The damage on that leaf looks like sunburn, especially from that angle, but photos can be tricky. Check the bottom of it for spider webbing to be safe. I can't tell from either pic - is that is the bottom leaf of a taller section? If that's where your plant usually sits, it seems too dark (which would make the leaves especially sensitive to much-brighter light outside.) But you could have taken these pics at night, I don't know. Seems like there are no windows nearby. Hardly anybody likes those watering gadgets. Once per week may be too much or too little. How are you currently gauging whether or not the plant is thirsty? To be more specific about the leaf size... it takes years for plants to get to the size where their leaves are large, but individual leaves are added to the plant much more quickly than years. A palm growing well is producing leaves faster than it is shedding old ones, which it will do no matter how healthy. That's part of their process of getting taller.

Hi, This forum isn't great for palm advise as you are probably thinking, responses are few and far between, guess people don't know.huh? Anyways it certainly is an Areca (Dypsis lutescens). So firstly I'd say the roots have had to much disruption, strictly minimal disturbance only, the pot is also to big. Direct sun on an unacclimatized Dypsis is damaging but I would think the nail in the coffin here is overwatering, I would also avoid cold rain water, room temperature rain water or distilled water is best. I would certainly dispose of it if you haven't and start again. I tend to avoid homebase palms, you may find better homegrown Areca palms in your local independent gardern center. Good luck

How long have you had the palms for? If this is something that has happened suddenly then its got to be something that they are getting differently (could chemicals from washing a car or something like that have gotten into the soil near the palm?). If they are recently planted (within the last year or so) then whatever it has, it got from the place you bought them and usually if it's not too serious, the problem corrects itself in those cases. If the browning isnt worsening and the new leaves are not an unhealthy looking color, then I think you will have to wait for new fronds to replace the old, damaged ones, and see how those look. If the browning is getting worse, then that means the problem is still there. Try not to water too much right now and see if that helps the problem. Don't let it dry out too much though since they do like water, but since you are in Florida, you usually get plenty of water this time of the year naturally. Good luck! Keep us updated! -Alex

I doubt cutting off a truly rotted root will harm a palm, but on the other hand, there rarely is a need, either.. .rot does not tend to travel up roots in palms. I would recommend 'play it safe' and generally leave palm roots alone.. .only time I ever cut palm roots is if I am going to transplant a palm that has been in the ground a while and is healthy and established... then it can tolerated being root pruned (though usually not all around the entire circumference at once). Helps decrease the size of the root ball (though will increase the density of the root ball) for eventual digging up and moving. Also note how crammed-packed the palm is in the root ball.... amazing but palms seem to do very well with cram-packed roots and that is the time to move them up to a new sized pot... does not seem to set them back at all to be so crammed, unless there literally is no soil left in the pot.