Geoff Stein is the one to ask about palms. He goes by the name Palmbob here. But I don't see it as an issue when some one directs a question to a particular person here. It happens a lot on GW. And everyone looks in anyway, as we have shown, and probably quite a lot of others who didn't comment ;)

Thomas is new here and so let us give him a break. And perhaps people familiar with this type of palm will also chime in.

ditto on last comment. Do NOT mess with palm roots. Just stick in bigger pot, add more soil and it will do well.

Is there any particular reason why you would not bare root palms specifically? Or is it that you are against bare rooting any plants. Some plants are difficult to bare root such as a mature hibiscus because of the dense mat it forms. Although I would not hesitate to prune away 1/2 its root mass when repotting.

I feel I should mention that I did indeed root prune my small Areca palm about a month ago (I've had it a total of maybe 2 months) and it responded well. I cut off about 2/3 of the root mass and planted it in a self watering planter. I do have a light on it plus a small humidifier next to it. I'm sure that helped but nevertheless Arecas are said to be quite a finicky houseplant.

Would love to hear someone speak about their experience trying to root prune palms. Someone who does regular root pruning. That is why I addressed this thread to Al Tapla. I trust if he tells me not to root prune palms, he is speaking from experience, not just from what the common beliefs are.

Here is the Areca I root pruned and repotted

My plants · More Info

You sure that's an Areca palm (Dypsis lutescens)? growing very oddly for one (usually would have pinnate leaves by now, and also usually does not clump in such a fashion). Have to say whatever it is seems pretty happy and healthy. Most palm species would likely be far less forgiving when messing or cutting roots, though Howea palms do tolerate far more root damage than the average palm and you might get away with some pruning, though possibly unnecessary.

That's what it was labeled and what all the other ones alike are labeled. I did prune some leaves off a short while back because the tips were really browning from before I had the humidifier there.

you have any closer shots of this plant (near its base, and a close up of the leaves)?

I think most large garden centers that sell palms don't give a hoot regarding the names they tag on their palms and whether right or wrong , they use the most common names they see used by other large stores. I'd guess palmbob being so well versed in even small differences between species can spot them while us non experts would easily overlook those differences . And how many pinnate species are there?

Actually, it does not quite look like a typical Areca palm (Dypsis lutescens) to me either. The palm in the photo has a very green stem; Dypsis lutescens has color that is more yellow. D. lutescens ARE attractive palms but really are not that easy as "indoor" or even "indoor/outdoor" palms (and I have a LOT of palms)!

still can't figure out what kind of palms those are. How tall are they (look like multiple palms, not just a single clump of Dypsis lutescens)?

I'd say about 1 1/2' tall. And as for the very green stem, the color is different then it would be in a normal light. This light has 12 white leds and 6 red which gives a very nice color to everything under it. This is the light, Here

The more I look at that last couple of photos the more I think those palms are Adonidia merrillii. Maybe because there's so many of them crowded together they're growing taller and thinner than usual. I've grown Adonidia seedlings but they were single seedlings per pot and didn't look as 'stretched' as those. Otherwise they're very similar.

that would certainly make more sense.