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.

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.

Hi! I am the opposite of an expert, we just got our Kentia (Manny) a few weeks ago. So I really hope some of the experts jump in! But I love Manny too and have been reading around trying to learn how to take care of him, so I figured I might as well get the conversation started. I've read that brown tips can be caused by dry air. Manny has those a little bit, and I've been misting him daily - not sure if that makes a big difference or not. I also read that yellow and brown spots can be due to overwatering, (though I'm sure other things can cause that too.) I don't know if what you're describing is overwatering, I think it's more than I've watered Manny (only watered him once), but we've had him for such a short amount of time I probably wouldn't know if I was under watering yet. http://www.ourhouseplants.com/plants/howea-palms http://plantcaretoday.com/caring-beautiful-kentia-palm-howea-forsteriana.html I hope some of the experts give feedback since they can give you answers based on experience and not just stuff they read!

Sounds like it was killed from too much love. The Neem oil caused a bad reaction by these slow growing palms. Whats not dead might recover if you were able to get it to a greenhouse,but I get that its an office plant and chances are ...not good. When you are sure the fronds are dead,cut them off and do your best to keep it watered properly and with brightest light- but not direct window sun. Palms as indoor plants are a hard grow for most so don't feel bad.