Arenga micrantha

[Zac in NC]

I picked up a seedling of Arenga micrantha this weekend and I was wondering how well they do as houseplants? Anyone have suggestions or could share their own experiences?

BTW Post number 1000 for me. Whoo hoo!  

Zac

[Zac in NC]

Does anyone know? Come on now, I am sure a few of you have grown this one.

Zac

[MattyB]

Zac, way to go Mr. 1000!  I'm not growing A. micrantha but like A. engleri I think it prefers full sun.  They are tough though so they would probably do good in a container inside as long as you put it in a lot of light.  Good luck.  I hope someone else has some experience to share.

[Patrick]

My only experience is outside- Mine's liked part sun. I'd imagine it'll do both full or part sun, tho. It made it through last winter with flying colors! 28 deg. F. low

[Patrick]

Ps, congrats on 1000!

[Patrick]

And another milestone (though much less) # 100 for me!!!

[Zac in NC]

Thanks for the replies Matt and Patrick. It is very easy to reach 1000. I think I am only averaging about 6.5 posts per day. Granted, that is since the very beginning of this new forum.

Zac

[MattyB]

I think A. micrantha has a high dry air tolerance too so that would make it a good candidate for indoors.  Totally worth a try.

[Zac in NC]

I hope it has a high tolerance for dry air. I'll keep everyone informed as it lives through the winter( Hopefully)

Zac

[Palmy]

The arenga Micrantha is a great palm and Is known as the most cold hardy arenga. I would second that but thats what they say. I have 3 of them. 1 5 gallon and 2 1 gallons. They are very very slow growing. I get about 1 leaf every year if that. My 5 gallon is at around 2 1/2 feet and the 1 gallon's are about 1 foot. They do not like pro-long periods of sun. They do seem to enjoy filtered sun and deal with low temps. Although the most cold hardiest of the arenga's it was damaged at a low of 28 with some sleet and snow. But I guess thats pretty tough for a little one. I would think as long as its somewhat moist in the ground and has some sun it should do fine inside. I have heard of some stories of them growing at extrem speeds but mine dont. Keep a eye on it mine seems to be loosing more leaf's than gaining. I do give it some food and water it in the morning every other day in the summer. I keep them in my greenhouse during the winter. They really are nice in the full grown picture considering its cold hardy-ness. Good luck.

[J. Ingram]

I don't post very often, but I'll throw in my 2 cents since I've actually been growing this palm for 3 years now and have some random info at least.  

I bought mine as a 5 gallon 3 years ago along with a bunch of other small palms.  So it ended up in an area of deep shade in my yard.  That is until I noticed its new frond was VERY pale green.  So I pulled it out of the shade, put it in AM to early afternoon sun, and it greened up with its next new frond....

Now I can't conclude that it was the added light that fixed the problem since I also added fertilizer, but I think it helped.  In my climate, with the early afternoon sunlight being the most intense light it has seen, I would assume the Micrantha would do fine indoors as long as it got at least a half day of bright sunlight.

As for mine, I'm already looking forward to see what it will do in the Spring....  Good luck with yours

[Rob Pittman]

I have them in the ground and in containers.  Mine are all in partial to full shade.  They are deep green and happy.  I don't find them to be any slower than A. engleri.  My largest is 14' overall.

They do great during the high humidity summers here in Florida and for that reason I don't think they would like it indoors.

Rob

[Neofolis]

I don't know about micrantha, but for what it's worth, there are several large Arengas of various species in The Palm House at Kew, most of which are in filtered light and would have to cope with fairly low light levels in the winter.  The Palm House is, however, kept fairly humid.

[Zac in NC]

Thanks for everyones input. Seems like there are mixed signals. We'll see how this seedling does.

Zac

[Palmy]

I wouldnt suggest any afternoon sun. But morning sun or a light mix of sun and shade would be fine. It obviously hates my dry climate.

[mike453]

Zac,

 I would suggest trying to keep the humidity up. I have had several of these inside for about a year, and the leaf tips turned brown and growth stopped when the humidity got too low. When I increased the humidity they started producing new leaves and they are not browning now.

                     Best of luck, Mike