Just a friendly tip . Home depot is not the best place to buy a palm up north.Also An areca palm is not the easiest palm to grow indoors up north either. The other tip never transplant in the winter months.Not even early spring. The other thing watering this time of year indoors every 2 days is too much.I have killed soo many palms that I know better. Too little water is much better then too much. I wish someone would have told me that 15 years ago . Good luck and being so close to spring im sure they will rebound...Bill

They were a great price. I had to transplant them to a bigger pot. The pot that they came in was so small and there was barely any dirt. You could see the roots. I water every 2 days because the soil is dry by then. We have our heat still on so it drys the soil out faster. Up north we always water more in the winter than the summer. All my other indoor plants are the same way. I am hoping that the one just went into shock and will recover for the other one is doing great now.

Watering more in the winter than in the summer just doesn't make any sense. Anybody second that!?! The heat being on in the house doesn't even compare to the summer heat outside. Unless its 80 degrees and very very dry, don't water them every 2 days. Make sure when you water its not just dry on the surface. If its soaked under the surface and you water because the top is dry you're overwatering it. Also I wouldn't buy a plant that barely had any dirt in the pot and the roots were showing. What you need to do is find a very sunny spot (south window) and only water once a week. Until you can plant them in partial shade outside. Trust me. They are not houseplants like HD and Lowes claims they are.

Jay

yeh, you want to really grow them on the drier side during the northern winter as indoor plants. Watering every two days at this time of year is excessive (unless it's planted in very small pot with one of those soil mediums that holds water for about 15 minutes). I water my Areca (Dypsis lutens) about every ten days in the winter. I've never really had a problem with them as houseplants so I wouldn't say that they are bad indoor palms. Mine is currently under flourescent lights in the basement with the rest of the collection (extra humidity down there helps). And while HD (or Lowe's) is our all time favorite store to love/hate, I also wouldn't say you can't purchase great palms there for great prices. Healthy palms that I have purchased at HD include: Chinese fans, Foxtail, Manila, Parlor, Spindle, Triangle, and Dwarf Phoenix. And as the palms are overwintering under artificial light conditions, I pretty much get away with transplanting year-round.

Thank you all for your input. I have two of them and the second one is doing great. I will cut down on the water like suggested and see what becomes. The leaves go from dark green, to a lighter green and then start to brown.

So what I'm getting is that water sparingly about every 10days or so. What about my lighting? Would you say that is fine? I am assuming that the one in the corner closes to the door is good because it is doing fine but what about the other one.

Try moving it next to the other one and doing exactly the same thing to it. I said water it once a week. Not every 10 days. Don't be too "sparingly" with the water.

Jay

I purchased a moisture meter for plants yesterday. I also moved it right next to the other plant. The moisture meter is saying it as at 2 and that is what the healthy plant reads to. Does anybody know what it is suppose to read or at least a good reading for areca palm?

After searching on some other sites I read that other as well got some palms from the same place. They are queen/ "majestic" palms? Does that make a difference in their care? Like I mentioned before the leaves don't turn yellow the just go brown and and dry.