Two Palm Problems

by Diana Mead

Welcome to our gardening feature where Diana Greenwood Mead, our gardening expert answers your questions every week.

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This week we have two questions for Diana about palms...
Elise Pratt writes:
I have a large palm tree that looks a bit dry, even though I spray it almost daily and water it when the soil is dry. However, I recently noticed a white powder on the stalks. What is it and how do I get rid of it?

Hi Elise,
There are so many varieties of palms and I'm not sure if yours is an indoor or outdoor palm tree so I'll try and cover both indoor and outdoor.
If it's an indoor palm, it seems as if it might be stressed by lack of root space – it may need a bigger pot and some new potting soil. Palms, whether indoors or out, are usually fairly easy going and shouldn’t need spraying or special care, but in either case they do need an adequate amount of room for their roots, so indoors, a decent sized pot and outdoors, good ground and not too much competition up close.
The white powder (if indoors) might be a fluffy type of mealy bug in which case wiping the stems with a soapy (not detergent) cloth may help to control it.
If outdoors it could be powdery mildew (which you would see on other nearby plants) and about which you can do little but hose it off and try and to keep the ground reasonably damp as it is something that usually happens during a long dry warm spell and plants don't seem to suffer too much from it.

The second query is from Marlene Grossett who is worried that her palm's leaves are turning brown and is wondering if she should water it more or less...

Again I'm guessing whether indoors or out and hoping this one is indoors -
If outdoors I would think wind scorch or maybe frosted leaves would cause browning.
If it is indoors, I think maybe your palm is in the wrong place – is it getting a lot of sun inside a big window? Or is it maybe somewhere where it gets very cold at night?
Generally when houseplants are unhappy there are other things to think about before water.
Think temperature, situation, pot (has it been in the same pot for a long time).
As far as watering is concerned, the great majority of houseplants (but not all!) like to be watered well – until water runs into the saucer – and then left to get nearly dry before being watered again.

Happy Horticulture to you both!
Diana