Licuala Grandis Advice

[micnirula]

 

Love my licuala grandis here in Washington DC but there has been some browning of leaves. I know this can be normal to a degree (I wouldn't mind pruning/ cutting), but I would love advice to limit this from progressing. I am wondering if anyone may be a:

1. Moisture Issue -- have only recently begun spraying the leaves but will try to do every day
2. Watering Issue -- This one is difficult. I have been watering every 2 weeks because I have a large pot in the NE and it dries slowly. Attached is the moisture meter from today. Drying in the top 2 inches, Moist in the intermediate section but wet at the bottom. I'm not sure if I should air on the side of watering more often (even when the bottom is wet but the top inch begins to dry) or if I should wait for the bottom few inches to go from wet->moist on the moisture meter. 
3. Sun light — North facing windows but they are 3 large windows so the room is fairly well lit. I know this plant doesn't require high amounts of light.  

Many thanks! Grateful for any advice I get here.

 

 

[mnorell]

The bottom third of your pot will likely be suffering from the typical "perched water table"...this is caused by gravity pulling the water down to the bottom of the soil-mass but capillary action keeps it from draining completely out of the medium. This is why potted plants so often rot. You notice the soil seems dry so you keep watering, without realizing that it is pooling at the bottom, suffocating the roots and ultimately killing the plant. Plus bagged "potting mix" is junk...it compresses and decomposes quickly and little or no oxygen can reach the root-zone, which is drenched, soggy and eventually rotten.

If I were in your situation to get around this problem I would start over with a net-pot (orchid pot) and then swap out that nasty compost-like potting mix (you never want this kind of stuff inside your house) with something more slowly degrading plus mineral media, like a mixture of coconut-coir chunks (not fines), firm orchid bark, coarse sand, pumice, lava rock, perlite, leca, etc. so there is plentiful oxygen around the roots. To save on manual mixing, there are good bonsai mixes available on Amazon that have many of these qualities already mixed.  Cotton wicking, run through the net-pot in the bottom third of the soil-mass and allowed to hang down into the well, will allow for hydroponic watering. Reverse hydroponics can also work, with top-watering but letting the wicking hang out into the atmosphere to draw water outward where it can evaporate...but this is more appropriate for outdoor potted plants.

There are lots of resources on the web, YouTube videos, etc., that can explain the whole hydroponic theory, perched water table, etc. and help with a strategy that may solve your issues. Also, distilled water or collected rainwater in the watering well can help eliminate a buildup of salts that can affect the leaves. 

Licuala grandis is a particularly sensitive plant and generally a poor choice as a houseplant, but I think with careful attention it can be done. But it's an expensive plant to lose...in my opinion worth the effort to get it right.

[PalmatierMeg]

Totally agree with @mnorell He knows what he's talking about.

People go ga-ga over whole leaf Licualas as houseplants and spend huge amounts of money killing/replacing them over and over. They are not easy for me in SWFL where they live outdoors under canopy. You probably don't want to hear this but you will likely do better with a split-leaf Licuala such as Licuala spinosa, one of the hardiest of the genus.