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.

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!

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!

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.