Brownthumb. I'm very sorry about your loss. Without a picture, it's difficult being exact. How long have you had the palm? Sometimes, Palms need acclimation after changing locations. Lower leaves brown for a while, then after accustomed to house conditions, browning stops. Brown leaves will not green, so might as well remove brown parts, or entire leaf/ves if necessary. Are you sure your palm is a Parlor? Palms need bright light, humidity and fresh, circulating air. Dry, stuffy rooms can cause leaf/frond browning. Spray leaves daily or every other day without wetting soil. Light differs depending on palm variety. Water until soil is saturated. I allow soil to dry somewhat between waterings. Watering depends on heat/cold, sun/shade, soil and pot material. Clay dries faster than plastic pots. Palms need space to grow. If a palm is in a tight-fitting container, root bound, soil dries faster, therefore needing frequent watering or a larger pot. Of course pests are always a possibliity. Three most common pests are spider mites, scale and mealy. Mites make fine webs. Scale, is usually brown, bumps. Mealy is white, and resembles cotton. Inspect your palm. I doubt your palm has insects, but it doesn't hurt checking. Brown, you need to learn how to download photos. First, sign up with Flickr or Photo Bucket. If you go w/Flickr, I can walk you through the steps. Flickr is free up to 300 photos. As far as I know, Photo Bucket is free no matter how many pics are stored. Good luck, Toni

hmmmm interesting..so I probably wasted my time, lol. Well, I'll give it awhile and see what happens..if nothing I'll just re-use the soil. I DO have 2 plants together in the same pot. The second one just started its 'bloom' about a week ago, way behind the 1st one. Is there any way to tell if its a male or female? Wouldn't it be nice if I had one of each lol..too bad its not an obvious sign like on humans, lmao, that'd be scary. But, if they aren't really 'flowers'..how would they get pollinated? I assumed because of how they look, the are self pollinating type things...I mean really, they are just tiny balls the whole time. So how would one get pollinated?

HELP MY PARLOR PALM Three weeks ago I bought two palms that I believe to be Chamaedorea Elegans, commonly known as a parlour palms. They are living but not thriving and thus I seek advice from those familiar with this plant. Container Each plant still rests in a plastic store planter that is 8" in height and 10" in diameter with four 1 "side drainage holes. Plant Size One plant has three large stems that directly abut each other at the base. The largest of the stems has 5 offshoots that bear leaves, the next largest stem also has 5 offshoots, and the smallest has four. This plant measures 4 feet at its highest point and 3 feet in leaf spread at its widest point. The second plant is somewhat larger with two large stems and one small stem that directly abut each other at the base. The largest of the stems has 6 offshoots that bear leaves, the next largest stem also has 6 offshoots, and the smallest has three. This plant measures 4 feet at its highest point and 4 feet in leaf spread at its widest point. Light I have placed each plant at opposite ends of a large picture window with curtains partially drawn where it receives direct morning light and indirect light thereafter in a city (Syracuse, NY) not renowned for sunny days. I have rotated the plants weekly. Water With the plants I purchased a "Rapitest" digital moisture meter from Lusterleaf. Its watering chart refers only to a "palm" without regard to type or size and with a meter wilt point of 3-4, below which you water and above which you do not water. When I asked for more detailed plant directions, Lusterleaf said they have none. I have therefore tried to maintain the watering level at around 4 with about 1 and one half cup of weekly water for each plant. I also have sprayed the leaves of each plant with water once a week. Condition of Plants Last week the tips of many leaves were brown. I trimmed these brown tips. This week I noticed that the ends of many leaves were beginning to droop as opposed to displaying the rigidity that I believe defines healthy leaves. Some of the leaves also were developing long yellow streaks and losing the solid, dark green color that I believe defines healthy leaves. Infestation I shake the leaves weekly while placing white paper below them to detect mites. I have not detected any mites. Fertilizer or Plant Food I have not added fertilizer or plant food to the potting soil in which the palms were planted at the time of purchase. Requested Advice I would be deeply grateful for advice on improving the condition and care of my plants and particularly for recommended readings of the Rapitest meter (Lusterleaf was of utterly no assistance) or of alternate watering measures.

With Parlour Palms they usually plant a handful of seed in a pot and let them go. Not all the seedlings survive as there's a lot of competition. So don't be surprised when some of them die off, the fittest will keep growing. In a dry apartment the excess water in a pot evaporates leaving behind minerals and any chemicals that have been added by the water authorities. That builds up over time and needs to be flushed out. So you need to thoroughly soak the soil and let it drain. When watering you should see water run out of the bottom of the pot. For checking the soil you can get a tensiometer which measures moisture content. Cheaper way is to get something like a wooden skewer, push it down into the soil and when you pull it out you'll see if it's moist down in the pot. Some people just get used to the weight of the pot when wet or dry and check by lifting it. Don't leave the pot sitting in water, like in a saucer. The roots won't be a problem, they'll dry off. However, there will come a time when you do need to re-pot.