Do you have a reference? While the markings may be ubiquitous to this plant, they are not a part if the plant (in ither words, the plant’s DNA does not code for or produce them). Many fungal and bacterial infections can live (and in fact, do in most plants and animals) for the entirety of a healthy plant’s life and yet are still not beneficial microbes. It is just that a healthy plant’s immune system can keep the infection from seriously damaging the plant so it continues to grow. However if this is the case, there is still some amount of risk letting it go uncontrolled. For example, if the plant becomes stressed and has to devote those resources elsewhere. Or if a more dangerous microbial infection occurs, it can potentialy feed off of the cells of the existing onfection and grow that much faster. Open to any evidence that you have that states arcela palm (dypsis lutescens) stems should be black spotted, but otherwise, i have read that it is a fungal or bacterial infecfion. I will post a link when i am at my computer (responding from my phone currently)

Many thanks to everyone for your contributions and experiences. I got some pine mulch and put the 'fines' in the bottom. I bought two bags of the Miracle Grow blend for Cactus, Palms & Citrus. It is VERY light. I think everyone gave great advice. Going to try this and see how it GROWS. We grew them outside in the ground in California, but I was just a kid. Mother and Grannie just stuck them in the ground. As far as I know they never did anything else except "drip" water them with gray water the first season. After that, they were on their own. Our date palms were gigantic and the dates were yummy. There were several other varieties, but I don't know what the others were. I do recall that Grannie sprayed them with the hose from time to time to wash off the dust. They loved it. Having palms in the house makes me feel like I am home again. (Oh...those childhood memories). As for the size of the new pot, I got an emerald green ceramic Lotus pot and put it on a black wrought iron plant dolly with a clear plastic drip tray underneath. That will make it handy for moving when I clean the floors or rearrange things. The pot is about 4 inches bigger around in diameter, and in depth, it's about 1/3 deeper than the container it came in, so I think it is "joosta" - just right for the pot upgrade. The color is beautiful with the green palm fronds. One thing I did forget to ask, though. Should I cover the top of the soil with a little bit of the bark fines or the potting mix or both? I don't want to suffocate it since I know they need to breathe, but it does look a bit exposed on the surface. Thanks for your help, Palm lovers. ~Annie

Image by: hyperdoggie Recycled Pots "Plastic Pot Recycling - Black plastic nursery/flower pots" What can you do with all those black plastic pots from the nursery you have leftover after planting your garden beds?? Member hyperdoggie shares her artistic ideas with us : First, take your cheap, ugly pot and wash it completely. Next, use an X-acto kife and scissors to make sure the drain holes were clean, and at this point you can also cut a decoration into the lip of the pot. On the larger one in the picture, I made a little southwest cut out, and perhaps on the next one I'll poke some holes around the lip and weave some jute string around it. Next, I scuffed the whole surface with steel wool, and then I took my hot glue gun and begin "drawing" decorations on the pot. I ran some of the glue around the lip to make it fatter, like real terra cotta. After it is set, I trim off the little threads from the glue, if you can't get them all, it is OK. I then painted the whole pot with a taupe colored latex house paint, and also inside the pot about an inch. I let this dry over night. The next day, I sprayed a terra cotta red color over the pot, making sure to spray thinner in some spots, thicker in other to make the smoke-clouding effect of real pottery that is fired in a kiln. I did use an airbrush for this but I am sure you can use spray paint effectively. I am sure a sponge technique would work just fine also. I then sprayed on some black paint to add depth to some spots, and more "smoke clouding". Again, I let this dry overnight, and the next day sprayed with a Krylon clearcoat. The picture here contains the Southwestern theme pots ... see other "Recycling Plastic Pots" FAQ's for additional ideas.

I sure wish someone would answer this because I have the exact same problem. Had it last year and it affected all my plants and I'm seeing it again this year already.