umbrellas in the past even for more sun hardy palms that are newly planted . The Cat palm will never look its best in direct sun , as far as I know. Harry

[user.10394059]

Thank you so much ill go and order a outdoor umbrella for it (at least until I plant something as a overstory plant). Off Topic but I have a couple of king palms doing well what other readily available crownshafted palms will grow in sacramento, one in a full sun area and one under the neighbour's cottonwood tree. and maybe on on a west facing fence. I have seen a unprotected Foxtail in a shopping center that seemed to be doing well without much help but im afraid foxtails are too marginal in my climate.

[JohnAndSancho]

2 hours ago, user.10394059 said:

im in Sacramento California (zone 9b) and I  planted a cat palm about a month ago on the north side of my house.. The leaves have burnt up even though it only gets about 4-5 hours of sun, is this just transplant shock because it was greenhouse grown?(bought from home depot)

These love shade. I kept one indoors in my old apartment - it was a mail order plant from HD that I kept in a corner and it got absolutely massive. I had an LED grow bulb in one of those floor lamps with the "arm" on the side for a 2nd bulb and that was it. The water it got was when I was changing out my dog's water cup. It LOVED that setup..I had to keep trimming fronds because it got big enough to block the TV and kept getting caught in the door. Like @Harry’s Palms said, it's getting way too much sun. Hopefully it adapts, mine never ever saw sunlight and turned into a monster. Good luck saving it.

[user.10394059]

since cat palms are cheap and readily available in my area, I might just see if it aclimates to the sun. If not ill move it to a shadier spot and try an Arenga engleri in place of the cat palm.

[JohnAndSancho]

9 hours ago, user.10394059 said:

since cat palms are cheap and readily available in my area, I might just see if it aclimates to the sun. If not ill move it to a shadier spot and try an Arenga engleri in place of the cat palm.

They're $15 at Lowes right now. If I had the space inside and the money I'd get a few. 

[Fusca]

13 hours ago, user.10394059 said:

since cat palms are cheap and readily available in my area, I might just see if it aclimates to the sun. If not ill move it to a shadier spot and try an Arenga engleri in place of the cat palm.

They might not be particularly happy with 4-5 hours of sun they can do fine there if you give them a lot of water.  They're tough. 

[JohnAndSancho]

 

This started out as a Home Depot mail order palm during COVID, so greenhouse grown. It literally never saw any sun in its life. That lamp is 6ft btw. I miss it but I def wouldn't have the space for it here. This one was unique because it wasn't a clump of multiples like most big box plants, this was one single palm. 

[thyerr01]

I don't think sun is the problem beyond some transplant shock/adaption - but more likely a water issue. I have mine in full all day sun in Houston and apart from getting a little yellow in August, they otherwise look great. But they do need daily watering. How much water is it getting? They are a liters (or gallons) per day type of palm, rather than days per liter. In Nature they grow as rheophytes, so its almost impossible to overwater them.

[user.10394059]

I have a irrigation system that waters that area 3 times a week for 20 minutes and since sacramentos soil is clay it holds doesnt dry out, ive also mulched it pretty heavily. what im assuming is that its a combination of the low humidity, constant sun without clouds and since these are most likely greenhouse grown so it might need just time to adapt to the sun.

[user.10394059]

I actually dont know how much by gallon but if you think im not watering enough I could try adding supplementary water, the new fronds that are towards the back are very healthy without any damage, its just the fronds and stems towards the front that get the most damage

[sonoranfans]

On 7/8/2025 at 2:54 AM, user.10394059 said:

since cat palms are cheap and readily available in my area, I might just see if it aclimates to the sun. If not ill move it to a shadier spot and try an Arenga engleri in place of the cat palm.

https://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Chamaedorea_cataractarum

"Chamaedorea cataractarum is found in Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest. MEXICO in Moist or wet forest along or in streams and cataracts on the Atlantic slope; alt. 300-1,000 m elevation; usually on limestone."

 

it takes some sun(might not take 4-5 hrs though) but needs lots of water.

 

Palmpedia can be really helpful when looking at what4 palms to buy for your yard.

[thyerr01]

If it's on irrigation I'd stick with the plan of leaving it where it is and letting it adapt. The new leaves should grow in fine, but if they start drying up at the tips, then increase the water.

[user.10394059]

39 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

https://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Chamaedorea_cataractarum

"Chamaedorea cataractarum is found in Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest. MEXICO in Moist or wet forest along or in streams and cataracts on the Atlantic slope; alt. 300-1,000 m elevation; usually on limestone."

 

it takes some sun(might not take 4-5 hrs though) but needs lots of water.

 

Palmpedia can be really helpful when looking at what4 palms to buy for your yard.

ive began to water more after what ive heard from you guys, ive also ordered an umbrella to help mitigate the amount of sun it gets  

[sonoranfans]

I heard this discussion over and over for years about "sun hardening" but a recently planted part sun palm has limited roots and may not be ready to be fully exposed.  Moisture losses through leaf transpiration go up a lot with sun and heat.  To counter the losses and prevent burn/overheating the plant must uptake water through the roots.  If roots are not even partly established, the plant may burn and this is an energy setback for the plant, requiring more chlorophyll synthesis and biomass production to replace what was lost.  What a shade cloth does is limit leaf transpiration losses and burning while the plant is establishing roots.  Some plants that thrive in hot sun have high reflectivity(eg., bismarckia, phoenix dactylifera etc) and dont need  to be treated this way.  When I was in arizona, the sun would burn almost anything dark green that was newly planted.   I put a livistona rigida in the ground and it burned right away on the leaf tips and it was not greenhouse grown, I had it in 2-4hr a day sun outside for months.  I added the shade cloth for the summer and it flourished.  the following summer it had no shade cloth at all  and it handled 5-7 hrs of direct hot arizona sun, no problem with fast growth.   But it had time to develop roots under shade cloth before it went right into the hot sun.  When plants experience water loss, the lose the ability to cool themselves evaporatively.  At this point the sap temperature rises to the shock level and the plant goes into a high peroxide production mode and leaves self destruct.  When you give a plant more sun than it can handle,  it gets stressed, growth slows, and that includes root growth.  Not all palms can handle the really hot sun.  Maybe that cat palm cant take the hot inland sun even with a full root system, but IMO it will be better than not developing the roots and giving it that full sun next to hot masonry which I had found could cook many plants and palms.  Solar heating is real, I remember winning a "free lunch bet" that black car exteriors get a lot hotter than white ones in arizona sun.  At mid day 111F full sun even the white cars were near 130F by IR  temp gun.  Without solar heating they should be 111F.  The black cars were 150F+.

[Merlyn]

@thyerr01 keep in mind that Houston is super humid compared to CA.  I had a cat palm here in the swamp of Floriduh in full sun, and it was also totally fine.  Even in late summer it was ok, because we have daily afternoon thunderstorms.  It didn't like the frosts, though...it would lose trunks every winter and then grow back over the summer.  I eventually moved it to a canopy spot.

@user.10394059 it looks like the new frond is crispy brown, but the lower stem on that frond is mostly ok.  If it were purely sunburn I'd expect to see some red-orange splotches/streaks on the upper side of the older fronds.  You especially see them on any surface directly facing the sunlight.  Maybe those will show up later.  But I'd guess the new frond looking dead could just be from bumping it.  New fronds are fairly delicate and easy to break the water-carrying tissues.  I'd look for new spear leaves coming out from below and mark them horizontally with a sharpie.  That way you can easily see if it's growing new fronds.

[user.10394059]

26 minutes ago, Merlyn said:

@thyerr01 keep in mind that Houston is super humid compared to CA.  I had a cat palm here in the swamp of Floriduh in full sun, and it was also totally fine.  Even in late summer it was ok, because we have daily afternoon thunderstorms.  It didn't like the frosts, though...it would lose trunks every winter and then grow back over the summer.  I eventually moved it to a canopy spot.

@user.10394059 it looks like the new frond is crispy brown, but the lower stem on that frond is mostly ok.  If it were purely sunburn I'd expect to see some red-orange splotches/streaks on the upper side of the older fronds.  You especially see them on any surface directly facing the sunlight.  Maybe those will show up later.  But I'd guess the new frond looking dead could just be from bumping it.  New fronds are fairly delicate and easy to break the water-carrying tissues.  I'd look for new spear leaves coming out from below and mark them horizontally with a sharpie.  That way you can easily see if it's growing new fronds.

yes it does look dead and the bottom is fine, thats the only frond that was really damaged, it has pushed out about 5 fronds since ive bought it and the rest (more shaded) are thriving. just the ones to the tip that get the most sun. Ive also began watering more and that seems to be helping

[DoomsDave]

@user.10394059 On the one hand, Cat Palms are thirsty as [certain ethnic] fish. If in doubt, drown 'em out. They're almost aquatic. I'm sure yours was grown in a greenhouse or shade house and isn't ready for the sun.

BUT, on the other hand, they're tough as @JohnAndSancho@sonoranfans suggest. I've tortured a few myself by my now-defunct fence row. 

On a third hand, as @Harry’s Palms notes, they really do like shade better.

Anyway, leave where it is, water it, and let us know how it does. We'll all learn something. Also, see my PM (private message).

[user.10394059]

42 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

@user.10394059 On the one hand, Cat Palms are thirsty as [certain ethnic] fish. If in doubt, drown 'em out. They're almost aquatic. I'm sure yours was grown in a greenhouse or shade house and isn't ready for the sun.

BUT, on the other hand, they're tough as @JohnAndSancho@sonoranfans suggest. I've tortured a few myself by my now-defunct fence row. 

On a third hand, as @Harry’s Palms notes, they really do like shade better.

Anyway, leave where it is, water it, and let us know how it does. We'll all learn something. Also, see my PM (private message).

yes im sure they were greenhouse grown lol! they were superr cheap so I boight them, ill make sure to drown them from now on!

[Looking Glass]

I put a few of these in, a few years back, expecting them to stay small and shelter the area just a little….  they didn’t.  Now they are about 7-8 feet tall, and I hack at them with regular hedge trimmers all the time.  

Over a few years this spot evolved from exposed, direct half day sun, to a few hours of sun, with less sun in summer and more in winter due to the angles and southern facing direction.   

Around here, these grow thick with more sun, and they do seem to like some sun, maybe less than half a day, with plenty of water.   In heavy shade they thin out a bunch and don’t look quite as good to my eye.   They will fry a bit in intense extended sun, especially at first.  But don’t seem to outright die easy with abuse and neglect.  They just keep pushing suckers and shoots that look better when conditions improve.   

Just pour on the water and give it a year or two, like mentioned above.  I bet they will look better over time and frond cycles.   Palms often look terrible at first in the ground as they adjust to their new conditions…. But they usually adapt over time, unless you really f’d up the placement.   

 

 

[user.10394059]

35 minutes ago, Looking Glass said:

I put a few of these in, a few years back, expecting them to stay small and shelter the area just a little….  they didn’t.  Now they are about 7-8 feet tall, and I hack at them with regular hedge trimmers all the time.  

Over a few years this spot evolved from exposed, direct half day sun, to a few hours of sun, with less sun in summer and more in winter due to the angles and southern facing direction.   

Around here, these grow thick with more sun, and they do seem to like some sun, maybe less than half a day, with plenty of water.   In heavy shade they thin out a bunch and don’t look quite as good to my eye.   They will fry a bit in intense extended sun, especially at first.  But don’t seem to outright die easy with abuse and neglect.  They just keep pushing suckers and shoots that look better when conditions improve.   

Just pour on the water and give it a year or two, like mentioned above.  I bet they will look better over time and frond cycles.   Palms often look terrible at first in the ground as they adjust to their new conditions…. But they usually adapt over time, unless you really f’d up the placement.   

 

 

wow yours looks awesome! this is exactly how i want mine to grow in. I want it to give some privacy where my patio is! thank you guys for all the advice, ill def make a update in the winter and also next summer to show you guys how its doing!