Indoor palm advice

9 years ago

Hello

Just registered to the forums.

I bought my first house recently and since I own my place now I have been looking into getting some plants. One area in particular is my master bath where I want to put a couple of palms in. The floor tiles in the bath are a sandy color, and the walls light blue/turquoise so a couple of stately palms would complete the beachy feel :)

I wanted to ask some very basic questions and maybe get some help on what kind of palm would fit what I'm looking for. I went to a local nursery to look at what they had and all they had were some windmill palms.

First of all the room, it is reasonably well lit with overall light coloring (lots of reflected light) and a good sized (4-5 feet per side) west facing window. it is on the 2nd floor of 2-story house so I think the light and temps will be alright. I intend to put the plants in the corners next to the window, so they will probably not get any direct sun, however. Keep in mind I live in Oregon so it's not the sunniest place in the world.

I want to put them in a pot ideally no taller than 1 foot tall and two feet wide. I don't want them to get too much higher than 4-5 feet since higher than that they will start running up into the ceiling. The bases of the pots will sit about 18" off the floor on the ledge of a bathtub so that is why it can't get too tall without being in the ceiling. Another challenge is that I do not want them to get too wide since they will them start overhanging the bathtub, etc. If it is 3 feet wide at the top that would be ideal..

I want to get a palm that looks like a tree, i.e. a single trunk with fronds coming out the top.

I have been to the local nursery and they have about 5 or 6 windmill palms available, each about 2 feet tall. I have been doing some research on the different kinds of palms available here are a few I have considered:

1) Windmill palm
has pretty good "tree" appearance. Worried it might get too tall. looks like I can keep width under control with pruning. Supposely slow grower so the plant would last a while before growing too big. I know i can get it locally.

2) sago palm
pretty classic shape. Supposedly easy to care for (good for a beginner like myself). concerned it will be too wide. slow grower so would last a long time before becoming too big. no pets or kids so poison should not be a big issue.

3) spindle palm
really like the shape, classic "palm tree" look. Worried it is a very tall plant and fronds are large so pruning may not be able to keep dimensions under control

4) bottle palm
similar to spindle palm

5) pygmy date palm
nice palm tree appearance, supposedly tops out at 3-4 feet. plant tends to be as wide as it is tall however maybe pruning lowest/widest fronds can keep this under control?

Anyway I am open to suggestions. Keep in mind I am a beginner so maybe what I am asking for is totally unrealistic and I should consider alternatives like yucca or dragon tree, etc.

Also can indoor plants be bought any time of the year, or is there an optimum time of year to get indoor plants?

Thanks for helping me get started!
Ruahrc

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Comments (4)

User
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Most palms wanna be TREES. (Yes, I know palms are not technically trees but most wanna be taller than 4 feet and BTW, Pygmy Dates wanna get way bigger than 4 feet!)

For your specific needs, I would suggest...

Kentia Palms
Lady Palms
Chamaedoreas

Yes, they all will eventually get taller than 4 feet. Butias are nice, but big and fast.

This is one of my Butia capitatas purchased as a veritable seedling a couple of years ago!
User
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Most palms wanna be TREES. (Yes, I know palms are not technically trees but most wanna be taller than 4 feet and BTW, Pygmy Dates wanna get way bigger than 4 feet!)
For your specific needs, I would suggest...

Kentia Palms
Lady Palms
Chamaedoreas

Yes, they all will eventually get taller than 4 feet. Butias are nice, but big and fast.

This is one of my Butia capitatas purchased as a veritable seedling a couple of years ago!
tropicbreezent
9 years ago
I think your best options would be the Lady Palms and Chamaedoreas, particularly the Parlour Palm. Lady Palms can get a bit tallish but that takes a long time. Most Chamaedoreas tend to be more compact and are understorey plants so usually do quite well in shady/indoor areas. A Pygmy Date Palm would not be something you'd want in a bathroom.
bradleyo_gw
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I agree with tropicbreeze and njoasis, my vote is for lady palms (Rhapis sp.) or chams. Both are great indoor palms for low light conditions and can also take bright light indoors. Rhapis are one of my favorites and can be tough to find depending on your area, solitary chams might also be hard to find, there are many species and many are suckering. Rhapis sucker too but are very elegant and the trunks are visible.

Forget yuccas, they need full sun period, though cordylines might work. A tree fern might be a good option too.

Regarding the list you proposed, the only one i think would be suitable for the conditions would be a sago. The others would suffer severely from lack of light, your light conditions don't sound ideal. A western exposure will get very little sunlight in the winter, especially if you don't have it directly in front of the window. A sago can take low light and will be exceptionally slow in those conditions so buy big, but they can pinch you if you bump into it. Kentias would work too, but I think they would be much to big for a bathroom.