Palms for Indoors

Growing plants indoors is a marvellous way to colour the home & there are some fantastic palms that will flourish indoors. VARIETIES There are many palms available at nurseries, but 3 very good palms for indoors that are easy to keep and flourish inside are; • The Kentia Palm • The Raphis Palm • & the Parlor Palm POSITION These palms need a brightly lit position near a window, but not in direct sunlight. They will do very well in a room with east or north facing windows. Don't position them in a dark or dimly lit room as they will not grow well and may become susceptible to plant diseases. WATERING Indoor palms do not require as much water as when grown outdoors, so a watering about once a week should do nicely. They will need more watering in hot weather and less in the cooler months. This is very important as it is easy to overwater indoor plants in winter and this is a common problem associated with indoor plants. Luckily, these 3 palms are quite forgiving. A tip is to wait until the top of the potting mix in the pot has begun to dry before watering again. Wait for half an hour or until all water has drained into the saucer, then tip this water out. Make sure the saucer is not full of water, as this will reduce growth.
	REPOTTING Palms indoors will need to be repotted about once a year. For best results, use an indoor mix such as Searles® Premium Potting Mix. Don't use an outdoor mix like Terracotta & Tub mix, as this mixture will hold too much water for indoors. It is ideal for Palms in larger pots outdoors. FERTILSING To keep them growing nicely, use a controlled release fertiliser. Searles Robust®, a controlled release fertiliser that also contains instant plant food, will give immediate feeding and continue to feed for 6 months.
ROTATION All indoor plants will need to be rotated from indoors to outdoors from time to time. This will give you a chance to wash all dust off the leaves. Make sure the palm is still in a sheltered position, such as under a verandah or in the shade of a large tree. TIP: It is a good idea to have more than one plant, so that you can rotate them from indoors to outdoors and also in different positions inside the home. This makes for good variety and always has the house looking fresh with lovely palm foliage. Happy Gardening with Searles from the Searle family. © Copyright 2002 JC & AT Searle Pty Ltd You may make a copy of this Fact Sheet for your personal, non-commercial use only. Please do not make any other use of this Fact Sheet without first obtaining our permission.