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saturn333

Parlor Palm concerns

3 years ago

Noticed this on my parlor palm today. It gets filtered late morning afternoon sun.




Comments (4)

  • 3 years ago

    If there is a bug or something in the pics, I can't find it.

  • 3 years ago

    Google says it maybe overwatered even though I water it weekly, maybe during the winter I need to water less?

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Interesting user name, but it sort of weirds me out.

    You should water when the plant needs it. Watering on a schedule, unless you're using a grow medium specifically formulated to allow you to do that, almost always leads to episodes of over or under-watering. Burned leaf tips and/or leaf margins are most often a symptom of a problem in the rootzone. You can determine appropriate watering intervals by using a "tell". More on that below.

    Your plant looks very chlorotic.

    When did you last fertilize? what did you use?

    Does the pot have a drain hole? Does it have a collection saucer? Do you allow the plant to reabsorb the water that makes it into the collection saucer?

    Do you know your home's range of relative humidity? Your plant is sensitive to fluoride and fluoride is accumulative in plant tissues. Low humidity increases transpiration (water loss through the leaves), which speeds up the nutrient stream (water and what's dissolved in that water), which means more fluoride accumulates in leaves under low humidity conditions.

    Using a 'tell'

    Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant.

    Watering in small sips in order to avoid over-watering - leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions - which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips, rather than resolving a dilemma, simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor.

    In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water.

    Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'.

    One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue.

    Al

    saturn333 thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
  • 3 years ago

    In addition to that great stuff, a clay pot feels cold when it is moist, and it is a darker color. When it dries, it does not feel so cold and turns a lighter color. The porosity of the clay allows water to evaporate from the soil much more quickly than non-porous ceramic or plastic pot.


    In the porous clay pot and not allowing the pot to sit in a tray of water, the risk of overwatering a parlor palm is so low, it shouldn't be on your mind unless you start watering your plant incessantly, daily. I don't worry about the level of moisture in most of my pots before I add more water because the bigger harm to those plants is a dry moment. Many plants can't handle a dry moment & will suffer foliage damage. So I just make sure to water often enough so those plants are never literally dry.


    Also, really dry soil can become hydrophobic, unable to absorb moisture before it just runs by and out the drain hole. If a pot has gotten very dry, water it again after a few minutes, thoroughly but gently all over the soil surface, not just in 1 spot. Excess should drip out. When it finishes dripping, put it back in the usual spot. This is too time consuming if you have more than 100 pots in the house like I do.

    saturn333 thanked Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL