What to Do Immediately When You Bring Home a New Parlour Palm

Parlor palms are delightfully low maintenance, making them excellent beginner plants. If you’re deciding to add some green things to your space, this is a perfect place to start. These slow-growing tropicals have an elegant form with soft, gently curving fronds on lightly curving stems. 

This compact palm is native to rainforests in Guatemala and Mexico. In their native environment, they can grow up to 16 feet tall, but in cultivation, they stay considerably smaller. It’s so well-loved that it earned the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.

Bringing home a new plant is always a highlight for me. Choosing the right spot, finding a pretty container, and getting the environment just right are important things to do. Before you get started on any of that, though, it’s important to check for pests and diseases. 

In a perfect world, every nursery and retailer would meticulously care for their stock while it’s waiting to go home with you. Sadly, I’ve brought home some major issues that I could have circumvented if I inspected them properly. If you’ve never had spider mites, trust that you don’t want them.

It’s a good idea to isolate any new plants that you bring home until you’ve determined that there are no issues. When it comes to pests and diseases, here are some things to look for:

1. Check the entire plant, from the soil up, for signs of insects. Depending on the bug, you may be able to see them or their eggs. Keep a magnifying glass handy for this. Look under the leaves and especially around the soil, as this is a common place to find insects.
2. Some pests are just too small to spot, but we can look out for the damage they cause. Munched-on leaves, and those that have curling edges, holes, or webbing underneath are all signals of a pest issue. 
3. Look for signs of bacterial disease on the foliage. Sometimes bacteria will splash from one plant to another if the nursery workers aren’t careful. Even if they are, there’s a strong chance. This is what transmits bacterial diseases from one to another. It will appear as brown spots or water spots that gradually turn black and mushy. Remove these right away, and keep your palm quarantined for a week or two to make sure it doesn’t spread. 
4. Look for signs of fungal rot as well. Yellowing leaves or stems that may be soft and mushy are signs of root or crown rot. These warrant repotting, as the offending pathogens thrive in the soil.  

If you find any indication of pests or diseases, quarantine your newbie until you’re able to solve the problem. This will stem the spread to others. 

Steps two and three go hand in hand, as one will either lead to or eliminate the need for the second. I’m talking about the roots. Parlor palms like to be a bit root-bound. They don’t need much root to spread out, as they grow faster this way. Too much space can lead to slower growth.

You’ll still want to see what the roots look like to determine whether you need to re-pot. Naturally, if it is in a plastic nursery pot, you’ll want to transfer it to something nicer. You can leave it in the nursery pot and place the entire thing into a decorative container as well. This way, you can remove it to water the tree, and you won’t struggle with drainage. 

This is an easy step. You simply look at the bottom of the pot. Are there roots growing out of the drainage holes? If so, it probably needs a larger container. If not, it should be fine for a while. 

While they do like to be somewhat rootbound, if they are too overgrown for their container, it will slow your parlor palm’s growth. If you see those roots coming out of the drainage holes, it’s probably time to re-pot.

Because they prefer close quarters, don’t size up too much when you select a new container. You should go about two to three inches larger. This will be plenty. More important than the size, choose a container with good drainage. 

If your chosen container doesn’t have drainage holes, don’t despair. You can place your plant’s root ball in a plastic pot with drainage. Then, simply lift it out to water it and allow the water to drain out before placing it back in its home. 

Much like the container, the potting mix you use should be well-draining. You want a loose mixture that will hold moisture but not stay wet or soggy. Parlor palms prefer soil that is slightly acidic to neutral (6.0-7.8). 

Pre-combined palm potting mixes aren’t difficult to find, but if you prefer to mix your own, all the ingredients are easy to find. Create a mixture of one part standard potting mix, one part peat moss, and one part perlite for added drainage. 

Parlor palms are adaptable when it comes to light and humidity, but there are certain ideals that you can aim for. Under less-than-ideal conditions, this will still be a lovely plant. If you give it the right environment, you’ll have a beautiful, lush tropical tree. 

These are tropical rainforest understory trees. They grow beneath the canopy and receive plenty of bright but filtered light. The words indirect and dappled also apply to this type of exposure. 

Aim to keep your palm close to a window that receives light all day or as much as possible. Don’t place it in direct sun, as this will dry out and burn the leaves. If you don’t have a good spot that gets bright light, moderate indirect sunlight is sufficient. 

If the space you want your plant to inhabit gets direct sun for any significant amount of time, create a filter to protect the foliage. A sheer curtain works well to diffuse the light. Privacy glass is another option for keeping the natural light passing through but dispersing it so it won’t burn your foliage.

Luckily, these palms are well adapted to common indoor temperatures. They are tropical, but remember they are understory inhabitants. They are happiest between 65-80°F (18-27°C). Luckily, most people are comfortable in that range, as well!

Sudden drafts or changes in temperature can be stressful for your tree. Keep it away from air vents and drafts where it may be exposed to blasts of cool air. These are not frost tolerant at all, so if you keep it outdoors in the summer, make sure you bring it indoors in enough time to avoid temperatures below 50°F (10°C).

This is another area where your tree is adaptable and flexible. It can technically survive in low to moderate humidity, which makes it great for more arid climates than most tropical plants. However, these are not the optimal conditions. If it dips too low, you may see the tips of leaves turn brown and dry.

While they prefer their soil well-drained and not soggy, they also prefer to have moisture available at all times. If you have your potting mix and container right, this will come down to watering on a good schedule. 

Because it likes moist soil, you should water it right away and then weekly during the growing season. You can reduce watering over the winter when it will use fewer resources. Overwatering can lead to root rot, which is a plant killer. Ultimately, the soil should be lightly moist, never wet or soggy. 

While you’re at it, go ahead and give your new parlor palm some fertilizer, especially if you re-potted. You want to give it a light boost of nutrients to help it get settled into its new home. Use either a balanced formula like 20-20-20 or a specialty palm fertilizer. 

Repeat fertilizing once per month during the growing season. As with water, your palm will use less fertilizer in the winter, as well. Reduce or stop fertilizing until spring, when it re-enters a growth phase. 

Parlor palms are easy to care for and flexible about their environment. Keep things relatively stable and your plant should grow slowly but steadily, and the foliage should stay green, lush, and healthy.