In reply to kimmsr, prehnrex, gatormomx2, and Dan: Dan, your reply is the most useful and sensible for my organic landscape, but I have no access to fish guts. To the others, I mentioned organic in my original question, and from what I've learned in my reading over the past year, there is NO concern about overfertilizing when using ORGANIC fertilizers. Also, here's a quote from the U of F site that gatormomx2 referred me to, but from which she paraphrased information in her reply that was opposite from their recommendations: (from Environmental Horticulture: Palm Nutrition and Fertilization: Broschat, Timothy K : Ft. Lauderdale REC Fertilization of Field-grown and Landscape Palms in Florida1 Timothy K. Broschat2) ********************** "Palms growing in Florida landscapes or field nurseries are subject to a number of potentially serious nutrient deficiencies...." "Nutrient deficiencies are much more easily prevented than corrected once they occur. Correction of nutrient deficiencies can take as long as 2 or 3 years for some elements. Research at the University of Florida has shown that regular use of a fertilizer having an analysis...." ******************************************** (it goes on to detail the preferred NPK of SYNTHETIC fertilizer, etc, which is NOT what I'm looking for....) My point is, palms do NOT do well with WAITING to see if they develop a problem before feeding them. I'd still appreciate hearing from anyone in FL who truly KNOWS something about palms... specifically, organically fertilizing palms. Until then, I'm being very energy-inefficient (which really bothers me) 3 times a year when I have expensive organic palm fertilizer shipped to me from California.

Gardengle48, Awesome, that is just what I want, to kill these soft bodied mealybugs without killing everything else. (well, except the ants, I want them to go away too). Just yesterday I purchased insecticidal soap from the nursery as well as diatomaceous earth. I was continuing my research on the diatomaceous earth but you are the very first to actually mention it. Thank you! Two nights ago I read a post called "get rid of ants for good", The recommendation was in short to make a mix of three-quarter teaspoon Borax with 10 tablespoons of maple syrup. The idea is that you want the ants to live long enough to bring the goodies back to the nest. This morning in one of my variously placed ant traps I am finally seeing the trail to point out where the ants are coming from. I followed the trails and actually found some holes that must be where the Queens live. I say Queens in plural because there are multiple colonies in my yard and neighborhood. I understand it is the ants that are spreading the mealybugs. I am probably calling all ants for all of my neighbors right now. They are lucky to have me :) This may seem a digression for some but I have been told ants are eating the mealybug honey dew, that spreads the mealybugs. Love this thread and am very grateful as I was unable to get help from the succulent group.

Thank you for the replies! I just examined my palm and pruned off 4 mostly brown fronds! The bottom two "layers" of fronds have noticeable browning and yellowing with the lower of the two "layers" having the most. All the fronds, even on top, have a little brown and yellow on the tips of their leaves. It's noticeable on these fronds only if you closely examine them. The pot is about 1.5 feet away from a floor vent, so it's pretty close. Should I move it? There are also two electric heaters in the room for supplemental heating. They function like radiators. Are these okay to use? Maybe they are drying out the air. As I recall, the palm started to look more wilted when I moved it into this room. Originally, it was in a different room grouped closely with a lot of plants. It was about 3 feet from a heat vent, and there were no electric heaters. Hmmmm... I'm thinking I should move it away from the vent and take out the electric heaters. Good idea?? Then I could see what happens. I could eventually get a humidifier if it didn't perk up. What do you think? I really don't think I'm over-watering it. I let the soil get moderately dry and it doesn't sit in water. Could the fact that it is pot-bound (I just discovered it) be a contributing factor? I can't repot it for a couple months, but it would be nice to rule that out. Thanks, Casey

Yep, mine came in on the Crassula, and weren't identified for months because they're invisible and don't spin. I finally figured it out and got rid of them easily with a few sprays of Dawn, rubbing alcohol and water, but unbeknownst to me, they'd gotten into my Schefflera already (they're carried on the bodies of other bugs, and Oregon has lots of flies and gnats to chauffeur them around). They were easy to kill on the Schefflera too, but they have left their mark, and now I'm just waiting to see where the little $&@% show up next. I've read that too water stress, pesticides, and anything that increases the nitrogen in the leaves, like fertizer or some systemic pesticides, actually makes plants more susceptible to spider mites which apparently like the increased nitrogen. Both my plants were mildly water stressed when the infestation became apparent. In 35 years of growing houseplants, that's the first time I've ever had bugs.