In the past few weeks, I’ve bought a few starter plants for myself and my Grandmother. For her, I bought a Palm Neanthe Bella and put it in her lovely bay window, kept it watered (but not nearly enough for her oven-like nursing home bedroom). Then I bought myself a gorgeous China Doll and failed to put it in a high light area. Needless to say, both plants have deteriorated, mainly the palm.
So I exchanged the two plants. Grandma got the China Doll which will thrive in the sunlight. I’m not too worried about that one. But I brought the palm plant home and put it on my TV armoire which gets zero sunlight. I’d say about 70% of its leaves are brown and crispy from sunlight and super dry air of Grandma’s room.
Here’s what I need to know: How do I get this plant healthy? It is now in the recommended environment. If I trim the brown parts off, will new shoots spring up in their place? Should I just leave it alone and make sure it gets proper watering? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Yes - deadhead the brown spots (cut them off) then add a little organic plant food if you can find it, (fish meal is great) then water it. Now after all that don’t touch it for two solid weeks. It needs time to regenerate…After you see some new growth then you can go back to a watering schedule. The roots may be overwhelmed with water causing all kinds of maladies.
As for grandma’s plant… Same thing, give it some food then water appropriately, it may need a little more watering due to arid environ.
At the bottom, more than likely they will come off in your hand with a good tug. If not, so as not to damage it, you can cut as far down as you can…avoid cutting into the “white” part of the lower stalk.