Seeking assistance and advice for ailing potted Pritchardia Lowreyana ( "LouLu" ) palms

[Nomad NYC]

 

Hi and  good evening everyone,  I need help from the PalmTalk experts out there!

I grew these Hawaiian  Pritchardia Lowreyana ( "LouLu" )  palms from seeds  -  first year they were doing fine, even during their first winter, only this second winter season indoors they  recently started to turn brown and die.

I had five plants originally, now I am down to two, and it looks  like if I don't reverse this trend, will end up with zero soon...

   

 

This one bit the dust last week...

 

They were all healthy looking last December, only in the past few weeks have the leaves started turning brown and shrivel up.

     

 

 

 

 

 

While I know that I can't exactly replicate their native Hawaiian  Moloka'i  island environment indoors , I've given them more than enough supplemental light, warmth, humidity, water, etc..

Despite doing all that, these palms are still declining . Is there some kind of deficiency here , something that I missed  ( I  admit that I  haven't fertilized these palms during the winter,  since September ).

Please take a gander at these pictures and tell me what I'm doing wrong,  and how I can save my two remaining LouLu  palms,  thanks!

 

[happypalms]

Possibly lack of humidity, overwatering. Looks like a fungal situation to me with the soil. How cold have the temperatures been? 

[Nomad NYC]

12 hours ago, happypalms said:

Possibly lack of humidity, overwatering. Looks like a fungal situation to me with the soil. How cold have the temperatures been? 

 

Thanks for your help with this,  Happypalms !

Let's see, In that room the the temperature is 66 degrees Fahrenheit,   I have a humidifier in the room,  with a reading of 60 percent humidity.

And during winter, I only water them once a week. It's not the native soil in the pot, so fungal infection may be an issue.

If it's the soil and temperature, I can change that easily if that is the case.

[happypalms]

7 hours ago, Nomad NYC said:

 

Thanks for your help with this,  Happypalms !

Let's see, In that room the the temperature is 66 degrees Fahrenheit,   I have a humidifier in the room,  with a reading of 60 percent humidity.

And during winter, I only water them once a week. It's not the native soil in the pot, so fungal infection may be an issue.

If it's the soil and temperature, I can change that easily if that is the case.

You’re welcome for now just try drying them out a little bit with less water. A good quality potting mix coco coir 60% perlite 30% and 20% high quality potting mix. You can tweak this recipe a little to suit your climate. Growing palms indoors they do need a rest outside but only in the shade or they will burn. But good drainage is what your after. You can feed them only little amounts plants are like babies you can’t force feed them to grow especially indoors.

[SeanK]

I think it's just too cool, especially the soil. First year it was on the seed, so it needed no help. Now it wants a natural environment.

Here's a test (canary in the coalmine).

When you grow these, grow some basil alongside. You can buy it in supermarkets. If the basil turns black and fails, likely the palm won't make it either.

[meridannight]

Are you sure you don't have some sort of an infestation of bugs? Some pests can be really difficult to detect. Thrips are tiny and can hide in places really difficult to check on plants (like leaf axils). They also move and reproduce fast, and once they've surpassed critical mass in a collection it will be extremely difficult to control them let alone eradicate them. Spider mites are another example of hard-to-detect bugs. 

Thrips are perfectly capable of taking down 50 palm seedlings of those sizes within a short period of time, if left unchecked. And yes, I meant 50, not just 5 that you had. 

I am asking, because a sudden reversal in the health of a plant when the environmental and cultural conditions remain the same, is almost always some sort of a pest case. Sure, it could be the humidity too, but I feel that while humidity is important, it is more random and would affect the plants at different times, not all of them at once, like in your case. 

You need to inspect the plants thoroughly, hose them down in the shower just in case, and if possible treat them with some type of an insecticide (most good ones can't be used within a home, but must be used outdoors). If you are certain that you have no infestation, then placing the plants inside a humidity dome or a small indoors greenhouse will help. If it's caused by low humidity, the greenhouse will solve it. 

Also a note, 66 F is cold for tropical plants. (For comparison, when temperatures fall that low in my house, I am 24/7 inside my insulated sleeping bag designed for 10F!). It may seem odd to some, but while temperatures remain that low, the plants need less watering. However, having said that, if your soil is very well-draining (as it should be), it shouldn't cause catastrophic failure. Thus, I suspect some pest the most. 
 

[PalmsandLiszt]

On 3/8/2025 at 2:56 PM, Nomad NYC said:

Let's see, In that room the the temperature is 66 degrees Fahrenheit,   I have a humidifier in the room,  with a reading of 60 percent humidity.

If this is all day and night long, it is too cold. Average temperature in Hawaii is not 66f! Combined cold and damp has probably allowed fungus to attack the roots. I'd have a look at the roots on the worst-looking one to confirm this hypothesis. I think this is more likely than a pest issue. Daytime temperatures should be more like 75-80+ for proper growth. If it drops to 66 only at night that is probably fine. Nutrients from the seed perhaps helped them get through last winter.
I have a few P. hillebrandii seedlings similar in size to yours, which slowed down considerably during the dark season, but are starting to take off again now. They are very fast growers when happy. They easily tolerate 60s at night but always get temperatures of 70-75+ during the day. I also kept them on the drier side during the winter.