Native Plants

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Tuesday - March 22, 2011

From: Leavenworth, WA
Region: Northwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Indoor non-native palm tree turning yellow from Leavenworth WA
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Why are my indoor palm plant leaves turning yellow. It's about 4 feet bought at local Home Depot store, and it was beautiful when I brought it home. It gets plenty of light. I have only had it for 2 weeks, I watered it once a week the soil is not moist. Am I under watering it or over watering it?

ANSWER:

We don't know what an "indoor palm tree" is, as we ordinarily discuss plants with their scientific names, to avoid confusion like this. There are not many palms native to North America, which is our area of expertise, and we're willing to bet that what you have is not one of them. Very few plants that are meant to be grown indoors are native. Plants native to an area are accustomed to the climate, envrironment, rainfall and temperatures of that area outside. Generally, tropical plants do better in the extreme conditions indoors.