Variegated palms

[Tampa Scott]

I can not keep a variegated palm (Raphis and Butiagrus) looking good. What am I doing wrong? These 2 palms get only morning sun for about 2 hours and they still loo bad. What can I do to help these palms?

[Tampa Scott]

and ...

[Dypsisdean]

My experience tells me while there are some exceptions, like plants which have evolved over long periods of time to produce stable "variegations," I think most "freak" variegations require conditions with zero direct sun, not even 5 minutes (or less). And some will even burn in very bright light. So it's only controlled shade or greenhouse conditions that will render the perfect looking plant. And I have also found that the larger patches of pure white variegation are usually the most easily burned, with "streaky" or yellow types more tolerant.

[Daryl]

Every variegated palm I have hates any sun. This one has emerged into full sun and is getting toasted!

[pdleft]

Jerry, you are absolutely correct. No sun at all. I just moved my varigated rhapis today as they were getting too much sun under 65% shade and the white areas were beginning to burn. I find the same thing in the AeAe bannana.

[Walter John]

Jerry, you are absolutely correct. No sun at all. I just moved my varigated rhapis today as they were getting too much sun under 65% shade and the white areas were beginning to burn. I find the same thing in the AeAe bannana.

who's jerry ?

[palmislandRandy]

Jerry, you are absolutely correct. No sun at all. I just moved my varigated rhapis today as they were getting too much sun under 65% shade and the white areas were beginning to burn. I find the same thing in the AeAe bannana.

who's jerry ?

Betty calls all Hawiians Jerry

[Tampa Scott]

Thanks! I repotted these palms and put them in shade.

[JD in the OC]

Tampa Scott,

From growing many varieties of variegated palms, I will speak from my own experience. Again Occam's Razor is in effect here. It appears as though you are watering your potted Rhapis with a "cup of water"? Am I right? If so, this is causing a salt build-up in your soil and hence the brown leaf tips. I leech the soil of all my variegated palms in my sink, bathtub, and outside with the hose, allowing all excess water to drain completely and preventing salt build-ups. Then I bring them indoors and place on the floor. NO SAUCERS under the pots! It IS NOT a matter of incorrect sunlight IMHO.

JD

[Tampa Scott]

Tampa Scott,

From growing many varieties of variegated palms, I will speak from my own experience. Again Occam's Razor is in effect here. It appears as though you are watering your potted Rhapis with a "cup of water"? Am I right? If so, this is causing a salt build-up in your soil and hence the brown leaf tips. I leech the soil of all my variegated palms in my sink, bathtub, and outside with the hose, allowing all excess water to drain completely and preventing salt build-ups. Then I bring them indoors and place on the floor. NO SAUCERS under the pots! It IS NOT a matter of incorrect sunlight IMHO.

JD

JD, The palms are outside and get watered with the hose with water running out of the pot onto the ground below. I saw no salt build up on the pots when I repotted yesterday. I hope with bright light and new potting mix the palms will improve. I have plenty of potted palms and these 2 variegated ones give me a hard time. I had a variegated foxey lady that did the same thing for me and I gave it away a few years ago.

[Dypsisdean]

Tampa Scott,

From growing many varieties of variegated palms, I will speak from my own experience. Again Occam's Razor is in effect here. It appears as though you are watering your potted Rhapis with a "cup of water"? Am I right? If so, this is causing a salt build-up in your soil and hence the brown leaf tips. I leech the soil of all my variegated palms in my sink, bathtub, and outside with the hose, allowing all excess water to drain completely and preventing salt build-ups. Then I bring them indoors and place on the floor. NO SAUCERS under the pots! It IS NOT a matter of incorrect sunlight IMHO.

JD

JD, The palms are outside and get watered with the hose with water running out of the pot onto the ground below. I saw no salt build up on the pots when I repotted yesterday. I hope with bright light and new potting mix the palms will improve. I have plenty of potted palms and these 2 variegated ones give me a hard time. I had a variegated foxey lady that did the same thing for me and I gave it away a few years ago.

Scott,

I was going to mention the variegated Foxy Lady as being exceptionally prone to burning. I think a full moon will burn the variegation on that palm. And as mentioned above, the Ae Ae Banana is another variegated plant that has to be grown in a cave to keep the white from frying.

Jerry

[Gbarce]

I get the feeling that the durability of the variegated leaves are inherent and not that much due to culture.

The general rule I was following in my head is that the darker the variegation the more sun tolerant it is. So white variegation tends to burns easiest, followed by yellow then the lighter green variegation is the toughest.

Based on my experience with some palms though, some variegated leaves just start deteriorating no matter what conditions you give it -- kind of like genetic predisposition so I stopped stressing about it and accepted the fact that, its the way it's suppose to be

I have this beautifully variegate Arenga that has very thick and robust leaves. It opens up with bright glossy deep yellow variehation on the leaves

No matter what I do, the variegated parts always deteriorate. Through the years I've moved it into areas of varying degrees of shade and played with the water dosage too but the leaves only remain pristine for about a month and after that the yellow parts turn brown and shed away looking like tey were eaten off.

In contrast I have this licuala grandis with white variegation that doesn't show any burning or deterioration on the leaves even if it receives a lot more sun than the Arenga.

Notice the smallest and oldest leaves? They still look good and they have been on this plant since I bought it about 3 years ago

[Gbarce]

Tampa Scott,

From growing many varieties of variegated palms, I will speak from my own experience. Again Occam's Razor is in effect here. It appears as though you are watering your potted Rhapis with a "cup of water"? Am I right? If so, this is causing a salt build-up in your soil and hence the brown leaf tips. I leech the soil of all my variegated palms in my sink, bathtub, and outside with the hose, allowing all excess water to drain completely and preventing salt build-ups. Then I bring them indoors and place on the floor. NO SAUCERS under the pots! It IS NOT a matter of incorrect sunlight IMHO.

JD

JD in teh OC

Hmmm I never explored the salt build up angle before and am not famillar with it at all. Care to elaborate on it?

What should we look for to determine if salt build up is taking place? Do you have pictures?

Should we water with distlled water for a while to dilute salt build up?

Does this only happen for potted palms?

I just planted that Arenga in the ground so hopefully that neutralizes salt build up if indeed that is the cause on this Arenga.

[JD in the OC]

Gene: http://www.seabreezenurseries.com/IndoorPalmsCareAndMaintenance.html

[Creekside]

Variegated palms differ greatly in their tolerance of salts and sunlight. These Rhapis get bright, filtered light and a small amount of direct sun each day.

[Creekside]

These Rhapis get direct sun all morning and some of the afternoon. The green parts are a bit washed out, as Rhapis do in the sun, but the whitish-yellow striations are not burned at all. (I do have some that burn - even in the shade.) There are plenty of tough-as-nails variegated Rhapis out there.