Fishtail palm
Also called Clustered fishtail palm, Burmese fishtail.
| Light | bright indirect light |
|---|---|
| Water | Every 6 days in the growing season, every 14 in winter |
| Pets | Cats not known, dogs not known |
Source: ASPCA Animal Poison Control, toxic and non-toxic plants, no entry for Caryota mitis.
No other palm looks like this. Instead of feathers or fans, each leaflet is a ragged wedge with a torn edge, exactly like the tail of a fish, and a mature plant carries hundreds of them. It clusters, sending up new stems around the original, which matters because of the other thing this palm does: each stem flowers once, from the top downwards over several years, and then dies. In a clustering species that is not the end of the plant, because the suckers carry on. Give it more light than you would give a parlour palm, more feed than you would give anything else here, and humidity. Handle the fruit with gloves, because it is full of irritant crystals.
Ailments observed
| Brown tips on otherwise healthy leaves | Dry air, hard water or a shortage of feed. Raise the humidity, use rainwater and feed fortnightly in summer. Fishtail palms are hungrier than most. |
|---|---|
| Fine webbing between the leaves | Red spider mite, which this palm attracts as readily as any. Rinse the fronds and undersides, raise the humidity, and check weekly in a heated room. |
Filed underPlants for humid air, Statement plants
Neighbouring entries
Areca palm
Dypsis lutescensAreca palm care that keeps the fronds green, with how often to water, what browns the tips, why spider mites arrive, and how big it really gets.
Chinese fan palm
Livistona chinensisPleated circular fronds that split into drooping fingers, a slow tolerant palm for a bright corner and a large pot.
Kentia palm
Howea forsterianaKentia palm care for a dim room, with the slow growth to expect, how often to water, and why it is the palm that survives a hallway.