Kentia palm brown leaves: what to do when it loses leaves?

The forester's Kentia is one of the most popular palms in tubs due to its rambling palm fronds and the height of about three meters. Better known under the name Kentia palm, the plant is characterized by the Areceae tribe its slow growth rate and evergreen leaves, which are a characteristic aspect of the palm are. If Howea forsteriana loses leaves or turns brown, this is a sign that something is wrong with the Kentia.

First aid

As soon as the palm leaves turn more and more brown, either defects, care errors or a pest infestation are the cause. Often the brown color begins at the tips of the palm leaves and then extends to the stem. At the same time it can happen that these dry up and either fall off by themselves or hang powerlessly on the shoots if nothing is done about the cause of the discoloration.

Note: The vitality of the Kentia palm suffers greatly despite its robust nature. Even small discolorations should be examined immediately. To help the Howea forsteriana a little, you can remove the infested palm leaves:

• use clean, sharp scissors
• cut off the stick
• Leave at least three to four inches of stem
• from this a new palm frond grows

Unfortunately, you have to wait with the cut until the frond is completely brown and has already started to dry. At this point, the plant itself begins to cut the nutrient and water connection so that other parts can be supplied. This is also the reason why brown Kentia fronds dry up. This measure is particularly recommended if you are not yet clear about the cause and still need to observe the plant a little. By removing the brown fronds, you can maintain the palm's vitality even longer.

tip: If only individual leaf tips have discolored so far, you can also remove these with clean and sharp tools to help the plant. Carefully cut the leaf tips along the border with the still green leaf tissue and pay attention Be careful not to damage the healthy parts or the problem will spread faster will.

Causes and Treatment

After first aid for the plant, the cause of the brown color of the palm fronds is determined. This is the only way to determine why the Kentia palm gets brown leaves or loses a leaf. The big advantage: The individual causes can be treated with appropriate steps and in this way the plant can recover again after a while. Due to their robust nature, leaf discoloration occurs in most cases only after a long time due to a cause. If they appear suddenly and quickly, several factors can play a role. The causes and treatment options are explained in detail in the following paragraphs.

Waterlogging

Waterlogging is one of the classic problems of the Kentia palm. Since the plant is a tropical plant that can only be kept in a bucket, the amount of water administered must be exactly right. With these palms in particular, many people tend to water too much because they just seem thirsty. Even over the summer, the plant does not need too much water, as it gets along with very little. So check the substrate immediately and if it is wet, you should repot immediately, following a few steps:

• Establish a drainage layer
• Gravel or potsherds are suitable for this
• sufficient drainage holes
• Don't forget the coasters
• remove damaged or rotten roots
• Completely remove rotten earth

When repotting, just make sure that there are no more traces of moisture to be found. If many roots are rotten, you should shorten them as thoroughly as possible or remove them completely so that the plant can become healthy again. As soon as you have repotted, you should make sure that you only use enough water when watering that the substrate is permanently moist. Pour away the water in the saucer immediately after watering, as the Kentia can quickly suffer from too much water. Be sure to use water with little lime for the palm, including rain or filter water. As long as the root ball is not flooded, the palm is fine and you don't have to worry about brown or dried up foliage.

tip: As damaging as waterlogging is for the palm tree, drought is also not to be trifled with and the required amount of water for the plant should be administered as quickly as possible. If the substrate is too dry after a finger test, you should simply pour in plenty of water, but avoid waterlogging.

Nutritional deficiency

Light brown leaves on the Kentia can also indicate a nutritional deficiency. Fertilizing is not really a problem with the Kentia palm, as it only needs additional nutrients during the warm days of the year. However, it can happen that you either fertilize too little or give the wrong fertilizer, which the Kentia palm cannot use. Suitable fertilizers should have the following properties:

• containing nitrogen
• containing potassium
• Long-term fertilizer possible

For example, flowering or green plant fertilizers are well suited for Kentia palms, as they support the growth of the leaves. As a result, the plant does not lose this and also does not suffer from possible discoloration, which also has a negative effect on vitality. Fertilization is carried out every two to three weeks from mid-March after the hibernation until October. Watch the plant to fine-tune the frequency. If, for example, the tips of the leaves are brown, you should increase the frequency of fertilizer additions a little. This way you can be sure that your Kentia is fine.

Dark location

The Kentia palm is a true sun worshiper and can be taken under too dark locations To suffer. The leaves turn brown and the Howea forsteriana loses them after a while. For this reason, you should definitely check whether your specimen has enough sun and light available and, if not, adjust the location accordingly or change it completely. This should have the following properties in relation to the amount of light in order to be suitable for the palm:

• Light requirement: bright to partially shaded
• no direct sun over midday

Kentia are often placed in a corner of the room that receives little light and can clog it a lot. For this reason, you should opt for a place in a stairwell, in winter gardens or living rooms that do not have to endure too much sunlight over midday. Southwest-facing windows are a good alternative here, for example. You can also enable a growth spurt if you take the plant outdoors over the summer. There she can fill up with unfiltered light.

Low humidity

Kentia palms are classic tropical plants that not only require warm temperatures and sufficient light. A high level of humidity is just as important for the plants, because without it the leaves turn brown and then fall off. You don't have to do much to do this. Spray the leaves of the Kentia palm several times over the week with low-lime water to increase the humidity and keep it constant. But do not give too much water, otherwise light discoloration may occur.

Cool temperatures

As you probably know, the Kentia comes from the warm tropics and is therefore dependent on a constant temperature. If it is too cold, which can often happen in winter or spring, it loses its leaves due to stress. A permanent 18 ° C to 20 ° C are required here and over the winter time these should not fall below 15 ° C. Be sure to check the location for the temperature and adjust it. Since it can withstand dry heating air quite well, there is nothing wrong with increasing the room temperature in this way, as long as you regulate the humidity.

tip: If you decide on a location directly behind a window or a glass door, you should make sure that the Kentia palm does not heat up too much. It does need a certain temperature, but constant heat behind glass is not conducive to growth and causes stress, which in turn leads to brown leaves.

Lack of space

Like many other palm trees, the Kentia is dependent on sufficient space because its growth is not exactly graceful. If the vegetation with the leaves hits walls or objects, this can discolour the tips. At the same time, this can affect the entire sheet. Kentia palms should therefore stand quite freely and not be bothered by obstacles even after years. This also applies to the time outdoors. The palm tree recovers from this cause very well.

Thrips

Thrips belong to the pests of the Kentia palm, which cause the plant to quickly lose one leaf after the other. An infestation can be recognized not only by the loss of leaves and possible discoloration, but also by small insects in black color, which quickly disappear when moved. Since Kentia palms do not react well to chemical agents, isolate infested plants, rinse well with water, and scrape off thrips with a knife. It also helps remove infested greens from the palm.