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Palm Trees >>Palm Tree Help >>Palms As House Plants

Palms As House Plants by Phil Bergman

A discussion of palms that can be successfully grown as indoors.

Over the past several hundred years, palms have been quite popular as house plants. During previous centuries, when taxonomists would search across great expanses of sea and land for new plant species with economic value, these plants (some of them palms) would be returned to their home institution’s conservatory and grown. Some proved adaptable and complementary to the home environment and have proven successful as indoor plants.  Some did not. Since that time, nurserymen have found, usually through trial and error, which species of palms do well as houseplants. Today, there are three main “tried and true” genera of palms that do well as houseplants. They are: Howea forsteriana (Kentia Palm), Chamaedorea (Bamboo Palms) species, and Rhapis species (Lady Palms). However, there are other species that will survive indoors. There may be many more that are not well known to the trade, and these species will be mentioned toward the end of this article..

Remember that nature has not provided us with “houseplants”.  Rather, we look for and give a try with species, hoping that they will survive indoors. If a given plant does not do well inside, it is not then considered an indoor plant.  If they do survive easily indoors, they become known as a houseplant. However, genetically they were not designed to live indoors. They just happen to tolerate the abuse given when someone takes them from their native environment and sticks them in a living room.  Indoor plants, including palms, may need special attention.  The ones that need the least attention have typically proven to be the most popular interior plants.

Therefore, the success of growing a houseplant is to try to reproduce the environment that it would prefer; with palms, this is often high humidity, warm temperatures, and good air circulation. The interior of a home can typically provide the warmth, but the humidity is often lacking because of the use of air conditioning and heaters. Air circulation is usually totally lacking. One can go so far as putting in humidifiers, setting up fans throughout the house, and maintaining a constant warm temperature; short of this, one has to find the species that others have had success with under normal environment conditions in the home.

Howea forsteriana, the “Kentia Palm”, is typically seen in nurseries in temperate and semi-tropical areas. It is a single trunked species, but is often planted as three or four plants to give the appearance of being a clumping palm. This palm is rather slow growing; it takes six to seven years to get a nice 15 gallon plant. Planted outdoors Howeas can get up to thirty or forty feet tall, but this would take decades. From a small plant, about one foot tall, one could estimate that it would reach the average nine foot ceiling in about six to eight years. The Kentia palm is very popular because it has the classical tropical palm appearance: pinnate leaves & arching and drooping leaflets. It is also known to tolerate small containers (being under potted) and will tolerate the soil drying out a bit. It is an excellent choice for an interior palm. It prefers some direct light through a window, but doesn’t demand an extremely bright spot. Watering should be done when the top inch of soil starts to dry out.

Rhapis excelsa, or the Lady Palm, is another tropical interior palm.  Rhapis excelsa are a fan palm with thin trunks that sucker freely and form a clump of stalks. The typical height of this species at maturity is about five to seven feet, although there are varieties that are taller forms and some that are miniature forms. Very sought after are the variegated varieties, often fetching enormous prices at a nursery. Rhapis will tolerate less sunlight than will the Kentia Palm. They like a rich organic soil with some sand and should be watered when the soil begins to dry out. They do not like to be over-fertilized. The growth rate is moderate, but remember they typically do not get very tall. There is another species of Rhapis that will get tall and has similar growth requirements, i.e., Rhapis humilus, which can get to fourteen feet. Another species, Rhapis multifida, are like R. humilus, but only get to about 6 feet tall and make great indoor plants.  Rhapis is an easy genus to grow. 

Chamaedorea palms are great houseplants because there are so many different types or species of this genus.  Thus, one can have over one hundred different types of Chamaedoreas, and many of these do just fine indoors.  As a group, they are known as “bamboo palms”, but many of them don’t look like bamboo at all. There are single trunk forms, suckering varieties, tall ones, short ones, ones with solid leaves and others with classical pinnate leaves. There is surely one form of Chamaedorea for everyone. These are some of my favorites: Chamaedorea costaricana (about ten feet tall and suckering), Chamaedorea glaucifolia (single trunk about fifteen feet tall with plumose foliage), Chamaedorea ernesti-augustii (miniature to four feet with entire leaves) and Chamaedorea klotskiana (single trunk, about eight feet tall, with clumping irregular leaflets). There are over 100 species of Chamaedoreas, and many serve well as houseplants. Chamaedorea radicalis is trunkless species that never gets over four feet tall. It has beautiful orange seeds. Chamaedorea tepejilote is single trunk species that is about fourteen feet tall and has very long, dark green leaves with a distinct white stripe along the bottom of the petiole. All of these species are worth trying. Most want a minimal amount of sun. As a genera, they are easy to grow if one follows guidelines described below.

There are other genera that have been used with some success as houseplants, including Sabal species (which is surprising, as they like full sun), Caryota mitis, and possibly Phoenix roebelinii.  Also possible as an indoor plant are Ptychosperma elegans (as well as other species of Ptychosperma) , Trachycarpus, Chambeyronia, Hedyscepe, Howea belmoreana, Chaemaerops (surprisingly!), some Livistona, and Accoelorhaphe.  Success with these latter species may depend on your talents as a grower, but many have grown them as indoor plants.  

There are types of palms that don’t do well as houseplants, including those that demand full sun (Brahea armata, Bismarkia nobilis, Archontophoenix cumminghaniana (King Palms), Syagrus romanofskiana (Queen Palms) and Ravenea rivularis (Majesty Palm).  Special mention should be made about the Majesty Palm.  It is certainly being marketed heavily as an interior palm.  However, there are just too many people who have had trouble with this species.  Therefore, we list it as one of the poor choices. Similarly, bad choices would include genera that demand high humidity, e.g., Verschefeltia, most Licualas, Genomonas, Pinangas and Cyrtostachys renda (the red sealing wax palm), but these palms’ tropical requirements would make them a poor choice.

There are key cultural requirements that must be followed on palms as houseplants, but also on almost any interior plant. The first thing is to maintain adequate hydration of the soil without over-watering. This typically means one would water about once a week under most circumstances. Checking the top inch of the soil is helpful in finding out if you need to water. If the soil is dry one inch below the surface, you should water. If it is winter and you have a heater on, it would be best to provide extra humidity. This can be done to some extent by placing potted palms on a platter with damp gravel, or one can mist the leaves several times a day. A room humidifier can be very helpful, although this might lead to mold buildup on the carpets or walls. It is important to pick proper light requirements for your chosen palm.

The predictable problem of all house plants including palms is the gradual buildup of salts within the soil. Owners typically give the plant several cups of water. In the next week or two, the water evaporates and leaves the natural salts in the water behind in the plant’s soil. Think of the inside of your teapot. This is what happens in your soil. As time goes by, salts in the water (calcium, sodium, etc) build up in the soil; this eventually results in too “hot” of a mix. The plant begins to decline. First one notices brown edges on the leaves. Then the lower leaves brown entirely. Finally there are just a few sick looking leaves left. The treatment for this malady is to take the plant outside and water it ten to fifteen times. This leaches out all the salts. While outside, spray down the foliage. When the plant has drained all the water, bring it back indoors. Typically, I recommend leaching interior palms about three times a year. If one only waters with distilled water, this problem can be avoided to some extent. However, fertilizers do cause salt buildup as well.

Regarding fertilizers, most people prefer soluble fertilizers for houseplants. If using these, it is best to go on the dilute side. In other words, give less than recommended. Giving more leads to problems. Always follow the directions on the product you buy. If you haven’t leached your plant for a while, perhaps it is best to wait until after leaching before you fertilize. A timed-release fertilizer can work for houseplants as well. Never fertilize a plant with dry soil. And, remember the most important rule: too little fertilizer results in a slow growing plant; too much kills it!

In Summary, 

If you love a certain species of palm, it is possible that you might succeed with that species inside your house. You may not.  Nothing seems to have the appeal of a palm, so it may be worth the try.  If you grow the species recommended above, you should succeed.  Your success depends on what environment you create. If your thumb is on the brown side, it is best to stick to the tried and true species above. They are quite easy to grow.  If you are a good grower, be courageous and give some new species a try.  Our nursery does mail order these exotic plants, so you too can have fun with indoor plants.  Check elsewhere in the website to order.  And, have fun and good luck! 

(End)

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Last modified: July 31, 2007

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