Majesty Palm problems & how to fix them
Ravenea rivularis
Drooping, yellowing, brown tips, or a plant that just won’t thrive? Here are the most common Majesty Palm problems, what usually causes them, and how to turn things around.
Common problems
Spider mites
The most common cause of decline indoors — dry air turns fronds grey and dusty with webbing. Tiny sap-sucking mites that thrive in warm, dry air and leave fine webbing and speckled leaves. Caught early they are very treatable; most plants recover fully within 3-4 weeks of consistent treatment.
a two-spotted spider mite among its silk threads
Photo: Gilles San Martin · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Underwatering
One thorough drying can brown several fronds at once on this water-loving species. The plant is not getting enough water, either from infrequent watering or soil so dry it repels water. Prognosis is excellent - most underwatered plants perk up within days of proper rehydration.
Crispy tips (low humidity)
Low humidity and salty water brown the tips of nearly every frond. Brown, dry leaf tips caused by air that is too dry for the plant, common in heated or air-conditioned rooms. Existing crispy tips never turn green again, but with higher humidity new growth should come in clean within a few weeks.
Nutrient-deficiency yellowing
Magnesium and iron hunger show as yellowing older fronds in long-term pot culture. Leaves yellow because the plant has run out of one or more nutrients, usually after a long time in the same soil with no feeding. Old yellow leaves rarely green up fully, but with steady feeding new growth returns to a healthy color within 3-6 weeks.
interveinal chlorosis: a leaf yellowing between green veins
Photo: Jim Conrad · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
The mistakes that most often kill it
- Buying it for a dim corner — it starves in typical indoor light.
- Letting the root ball dry out between waterings.
- Ignoring spider mites in dry winter air until the crown is grey.
Not sure what’s wrong?
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