Potting Soil for Chamaedorea Elegans

Description

• Chamaedorea elegans resembles a bamboo plant. It has slim canes and feathery, almost palm-like. leaves that are almost 2 feet long and made up of single leaflets. The entire plant may grow from 3 to 8 feet tall and is useful in almost any area of the interior, especially in low light situations. Each leaf grows up out of a single stem but they clump together to assemble the entire plant. This is primarily a foliage plant but it will bloom while juvenile. Female flowers are scented while male blooms are odorless.

Soil-less Mixes

• A soil-less mixture often benefits indoor plants because it is nearly sterile and will carry few if any fungi spores, which can cause rot in plants that must be kept moist. Even plants that are not overwatered can be overly moist indoors due to high humidity and low light levels. Soil-less mixes contain peat, sand, perlite, vermiculite and other nondirt compounds. They are no different from standard potting mixes except for the absence of soil. These types of mixes may lack some nutrients, which are added manually but are generally free of major pathogens. These types of mixes work for the parlor palm but you will need to water more frequently and add fertilizer at every other watering.

Potting Mixes

• A generic potting mix is suitable for growing the parlor palm. Potting mixes carry the same compounds as soil-less mixes with the addition of soil and often other organic compounds such as compost. Higher quality potting soil has a larger percentage of perlite. Look for one that has at least 10 to 15 percent perlite. Perlite helps increase porosity in the s, which tend to remain damp in the low light conditions preferred by parlor palms.

All-Purpose Potting Mix

• There are many levels of potting mix and you usually get what you pay for. An all-purpose potting mix will have 3 parts organic matter, 1 part sand, perlite or vermiculite and 1 part sphagnum peat moss. This type of soil doesn't contain added fertilizer but makes an excellent potted plant medium. For the Chamaedorea elegans,m you will need to fertilize every two weeks in the growing period but suspend fertilizer in winter. You can make your own potting mix or purchase one already assembled by a reputable nursery.