Bring the Tropics Indoors – Grow Stunning Indoor Palms Today!

Add a touch of lush, green elegance to your home with easy-care indoor palms. Perfect for brightening up corners and purifying the air – start your indoor jungle now!

One of the oldest types of indoor plants easily recognized is palms.  They are native to Mexico and Guatemala and were brought back to England and used as an indoor plant to grace their parlours, hence the name. Parlour palms were used as a medium size indoor plant and multi planted to appear full and lush. You rarely see a Parlour Palm larger than about a metre though they can get much larger in the correct environment.

For a taller elegant indoor plant, Kentia palms (Howea forsteriana) were often used. A single stem plant reaches metres tall and used as feature plant.  Palms are traditionally slow growers and lend themselves well as indoor plants as they don’t outgrow their pots quickly or the space given to them. Another tall palm but one that suckers, is the Bamboo Parlour Palm or seifrizii palm.

An indoor palm which can have a height between the Kentia Palm and Parlour Palm is Cascade Palm (Chamaedorea atrovirens). This does sucker and looks similar and often gets confused with the Parlour Palm. You will find many palms have over half a dozen common names, which can be quite confusing.

Rhapis palm (Rhapis excelsa) or lady finger palms are also extremely popular as indoor plants. They can get as tall as a Kentia Palm but are a suckering palm and so can be dense and work well as a screen.

For well sun lit areas, Golden Canes Palms (Dypsis lutescens) are often a popular choice. If the light is not bright enough, they will lose their golden colour and become prone to pests or disease.

Depending on your region there are other palms you could use, Chinese Fan Palms for example.  Be aware not all plants that have the name palm in their names are palms such as the Sago Palm or Ponytail Palm.

The key to growing indoor palms is to use the right potting mix, Searles Indoor Potting Mix is perfect. For fertiliser, use one specific for green leaf growth like Searles Flourish Indoor & Greening and a slow-release fertiliser – Recharge Pots & Gardens.  Palms used indoors usually flourish in medium to high light indoors but the main threat is incorrect watering. They hate wet feet and saucers sitting in water or soggy soil, which can easily lead to root rot.