I have five kentias, three in the ground in full sunlight, having planted them a few years ago. The other two are on the northern exposure side of my house, and are very slow growing. The three in full sun did well for about a year or so, then suffered mightily from a rare, rare cold snap here in Ventura back in February. But all in all, they're making a great comeback, and I look forward to their beautifull umbrella-like fronds restoring fully by next spring. I have over thirty palms, a few cycads, and a few ferns (Aussie Tree, Tasmanian, Meyers, etc, and the battle seems to be that, when growing tropical plants at 34 degrees north and beyond, one has to remember to be patient; this is not their home environment. They will grow slower, suffer setbacks, and generally be less vigorous as they slowly adapt to their new climate. Light level is very important, for in equatorial climes, the sun is almost directly overhead year round; thus the symmetry most tropical plants exhibit. And watering there is a daily thing - even the so-called "dry season" brings at least light rain each day. And so, consider that a palm or cycad or fern is being asked a lot when planting this far (or further) north - a good soaking once a week or so during summer, then back off during winter months, when most tropical plants nearly "shut down". All sorts of blogs have been posted, but it all comes down to this: Every plant on Earth has one thing in common - the roots seek water. Therefore, when planting or potting, always remember to put a good layer of sand beneath the root ball, and around it with about a 50/50 mix of sand and Cactus Mix around the sides of the planting hole when filling. Watering will thus suround the roots and leach downward and beyond the lower portions of the roots through the sand, causing the roots to "seek" the water below, establishing in not to much time a healthy root system.

Really hard to overwater one of these as long as you have really well draining soil in a really well draining pot. Check the soil 1/2 day after you water... it should feel only barely damp, not sloggy... if it's still soaking wet, you have a drainage problem. You need to fix that so water really pours out the holes in the bottom when you water this palm... these palms however, are amazingly drought tolerant... I have forgotten to water mine sometimes for over a month and they show little damage from that abuse (indoors.. outdoors they suffer a bit more since they dry out faster). that's one of the reasons these make such good indoor palms... very tolerant of a wide range of conditions. Low light, high light, dry, moist etc. .. .but not sloggy soils.. they will start to rot then. So, If your pot drains super well and your soils are nice and really well draining, you can safely water this palm daily to weekly... should do fine either way... may grow faster the more you water it, though. Every few months you need to really water it well- take it outdoors and water the heck out of it over and over again- this is rinse out the accumulated salts that tend to build up in the soil in potted plants. Heavy salt build ups are really hard on palm roots.

Hi malicitator, sorry to pester you so long after you first posted this. We have a Kentia, too, and it seems to have exactly the same problem as yours: very similar spots on some of the fronds and yellowing (with brown spots) of one of the small leaves. In addition, our plant has a couple of developing fronds that seem healthy, but have stopped growing. The height of the shoots has not increased in weeks or months, and they show no signs of opening, either. Did you ever find out what was wrong with your plant, and, if so, did you manage to fix it? Many thanks!

Hi all, thanks for your replies. The first few days I placed it near a sunny window which gets morning sun, not sure how many hours though. I feared sunburn so I moved it to another place in the living room where it doesn't get any direct sunlight. I'm starting to suspect it has something to do with humidity as pointed by stanofh. It has been a couple of warm days here in Portugal and humidity by the window probably drops to desert levels. I'll try to spray it with some water to create some mist. Do you feel I should move it again close to the window? In the store it was placed outdoors on a quite shady place, so probably better keeping it in the shade? thank you!