Help for my indoor palm

[symon]

Hello fellow palm owners

 

I have a Phoenix Robelini that i’ve had for about 6 years, grown indoors( summer spells outside) and has always been in the same spot and been a happy palm.

 

There have been some new and less than wonderful developments:

 

• Last year it started to develop brown/yellow leaf spots on the lower leaves. This happened whilst a friend was staying during a three week holiday. I sprayed it will Rose Clear, put out side and all seemed to recover reasonably well. Spots obviously remained
• This year the leaves are generally lighter in colour, slight pinking in some leaves, with mild spotting returning on newer growth.
• The new growth is taking months to slowly unfurl and the old leaves are uncharacteristically looking somewhat lacklustre
• As it was seriously pot bound i repotted it( Perlite, Innes no2,Lakeland Gold) left it in the same position outside and then brought it in for the winter.

 

 

It’s not the same happy palm it’s been and i’m wondering what i’ve done and what i can do to bring it back to vibrant life.

 

I’ve attached photo’s that hopefully give a back ground to the situation. 

 

Any suggestions/questions would be gratefully received.

 

Thanks

Symon

[Steve Mac]

Hi Symon, Welcome to the forum, nice pics.

This may not be your most accurate response, I do not have any experience with a P. robellini in a pot , if anyone suggests anything different to me, listen to them.

I have seen bigger palms in smaller pots and the ones posted often look good, but it usually requires more care, knowledge and attention to keep them looking good than most people may have. I think that you have done the right thing in repotting into fresh potting mix, but personally I would have increased the size of the pot. In your third pic, amongst other things, that looks like it could be sunburn, because the bronzing is in the centre of some leaflets rather then either end, has it been moved from shade to sun rather quickly? It could also just be sulking from being repotted, sometimes plants need a little time to adjust to change. 

I don't really know how many fronds a robellini in your situation should hold, that may be right but I thought that it should have more.  I would not cut off any dying ones until they are all crispy brown. When a leaf is dying the plant will withdraw and use nutrients from the dying leaves and use them for the new ones. 

And one more thing if you put your location in the details a 'local' is more likely to be able to help you more since they would know your weather.

I too would be interested in what others may think.