New bamboo (seifrizii) palm - would love some advice

4 years ago

Hi everyone,

Just got this new bamboo palm and would love some advice on how to take a good care of it!

Some details:

* It's placed in a corner where it gets decent (?) balcony (filtered) light (mainly northern), 2nd picture is when all the lights in the room are off at 3pm. Seems adequate?

* I have no idea what soil it's in but it seems pretty light to the touch (compared to other "heavy" ones I got to feel). I have a cactus mix & perlite, but I don't think repotting & changing soil is needed? especially that I read palms don't like their roots messed with

* The soil is bone dry at the moment (used a kebab skewer all the way to the bottom). Should I give it a good watering (until water comes of of the draining holes) immediately? (it's in its nursery pot which has draining holes & is sitting on a saucer)

* Almost all (if not all) of the leaves are dusty as hell (to the point where after cleaning one you can see it gets much greener). Since dusting every leaf separately is not really an option, Is it ok to take it to the shower when I water it and give it a good "shower" to get the dust off? Other ideas?

And of course any other tips would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Featured Answer

Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

I could be wrong, but I think I see some spider mite speckling on the fronds. I'd look them over carefully with a magnifying glass to see if there are any tiny buds moving around. Overall, the plant should just be a darker green color.

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Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years ago
the corner is dark ... turn the plant often .. maybe invest in a lazy susan ... if you dont have kids or pets who will play with it ...

gently wash the leaves with water .. do a frond per day.. one per weekend ... if you could lean it in to the shower.. or figure out how not to drown the plant then go for it ...

dont complicate proper watering by soaking it in the shower .. is what i am getting at ... maybe wrap the pot and cover the media top to avoid severe soaking ...

i dont understand the pot and bag ... is it potted ... does the pot drain .. is the sack just decorative???

is that the media thru out the pot.. or just a covering.. use a teaspoon and dig down a bit.. just to find out ...

ken
Yuval
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Hi Ken,

I can see the confusion 😄 It is potted in its original nursery pot (/w draining holes of course) and is sitting on a saucer inside the bag. I can take it out & rotate it (that is the pot itself) quite easily.

I'll clean the leaves one by one if there's no other option

Yep that's the media through the entire pot, it's like chunks of coarse (?) soil, I can take a picture if necessary

Thanks!
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Yuval
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Ok so found a solution for cleaning the leaves, I put the pot in the shower and sprayed it sideways/horizontally so water only gets to the leaves

Regarding the pot I noticed it doesn't have drain holes at the bottom, only on its sides? Is that a problem? should I drill/make some holes at the bottom (it's plastic so it'll be easy)?
Jurassic Park
4 years ago
Most all the Chamaedorea palms make terrific houseplants, one of my top five for mainly interior conditions. Don't neglect waterings, they are not them most drought tolerant of palms.
Yuval
Original Author
4 years ago
One month later,
I'm starting to notice browning (and even blackening) tips. Most of the plant looks fine & healthy (new fronds look good), but there are quite a lot of browning tips. Last time I watered it was 15 days ago (when the top 2 inch of the soil dried), before that it's been 17 days (since the first time I watered it which was when I got it). What might be the problem?
Yuval
Original Author
4 years ago
Anyone? :-)
Yuval
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
@Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A Are you refering to the pictures from the OP or from the last post? You are not wrong and I did treat it for spider mites just when I got it (sprayed the entire plant from top to bottom, over and under, with dish soap mixed with water, until it was soaking wet). It is visible from the last three pictures that it's much greener (aside from the already affected fronds). I'll check if they've made a comeback.

That yellowing on the tips, is what concerns me tho…