Can you tell me what this plant is? And how to take care of it?

January 25, 2016 12:07 PM

I bought this mystery plant at IKEA about two months ago...and have no idea how to take care of it. There are no stickers or other ID on it; I've looked up various plants online and by searching IKEA's plants, but don't see a match. I haven't been able to figure out what it wants with regard to water, light, heat; do you have any advice?

The leaves are dull and wilty, the bottom leaves are getting brown spots, and it just doesn't look like it's thriving. Right now it is in our living room, which faces north and doesn't get much light. I've moved it to some of our south-facing rooms but that seems to be too much sun. I give it about...a liter? of water every week, and keep it away from our overproductive baseboard heaters. It looked so poorly this morning that I wanted to water it, but when I stuck my finger about an inch into the soil, it was still slightly moist from when I watered it last Sunday--does this mean I'm overwatering?

I'm specifically looking for advice for this plant, but in general I really don't know what I'm doing with plants and would welcome any suggestions for resources to learn more, tools that might help (water gauges?), advice about best practices for house plants, or even sharing your routines so I can see if I'm way underestimating how much time I should be spending taking care of our plants. We're accumulating quite a few and I want to be able to take good care of them.

posted by stellaluna to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

That looks like your standard Areca palm tree and I think you are watering it too much for winter. I've had them before and lightly water every week. It should not still be wet from the previous week. Here is how to take care of it.
posted by HeyAllie at 12:22 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Looks like this to me: "chamaedorea elegans." Other option is this, "raveanea."
posted by AppleTurnover at 12:25 PM on January 25, 2016

Yes to areca palm (Dypsis lutescens).

Bright filtered light. Let it dry completely between waterings. Free-draining compost. Talk with your local garden center or (better) tropical plant nursery.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 12:29 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

I have a few big (10 gallon, 8 ft tall) fishtail palms in my house (dry Southern California) and I give them about two quarts of water every two to three weeks. Generally when the soil dries out. If the tips of the fronds start to brown, you're not watering enough, but what you describe sounds like too much.
posted by cecic at 12:48 PM on January 25, 2016

In my experience the plants from IKEA particularly need to be repotted after purchase. They must use some terrible potting soil.
posted by vunder at 4:55 PM on January 25, 2016