1. Areca Palm

Areca Palm (Dypsis lutescens) is the one of the most appreciated and adorable plants of every home. People love to have it indoor and outdoor. This article will give you each and every information about areca palms. The plant has originally came from Madagascar.

2. How areca palms are grown

Areca palms are grown both with seeds and the offsets which arises from the main plant when it grows to be a mature one. It is videly accepted and scold plant for the nursery people. They are having a lifespan of about 10 years.

3. Watering Requirement

Since Areca palm belongs to the palm family they require very less watering. Every garden lover or house person should check the water by touching the surface. It is dry then only slight watering is required. Excess watering will make its leaf turn yellow and roots to rot. A personal advice is to keep the drainage of the pot very well. Especially when kept Inside your house.

4. Soil Preparation

Soils for areca palm plant should consist of following components.

1. garden soil 50 %
2. Vermicompost 25%
3. Sand 25%

If growing indoor the soil mixture should be well drained.

6. Indoor tips for areca palm

If areca palm is grown indoor. It should receive light for a minimum of 1 to 2 hours everyday for optimum growth and maintenance. Very less watering should be done in that case.

7. Outdoor growing tips for Areca Palm

Areca palm should be grown outside only when they are somewhat larger in size. Because these plants cannot bear very high intensity of light.

8. Benefits of this plant

This palm is a NASA recommended plant and act as a air purifier when kept inside home or periphery of of home. They look very beautiful when they are kept in a proper order in pots.

9. Problems in Areca palm plants

Yellowing Leaves

Yellow leaves should not be considered normal for the Areca Palm, and it usually indicate that the plant is not receiving enough water to protect areca palm from dying. Remedy for this is by giving your plant more frequent watering, and the plant should recover very quickly.

Yellow Spots

If the leaves of your palm are turning yellow only in small spots, then this is due to deficiency of potassium in the soil, or the acidity level of the soil may be too high. Adjust a teaspoon of potash fertilizer balance out the levels, and if necessary, you could re-pot the plant with vermicompost to start with fresh soil.

Areca palm Brown Tips

Brown tips are usually not a watering issue, but instead are caused by cold drafts, highly sunny environment or the air being too dry. You can use the process of elimination of affected leaves to figure out what is causing the tips of your plant to turn brown, and address this accordingly. You may want to move the plant to a more secluded spot away from cold drafts, or spray it with a misting water spray to increase humidity.

Root Rot or Pink Rot

These problems of root rot is very serious. These are caused due to overwatering. Root rot in areca palms can quickly kill a plant or damage it to a point where it cannot be saved. Prevention is the best way for root rot, and can be done by ensuring a good drainage system in place, and by being careful to not over water your plant.

Use a well-draining soil and ensure that your plant pot has holes at the bottom where unused water can drain away. The drip tray should be emptied on a regular basis so that the plant doesn’t have to sit in water. Have a routine of watering indoor plant once in a week.

Brown Leaves or Spots

Brown leaves on the underneath of the plant are not a problem; this is a natural occurrence and removing them by cutting or allowing them to fall off will promote new growth. Brown leaves elsewhere on the plant is a cause for concern, and is typically caused by overwatering. If you suspect this is the case, simply water the plant less frequently and it should recover quickly. Check that the soil is dry to the touch before watering it, and the problem should not recur.

If you don’t think the plant has been over watered, then the cause of brown leaves or brown spots on the leaves could be due to a sudden temperature drop, too much fertilizer, or a response to being watered with hard water. If you live in a hard water area, you could try using bottled water on your plant, or collect rainwater, and see if this helps. Using a more diluted fertilizer to feed the plant, or moving the plant away from cold draughts may resolve the issue.

10. How to propagate areca palms

Propagation of Areca palms is done by either seeds or through small plants which originate from the sides of main plant.

11. Pest Problem

This plant is susceptible to many pests, including scale, mealy bugs, red spider mite mites, and whitefly.

1. Red Spider Mites

These pests wish to prey on the dust found on the foliage of the Areca Palm. Dust tends to accumulate more when humidity is low, so you’ll attempt to prevent this problem by keeping humidity high. you’ll do that using an electrical humidifier, or just spray the plant’s leaves occasionally with a misting water spray. If a tetranychid infestation has already occurred, you’ll usually get obviate it by sponging the leaves with soapy water.

Often, an infestation can become quite bad before you even notice, as spider mites are so tiny they will usually only be seen with a hand glass . you’ll usually spot the damage before the infestation, which may include mottled yellow leaves, brown leaves, and stunted growth. to get if you’ve got a tetranychid infestation, place a bit of white book under your plant and tap the leaves. this may cause the spider mites, if they’re present, to fall out onto the paper for identification.

To treat a tetranychid infestation, take the plant outside and spray it with a strong jet of water. do that twice daily until the infestation is in check . If this does not work, you’ll try using neem oil or insecticidal soap.

2. Scale

Scale insects present themselves as small round or oval white lumps, with no identifiable features, like body parts. they’re usually found on the underside of leaves, which may look whitewashed if the size infestation is severe. they will attack an entire plant but are usually most prevalent on the foliage of Areca Palms, sucking the sap from the plant with their straw-like mouths. The results of this may be brown spots on the leaves of your plant, also as curled , dropping leaves, and eventually, a dead plant (University of Florida).

There are several differing types of scale, and you would like to spot which sort you’ve got before attempting to get rid of the infestation, as differing types will answer different treatment.

While most sorts of scale are just a nuisance and inconvenience to affect , some types are dangerous and may quickly destroy a plant beyond the purpose at which it are often saved. this sort of scale is most ordinarily found on palms which are sitting in heavily wet soil, or which have poor drainage. this is often one more reason to undertake to avoid overwatering your palm.

If you identify a scale infestation, don’t attempt to wash them off the leaves, as this will actually encourage new scale infestations. Instead, stop heavily affected leaves and eliminate them carefully. Prune back different sections of the plant to thin it out and make sure that all of the leaves have access to light. High levels of continued exposure to sunlight will naturally control scale infestations.

If further pest control methods are needed, use a horticultural oil to stay the size infestation cornered , or introduce natural scale predators like lacewings, beetles, and ladybugs. A pesticide is never needed to regulate scale and will be the ultimate resort because it can harm the natural balance of ‘good’ insects.

3. Mealy Bugs

Mealy bugs appear as if a fluffy white substance on your plant, and typically reside within the nooks of plants where they’re difficult to identify and take away .

They can usually be removed by spraying them with a quick stream of water. Take your palm outside and spray it with a water hose, that specialize in areas where mealy bugs could also be hiding. If this does not resolve the difficulty , you’ll use tweezers to get rid of the mealy bugs, or wipe the leaves with lotion .

4. White fly

These pests are much easier to identify , because the adults are white winged creatures who fly away as soon as you disturb the leaf they’re on, while the juvenile whitefly resemble scale insects. they’re found on the underside of leaves, where they suck the sap from the plant, compromising its health.

Whiteflies secrete a sticky substance, which is left behind on the leaf after they need ate up the sap. this may become a black soot-like substance, which is really a fungus growing thereon . If you’ve got a whitefly problem, you’ll likely soon have an ant problem too, because the ants are interested in the sticky substance the whiteflies leave behind.

To tackle a whitefly infestation, within the first instance spray the plant outside with a robust stream of water. this will be repeated twice each day until the infestation is gone, that specialize in spraying the underside of leaves. Alternatively, placing yellow sticky tape near the plant is typically very effective at removing whiteflies, because the adults are drawn to yellow and obtain stuck on the tape.

12. Areca Palms Landscaping

Areca palm are generally used in landscaping. They give best results when kept and grown in a proper fashion. They look beautiful and and have no problem of falling leaves and creating wastes. These plants are one of the most commerically used plant by landscapers.

Conclusion

Areca palms are ever recommended plants for your house and are very easy to grow and care. They are not very costly too. So everyone should plant it in their house, yards and lawns.

FAQ on Areca Palm

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Please comment below what else would you like to know about areca palms ?