Palms having adapted well hundreds of years ago to the tropics and the Caribbean are now very common in local landscaping. There are approximately 2,500 palm species in this family. However, while all species can be be grown outdoors, only a few species can be grown as potted indoor plants. Palms can be divided into two major groups, based upon the leaf shape, that is those with feather-like (pinnate) leaves and those with-fan like (palmate) leaves. Botanical Gardens across the world have built hothouses to rear these tropical beauties. Kew Gardens in England is a fine example.
Palm plants adorn many famous hotels and gardens in the Caribbean and Guyana. Below are some examples of popular palm plants in Guyana:-
Bottle Palm Sago Palm
Royal Palm Golden Palm
Fan Palm Bamboo Palm
Lady Palm Fishtail Palm
Christmas Palm Date Palm
The palm family – Palmae – is one of the most economically useful plants. From palms you can obtain oil, wax, fibre ropes, various kinds of food, building materials, material for basket-making and thatching roofs, and alcoholic drinks. Thinking about getting a palm plant?
You will be surprised how useful it would be.
If you want a palm for decoration inside the house, there is the Areca (among others). However, it needs bright light, and while it can have a lifespan of ten years, most Arecas don’t last that long indoors. If it does flourish, it would need to be repotted several times before it reaches its mature height of six or seven feet.
The Areca needs fertilizing – but use only a very weak solution, because fertilizer salts build up inside the pot and will poison the plant if not flushed out. It does not like too much water, and will die if it is waterlogged. You could let the soil dry out between waterings.
Until next week, happy gardening!
