Totally thought this would fit when I stood next to it at the store. Is there anything I can do? I worry if I trim the ends of the fronds, it will kill the plant.
I wanted a large, “statement” plant. It’s making a statement, alright.
by shark-on-a-stick
41 Comments
just cut the tip , it’ll fan out and you probably wont be able to tell it was cut.
not sure its gonna get enough light there though
edit: alternatively let it fan out and it’ll probably droop enough and just so you know , pruning plants encourages grow and is part of maintaining a healthy plant. you arent gonna kill it from trimming a little frond or even a whole leaf.
It’ll only put out bigger fronds, can’t really shrink it like you can a tree. Not enough light for a plant that big regardless unless you get growlights
I need to preface my care guide here by saying this is not an easy houseplant. It takes dedicated care that many are not ready or willing to give and as such they have a reputation of suffering and causing their owners to suffer in return 😢. Personally, many died in my care to bring you this guide. 🥲🌴 I will never forget their memory because they all taught me something new. With that out of the way…..
Ok here’s the deal with your Ravenea rivularis majesty palm, are you ready?
They are native to the riverbanks of Madagascar, and as such get a load of constantly flowing, O2 rich water and they are absolute pigs for it. However…. they are not pigs for stagnant, rotting water that most people keep the roots sitting in and then wonder why they died from “overwatering and root rot” 🙄.
DRAINAGE DRAINAGE DRAINAGE
this is key to keeping them shooting out new spears at a solid rate. It depends on the size of the palm, but you should give your 3ft Ravie’s a deep drowning/draining leach at least every 2-3 days. You have a ten foot behemoth? Every single day it should get leached with gallons and gallons. And does 75% run out? Absolutely, but what’s left for those roots is super fresh O2 laden water. They are in terracotta on a wire rack stand, and in the winter inside I transfer them to a plastic tote bin and leach in there, after a couple minutes I take it back to it’s wire rack stand with a drip catch tray underneath for those last drops. ☺️
Related to water is going to be the humidity levels, but not for the reason you are thinking (you think it’s healthy for the plant). Your Ravie needs air circulation but if it’s in the full path of an air exchange, the fronds will be fried in days, so keeping it away from there and you are golden. A humidifier on low or daily mistings are beneficial, but again it’s not for the health of the palm or it’s leaves or to prevent brown tipping or whatever: it’s to make it an absolutely inhospitable environment for spider mites to breed. They need that dry air and if the surrounding area is moist they might avoid your palm. Even if they don’t completely leave it alone you can catch early small easily manageable infestations because again that moist environment is hell for them and they won’t want to stay.
Now regarding light: these guys are propagated from seed by the MILLIONS in florida in low light situations specifically so the fronds can be etiolated as hell when they get to you in Home Depot or whatever. They will make it in your more dim environment if that is what you have. However it will just merely survive, new spear growth will dramatically slow. But it’s still alive, right? 🤷🏼♂️ lol give it some indirect if you can to push the spears. Direct can possibly scorch the leaves if you haven’t acclimated it to full sun because like I said nurseries grew these in the shade on purpose.
If you are going to feed it, give it a lower middle ratio. I hit mine monthly with a slow release granulated 9-3-9 with trace elements of manganese and magnesium and kelp. The more phosphorus in the fertilizer the worse it is.
I have tried a number of mediums, some with great success and some that straight up murdered my palms (with my help of course lol). I tried half coco coir and perlite, and tried feeding it all nutrients. DID NOT LIKE THAT lol. Right now I have found the best mix for me to be an orchid type of premix: bark/charcoal/perlite. All of my palms have been moved to this mix, regardless of watering needs between the species (and they do vary, I don’t run as much through my Rhapis excelsa with the same frequency as my Ravenea).
Brown tipping is inevitable and mostly due to mineral buildup and should not be used as a gauge of health. The condition of the new spears as they open into fronds should be that gauge. Older outer foliage will die naturally as the crown can only support so many healthy fronds at one time. Nutrients are redistributed to support the root system and for new spear production.
Also if you get hit with spider mites/mealy bugs/scale, it’s an uphill battle, but think about it this way: accept that an inevitable infestation WILL happen at some point, and bring peace to your mind 🕊️ frequent checks keep those inevitable infestations hopefully small and easily managed 😬🤷🏼♂️🥴👍🏻🥳🥰. All the luck in the world, palms are everything to me and they can give you some real tropical beauty too. 👍🏻💚🌴 11 year journey for me and this Ravie from 2 tiny fronds in a 4” liner 🥹
https://preview.redd.it/bmk6z3h7gpyf1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b8df1eec7b0e7010f0eee6f0b0cf66a68b0359c4
Follow what Philly said, or be like the rest of us and quit buying majesty palms. While beautiful, they’re typically mite infested drama queens who are high maintenance af. There are fakes that look as good as the real thing
First, find another house with taller ceilings. Move your plant to its majestic new home. When it grows too big for that one, you will need to move again.
Not really, because that’s how they grow. There is no way to trim a palm to be shorter. At that size you should put in on front of the window too. Maybe you can find a trade for it.
That thing will take gallons and gallons of water and only give you spider mites in return.
I got a free one from my neighbor and I’m thinking I made a huge mistake taking it in… Philly’s guide makes it demoralizing as well since I’m having a bit of a spider mite problem in my dining area that I’m trying to contain. Which means cold isolation (with a south facing window) most of winter.
Hoping to make it to spring so I can just have it outside.
Yeah the mistake will rectify itself in a few days to weeks once the fronds begin yellowing and dying off since your home environment is not similar to the palms native habitat of Madagascan riverbanks. They love selling these palms because they grow very fast and nurseries can replicate conditions and sell big beautiful palms knowing people will come back to replace them. I also made the mistake of getting one myself once.
Don’t worry, he’ll die and crumple to a lower height in no time. They have an affinity for death in homes.
Just cut a hole in the ceiling, easy fix /s
Get a new house
Don’t worry, it will be dead soon
Replace the house, not the plant. You wanted a statement piece and u got it
Better buy a bigger house!! 🤣🤣
Cut a hole in the floor *joke*
me with my bird of paradise lmaoo it’s touching the ceiling
Well, “huge” is certainly accurate, haha! Sorry I have no advice as I haven’t kept one myself. Can I ask what the beautiful decoration on your nightstand is called? I think I’d like to grow a vining plant around something like that but don’t even know where to start looking.
Don’t worry, it’ll grow on you
Okay here’s something I don’t typically suggest, but I don’t think you have many choices that you will like. The first one is pretty simple. It’s basically fitting except for the new growth. I would consider buying a solid wood, thick, plant stake and VERY gently pointing that leaf outwards, with the stake at an angle
If the plant is still doing well in a few months, I would look for a shorter and wider pot. The one thing you have going is that the pot size already is not good lol. And best I can tell, it looks like it’s only partially filled with soil. Which means it can be sustained in a shorter pot. Clearly you’re gonna have to pot it deeper to try to regain at least six inches of space. It’s become increasingly more difficult to find a typical planter sizes. But if you can’t find one, you can always just use an oversized pot, and plant it deeper then it currently is. This looks like you would need some teamwork! ( Kind of like when I replanted my very large Fiddle Leaf Fig earlier this year)
It’s often hard to get these type plants to thrive, because we cannot provide the weather.And the tropical environment they prefer. So I would enjoy it for now.And see how it’s doing. It does look lovely!!
PS i meant to say be sure to hang on to the.Receipt for the plant. If you notice 4 leaves have been already been lopped off. This means they were discolored and died, and they were cut off trying to make the plant look good. So honestly, I think you’d have to get very lucky for the plant to thrive since you can already see some browning on some of the leaves. I don’t want to be discouraging just realistic.
Just make a hole to the ceiling
Cut a large hole in the ceiling? If your finances are healthy add a very large cupola with crank out windows
If you got it at a Home Depot or Lowe’s, you can take it back
I solved the same problem by simply tying some dental floss to the end of one of the fronds, or if it’s unopened, carefully threading it around the stock between the future leaves, and tying it to a lower point on the frond to create a slight bend, keeping it below your ceiling. You can easily nudge the plant into a beautiful shape.
Return it, maybe a smaller monstera?
Unless that majesty palm gets some more direct sunlight it might not survive very long. It won’t hurt it to touch walls or the ceiling as long as it’s getting good light, air circulation, and regular watering. Good luck!
Even if it fit right there its not getting enough light there for a palm. Get a growlight
I have one that I put on my patio for funsies. Mostly ignored it and the dang thing is thriving and has new shoots. It’s getting cold and I really don’t want to bring it in – I’ve read all the spider mite horror stories.
It will relax, give it time. It fits.
Fits just fine
That table decor is amazing, where did you get it??
We’ve all been there-i bought a small house before once too…
Can you exchange it for a smaller plnat??
What is this plant called? I want to make this mistake too
Not enough light in that corner anyway, it’s just going to slowly die
looks great
Yeetus mcgeetus
Depending on the store, you might be able to return the plant.
