My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

I have a pretty nice 4' Palm Majesty that, I'm somewhat ashamed to say, I bought at Kroger for about $12.

What I'm NOT ashamed of, though, is the fact that it's done well and actually GROWN some inside our house in the year and a half since I bought it.

(And I was a little bit leery buying it... because palms were the [b]one /B] thing I'd been having trouble growing... I had killed one BIG one before this one.)

This plant again is 4', and is on a 1' metal pedistal (to keep the ferrets from climbing in it and un-earthing it).
It sits in a decent eastern exposure behind vertical blinds that are open all day.
The house is around 70 F, and I water the plant well only after I know it's had a decent 'dry down' period.
I 'mist ' it regularly with distilled water, as I do with the ferns and the naners.


What's happening lately is that is appears that the plant is going in 'two directions'.
Up until when we closed up the house when the weather got cooler, it had been a stable, green, palm plant.

Suddenly, the thing has started to throw fronds out like crazy, and the top looks great! But at the same time, the older fronds at the bottom and middle have developed brown tips at the ends of the leaflets, and in many cases the leaflets have browned completely.
Thus... my "two directions"

I still have the tag that came with it.
It says it's a zone 10-11 plant.
Interesting grey swollen trunk (yes)
Not drought tolerant.
medium to high light
Dark green leaves (I think leaves could be darker on mine!)
Plant in rich, humusy soil on the acidic side ( I did, using sulfur and cottonseed meal)
Fertilize with a balanced fertilizer ( I've been using 8-7-6 w/ micros)


Sorry, I've got no pics right now...
Maybe soon.

Anyone got any ideas what could be causing the browning and dying?

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

are you feeding it?i feed my majestic with miricle-gro, once twice a month. and dont be ashamed, i got mine at walmart and paid 6.97 for it.it is about 4 1/2 ft tall.

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

Marco it seems it likes cooler temps and less water. probabaly less spraying too

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

Yeah.
Like I said on the intro I've been using a 8-7-6 analysis liquid fertilizer in minute amounts with each watering.
I was kind of disgusted with the lack of color with the plant back in the spring of this year, so I took some ground up 'ironite' and let it filter down through the top of the soil... it did help a little, but I think it could be greener...
And I'd say about twice a month waterings is about right here too.

(A little off topic, but...)
Do you keep a watering 'calendar' for your plants?
Or do you just go by the old tried-and-true 'cool finger' test?

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

Well, I don't know...

On the tag it also says that "Majesty Palms thrive in average temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees F".
That falls right in line with what we live with here, as we turn down the temps to 67 F at night.

I could put down the mister bottle a little...

I just wonder if it's just a wierd 'reaction' to the change of local 'climate'.
It's been about 2 months since the windows have been closed pretty consistently, and the house's interior humidity level has dropped as a result.

When I potted it I put it in a really nice fiber hemp pot, probably 7-8 gallons.
I wonder if I didn't do enough for this plant's low pH (acid) needs when I blended the peat /soil with the sulfur and cottonseed meal?
What do put together for this type of soil prep for a palm?

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

i use the tried and true method with all my potted plants. even in the summer when some of them are outside. it could be that its not getting enough natural sunlite. i have a pic of mine in my gallery. its a bit blurry but you can tell what kind of plant it is. so do you still feel ashamed about paying 12.00 for yours? heck i dont feel ashamed for paying 6.97 for mine. i was happy as a clam! for most of my nanas and for george(my palm) i have them in the pots that are called self watering. they have the opening in the bottom side where you can water. i dont use that for my nanas, i just make sure theres no standing water in it.(their really great for that reason, the pot actually sits 2 in above the water in the pot tray.) i do use the side spout for my palm.i would try moving it where it could get a little more light and see how that does.( not full blast sun,but just a little more)

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

.

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

i DIDNT say my plants nicer then yours, i just have mine in a little more sun then the tag required. this is actually my first palm tree. thank you very much. :p.you said you felt ashamed and i said you should not feel that way! thank you very much!:p. and im glad that your palm has 4 fat trunks on it, it just means your has one more branch to it. and that its more sutrdy then mine. thank you very much!:p. soooooo thank you very much!:p

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

Today I talked to a woman who's a neighbor of ours about this problem with my palm.

She's definately an interior plant goddess!
( This past fall I gave her a grown up naner pup and a sprayer full of my 'banana oil' & its instuctions, to add to her 'indoor jungle')

She looked at it and she thinks maybe it could be looking poorly at the bottom partially because that the lower fronds that I pruned off some time ago had been pruned with a steel and unsterilized pruners.
She is of the belief that anthracnose and other problems can be spread readily from plant to plant by way of the pruner, specifically unsterilized steel ones.
She showed me what she has for her house. She uses some nice looking metal snips with thick nylon replaceable blades. (But I didn't see a brand name on them unfortunately)

She said she knows for sure that the steel blades are more likely to harbor bacteria. And even with the nylon blades she uses a watered down alcohol solution to sterilize the blade after cutting on a given plant.

Anyone else ever heard of this, or run in to this problem with palms or other plants?

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

most definately.(you should always clean your tools after every use.if you cut w/out cleaning the tools, what ever is on them can be transfered to other plants. infections can come from the the dirt or airborn, or from a plant that is sick and you dont know it ) if it can happen outside i dont see why it couldnt happen inside the house also. if you have tools that are used for inside only, you can run them throught the dishwasher. and the watered down version she told you about i have never used. hydrogen peroxide on the tools after they have been washed i have used. i use dawn dishsoap to clean mine.(antibacterial). this way of washing, was suggested by my favorite master gardener.

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

Everything i've read states in bold print that IT IS NOT A HOUSEPLANT. Not to say it couldn't be wintered in the house but it make take a lot of care. Mine, which I bought at Wally world, looks like poop, even in my greenhouse. I think as long as it stays green it'll be fine and take off in spring. You might just let it go dormant till you can stick it back outside. Best of luck to ya.-Nate:nanawhopp:

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

You say that the top is putting out fronds like crazy, and the middle and bottom fronds are developing brown tips and dying. This is typical of all palms. Sooner or later, the lower leaves drop off. They turn brown first as the plant absorbs what nutrients it can.

Does the plant really look all that horrible? If it's putting out new growth it can't be all that unhappy. Do you keep a lot of palms or is this the only one?

If you're keeping it at a cooler temperature I would cut way back on the fertilizer until spring.

Finally, keeping any plant from a grocery store alive is a plus. These plants are not well-cared for and the store does not care how long they survive after they are sold. I've heard that the average lifespan post-sale is two weeks.

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

amen to that. ive gone into walmart and other stores , and you would not believe the trauma that these plants go through. the only place where ive seen the plants really taken care of is the lowes in cookvegas and the one nursery that i go to.:0493:

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

when i looked at some before i bought this one," the tag said made an excellent houseplant." i wish these plant people who put these plants out for the public to buy, would make up my mind for me. maybe i just got lucky, mine has new fronds fixing to open and is real health green, no dead leaves or anything bad. maybe the palm fairy helped me pick this one out. there were about 12 i had to chose from. most looked like they were ready for the compost pile. there goes the clueless in sparta thing again.

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

didnt think you would trim / prune palms, unless you planted to close to walk way

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

My wife loves these palms and has them all over the house . We got ours at Wal-mart and they were in great shape . I try to buy all my plants from localy owned nurseries but found these on sale there a few years ago and could'nt pass on them .

We have found that an extemely well draining mix consisting mostly of pine bark and perlite along with a pot with 4-5" of packing peanuts in the bottom to be the best way to keep these . We water often ,the majesties will show yellowing and browning of the leaf tips when they dont get enough to drink . the trick is to have a mix that will allow you to water very heavily while not remaining wet for extended periods .
We never fertilize! Only a little tea now and then . I had read early on that majesty palms were very salt sensitive and that one should be able to flush the soil often in container culture to prevent salt s building up . I decided then that artificial fertilizers would exacerbate this build up and that we would only use organics for our potted palms .
They have grown a great deal over the last few years and have been repotted twice .
We did lose one to crown rot (potted in miracle grow) and had another to be attacked by mealy bugs. All of them have had thier crappy stages but have bounced back ,eventually .

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

glad to know about the salts. i used miricle- gro one or twice on it, but i make it kind of weak. its just like my whit bird, i havent used the m.g. on it because of the salts, so now that makes two i dont use that on! ill have to find the "tea bags" for the compost teas to use on them i guess. ill have to check out my new home(burgess fall nursery) and see if he has any to sell.oh wait, got a friend who has composted 1 yr old manure. so my den smells like :eek: @#$%, for a while, its all good.

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

If your tea smells like " @#$%" it needs further aeration.
Don't use smelly tea . Only use that with a sweet dirt smell.

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

Well, despite the aforementioned problems I must be doing something right!
It's been in the house 15 months straight, and like I said the fronds are coming out like fireworks!

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

oh goodness, that one hurt. im still laughing! teas arent suppossed to smell like @#$%. ha ha. that was good. i ment the 1 yr old manure. there i go not clarifing myself again. my friend uses(should say used) the liquid manure, and she said she smelt like @#$% for a week even after 2 baths. im sorry that was just a funny ha ha. you use the teas for your bird also?

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

and yes you can trim the palms, but only the brown /yellow parts. you dont want to cut into the green.

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

Yeah. I'm quite familiar with that concept from working with outdoor ornamentals. Especially with verticillium wilt disease prevention in maples and fireblight control in hawthorn, crabapples, etc.

I'd just never heard of the nylon blade thing before, have you?

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

[quote=Lagniappe;24093]

We have found that an extemely well draining mix consisting mostly of pine bark and perlite along with a pot with 4-5" of packing peanuts in the bottom to be the best way to keep these . We water often ,the majesties will show yellowing and browning of the leaf tips when they dont get enough to drink . the trick is to have a mix that will allow you to water very heavily while not remaining wet for extended periods .
We never fertilize! Only a little tea now and then . I had read early on that majesty palms were very salt sensitive and that one should be able to flush the soil often in container culture to prevent salt s building up . I decided then that artificial fertilizers would exacerbate this build up and that we would only use organics for our potted palms .
They have grown a great deal over the last few years and have been repotted twice .
We did lose one to crown rot (potted in miracle grow) and had another to be attacked by mealy bugs. All of them have had thier crappy stages but have bounced back ,eventually .


Hmmm....
Good point about the fertilizer.
I'll switch it over to an organic 'tea' fertilizer.
What type and analysis do you recommend?

And do you recommend feeding it at all in the winter?
(It does get good winter eastern exposure in the morning)

I saw on Dave's Garden website today a blog about how Majesty Palms were sensitive to 'tap water' in someone's outdoor setting in CA.

I use tap water that has had 2 days for the flouride to evaporate, and then I add the 8-7-6 fertilizer to it before I feed / water with it.
Would you say that this is adequate to get rid of most of the flouride?
Or should I be using distilled?

Everything else I use this water on does great, including the naners. :2785:

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

I agree , if your getting good growth then you must have a happy plant .
Some problems can pop up out of nowhere though . like the accumulations of salts . It could take a while for this to become evident .

Indoor plants like to do goofy things too.
My white bird bloomed and , two months or so later, was attacked by mealybugs . I expected it to die but it pupped out and then put out new leaves of its own . Now ,a year later it started putting on leaves again and the mealy bugs are back as well .
My plants always defy the things I've read , both positively and negatively.
Never is this more extreme than when I've brought them indoors to live.

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

You make me feel a lot better!

Yes, this is my only palm. But since I've had decent success now with this one (alive in the house for 15 months) I'll probably be looking for some more soon.
And I took your advice about the fertilizer, starting today...

My other indoor house plants worth mentioning, besides the bananas I've "trained" to be largely indoor plants, are tons of boston ferns, Maranta leuconeura, diefenbachia, a half dozen african violets, a 'bonsai-size' ficus (covered by all insurance companies including Geico!), and a flowering hibiscus that gets moved in and out every spring and fall.

This past summer I also was given some mystery 'fly-killing plant' by the same woman I told you about who I talked to today. (In trade for the naner) :2748:

The plant's REALLY wierd.
It's olive-grey with wavy cream horizontal stripes on the leaves.
And it "SPRAWLS" all over as it grows.
Supposedly the bloom kills flys when they land on it.
The bloom looks like miniature spaghetti 'erupting'.

(No digital camera in the house)

Anyone know what this is called?

Re: My 'two directions' with 'Palm Majesty' Ravenea rivularis
 

i havent heard of the nylon blades...very interesting. geico huh....are you in good hands??lol. glad to know bout them salts and a palm. change my way of thinking. clueless about the carnivore..ive heard of the pitcher plants( got to get one when lowes gets them in) know bout the venus( did you know you can feed them raw ground beef?) i thought that was kool. and if you have a venus out by your compost it will gt rid of the flies. the one your talking about i dont know. you could call lowes and talk to their "master gardner" they do the ordering so he might know,or your local nursery. it sounds familiar, just cant place it.