I have a butterfly palm, (I think also known as Areca Palm) which is about 4-5 years old, but have never really got any bigger/bushier than when I first bought it. It has been in my lounge which is light and bright but not overly sunny ,which I understood was good lighting conditions for them. During this winter the plant has started to look really "sad", I think the combination of central heating and log fire in the lounge. I moved it around x-mas time to the kitchen which is again light and bright but not so warm. It seemed to perk-up a little bit, and I even saw a few very small new shoots coming up. But these seem to have halted at about 3 inches high and the plant is looking a bit droopy again.
I've been giving minimal water over winter and now its warmed up watering a little more often so that soil stays damp. My sister-in-Law has one in her dining room, which is in a very similar sized pot, but is huge, she waters it in a very similar way to me, but says does nothing else, so dont know why hers is huge and mine is very weedy! Any ideas as to what conditions are ideal or any supplement/feed I can use. Anything that would start up growth etc
Thanks

Areca is an incorrect name, the correct one being Dypsis lutescens.
I grew mine from seed about 10 years ago (don't ask me why, because it
is easier, quicker and cheaper to buy an established plant) and it's
just over 2.15m (7ft.) high. It sits in a corner of my sitting room
and gets indirect sunlight from a window opposite. This species does
not appreciate long periods of dryness and cannot grow properly unless
there is sufficient root moisture. That is not to say it must be kept
sopping wet, just that watering needs to be thorough whenever the
compost starts to dry out. Push your finger into the compost and if
it feels dry about 1cm down, then the plant needs a good watering.
This will be needed more often in summer than in winter, but there is
no rule that says you must water once a week etc.

The problem with giving those small dribbles of water is that you
increase the risk of salts building up within the compost and Dypsis
is rather sensitive this. Eventually the salt build-up becomes too
great and an otherwise healthy plant suddenly deteriorates. It
happens to a lot of house plants and after over or under-watering, is
one of the commonest causes of failure. The only solution is to
regularly wash out these salts by thorough drenching. Let the excess
water drain away completely before returning the plant to its normal
position. Never stand your palm in water, it will cause roots to rot
and increase stagnation within the compost.

Mine gets hauled into the shower, is treated to a 'torrential
rainstorm' and then allowed to drain overnight. As for feeding; I'm
lazy and push a few Miracle Grow slow-release pellets into the compost
every 6-8 months. Any good quality liquid feed applied every 2-3
weeks is fine, but make sure you use one that contains trace elements
as well as the main nutrients.

Now to your plant. If it has not been re-potted recently, now would
be a good time to look at that. Re-potting does not mean putting the
plant into a bigger pot, that's potting-on. It is all about making
sure that the compost is fresh and sustaining. Old, soil-less compost
will have lost all of its limited nutrients and be stale, acidic and
airless. It needs replacing with fresh if the plant is to flourish.
Carefully remove the plant from its pot and very gently tease out as
much of the old compost as you can without breaking or disturbing the
roots. Using good quality multi-purpose (or one with John Innes
added), reposition the plant in its old pot (having cleaned that
first) and shake in fresh compost. Agitating the pot while adding the
compost ensures that it trickles down around the roots and reduces the
risk of large air pockets. Water thoroughly and allow the plant to
drain.

Don't expect your plant to recover overnight. Even the fastest
growing palms are slow to show signs of recovery and tend to stop if
subjected to root disturbance, so it will take a few months before you
notice any appreciable improvement. It's a bit like a ship - takes a
long time to slow down and just as long to speed up. However, the
deterioration will subside unless your plant has gone too far and it
will be looking a lot healthier by late summer.

Thanks so much for a very helpful reply. I re-potted about 18-24months ago, would you advise to do it again now? I'll also get some feed pellets and hopefully by following your advice my little plant will "recover"!
Thanks again

On Apr 28, 5:21*pm, linda porter linda.porter.
wrote:
... I re-potted about 18-24months
ago, would you advise to do it again now? I'll also get some feed
pellets and hopefully by following your advice my little plant will
"recover"!

Generally, I look at repotting or potting-on my palms every 3 - 4
years depending upon the vigour of the plant. Your best bet would be
to *carefully* repot as outlined above and water more thoroughly from
now on. Imagine the 'donkey and carrot-on-a-stick' situation; by
allowing the compost to become dryish before watering deeply and
thoroughly, you encourage the roots to grow and search for moisture.
This keeps them active and healthy. Insufficient moisture over too
long a period causes the roots to become inactive or even start to
die, while too much water all of the time causes the compost to
degrade rapidly and the roots to rot.

"Dave Poole" wrote in message
...

Generally, I look at repotting or potting-on my palms every 3 - 4
years depending upon the vigour of the plant. Your best bet would be
to *carefully* repot as outlined above and water more thoroughly from
now on. Imagine the 'donkey and carrot-on-a-stick' situation; by
allowing the compost to become dryish before watering deeply and
thoroughly, you encourage the roots to grow and search for moisture.
This keeps them active and healthy. Insufficient moisture over too
long a period causes the roots to become inactive or even start to
die, while too much water all of the time causes the compost to
degrade rapidly and the roots to rot.

I have had a Neodypsis decaryi for around 25 years. It has grown slowly but
consistently over that time, with its "trunk" barely 20cm high, but the
leaves extending to 2.5 metres. I repotted it once around a dozen years ago,
but about 18 months ago decided it could do with some new soil, as its pot
was a mass of roots. So with minimal teasing of the roots I put it in
well-drained soil in a larger pot. Its leaves have slowly died back, and
the new bud forming in the base has remained unmoved for at least a year.
To misquote a well-known parrot sketch, I believe it is now an ex-palm...

I am not sure why it has died, but the build-up of salts mentioned in your
first post could well be a major contributory cause.

--

Jeff

After some time and following the advice given, my butterfly palm now has about 8-9 new leaves, plus 3-4 new shoots, lookin much healthier and greener, and generally happier!
Thanks