How to Care for an Areca Palm

The areca palm tree, also known as the yellow palm tree and the bamboo palm tree, supports locations where it receives the direct impact of the sun's rays, but the best environments in which it will develop are those in which the sun does not have a direct impact on it.

For this reason, it is considered an indoor plant: it adapts and thrives best in rooms with good lighting. If you decide to expose it to the direct impact of the sun's rays, you will run the risk of seeing its leaves spoil or, worse still, end up burning.

Read also: Here are the Best Aromatic Plants to Grow at Home

Another aspect that you should consider about the golden fruit palm (the name by which Dypsis lutescens is also known ) is that of temperature. Being a plant from tropical environments, you must place it in areas where the temperature exceeds 15 ^or C.

At all times you need to be in places with more than 15 ^or C and, in fact, the optimum temperature range Areca palm is between the 18 ^or C 25 ^or C . Therefore, be especially careful in the colder times of the year if you have this plant at home: place it in rooms that are usually inhabited or, at least, with heating.

Humidity is a fundamental factor to consider for the areca palm to survive and grow, as it needs high humidity due to the enormous transpiration of water made by its leaves.

The best way to detect if the plant requires a higher humidity is by observing the tips of its leaves: if they turn brown, it will need a higher humidity level. Spraying the leaves with water twice a day in the warm months of the year will be enough to provide it with the moisture it needs.

One of the care of the areca palm to take more into consideration is irrigation. Being a tropical plant, it requires abundant and frequent waterings. In the hot seasons of the year (spring and, above all, summer), we recommend that you water it approximately every 2 or 3 days.

You will have to regularly check that the substrate is wet, but in no case should you flood it. This plant needs plenty of water to grow well, but if you water it excessively, you will end up drowning it and it will die. If you see that its leaves start to turn brown, the plant could have excess water, so be careful.

In the coldest times of the year, that is to say, autumn and especially winter, the irrigation dynamics change drastically: considerably reduce the frequency, as it will not require so much water and one irrigation every 10 days will be enough.

Regarding the fertilizer of the areca palm, keep in mind that since it has a great capacity to purify the air, it requires more fertilizer than other plants. In addition, if you want to preserve its vitality and the green tone that characterizes it, you will have to fertilize it frequently.

In summer and spring, that is, the warmest times of the year, you should fertilize this plant with a specific tropical plant fertilizer once a month. If you do not have compost for tropical plants, you can use other organic and ecological ones.

Here are some problems with this beautiful plant

• Areca palm with brown leaves: the leaves of the areca palm can acquire a brown tone at the tips for two reasons: due to excessive watering or due to lack of humidity (dry environment). In the first case, ensure that the substrate does not get soaked or puddled. In the second case, try spraying the leaves with water. Do it with some regularity.
• Areca palm with yellow leaves: Sometimes the leaves turn yellowish, something that is sometimes due to the presence of pests on the underside of the leaves. To remedy this problem, you will have to identify what type of pest it is and combat it with a natural insecticide for tropical plants.

Also read: Japanese Gardening: Techniques to Apply at Home

These are the main care of the areca palm that you should know, so if you want to enjoy the color and life that this plant brings in homes, make sure you meet the requirements mentioned in this article.

Adapted and translated by The Cop Cart Staff

Sources: Uncomo