Giving a Majesty Palm the Proper Care to Thrive

Published February 10, 2021
Modern interior with large mirror and beautiful majestic palm plant

The majesty palm can be grown as an outdoor plant and a houseplant. The majesty palm provides you with an elegant feel that can give a garden or living room a tropical look.

Is a Majesty Palm a Good Indoor Plant?

The majesty palm is a popular houseplant. It is a slow growing plant that will give you years of enjoyment.

Houseplant Majesty Palm Care and Maintenance

The slow-growing majesty palm will grow up to 10 feet as an indoor plant. The plant grows between 8"to12" annually. You will most likely need to repot it every other year. A telltale sign that it's time to repot is the emergence of roots at the soil line. Just make sure you choose a new flowerpot that is 2" bigger in diameter to ensure your majesty palm has room to spread out.

Pot With Drainage Holes

The majestic palm doesn't have wet feet. This means you need to select a pot that has drainage holes to allow the water to drain.

How Often Do You Water a Majesty Palm?

You never want the soil in your majesty palm flowerpot to grow dry. Typically, you will water your palm weekly. Don't allow the tips of the frond to become dry. If this happens or the leaves turn brown, you've allowed your plant to dry out and immediately need to water it.

Humidity Requirements for Majesty Palm Care

The biggest maintenance and care issue for your majesty palm is ensuring a humid environment. Humidity isn't a desirable air quality for a home interior.

Indoor Majestic palm tree

How to Easily Emulate Humid Environment

You can easily give your majesty palm the humidity it craves by emulating a humid environment. You will need to create a humidity tray.

  1. Choose a shallow tray that is fairly wide.
  2. Layer the tray with a bed of gravel.
  3. Add water and stop filling the tray before the water covers the top of the gravel.
  4. Set the potted palm on top of the gravel.
  5. Make sure the pot isn't sitting in standing water, but is safely above the water line.
  6. Adjust the water if necessary, to ensure the pot is resting on dry gravel.
  7. Refill the humidity tray as needed.

Mist Your Majesty Palm

You can also mist your majesty palm each day to offer it a tropical environment. This is done in addition to the humidity tray and not in place of the tray.

Majesty Palm Indoor Sunlight Requirements

An indoor majesty palm needs bright indirect sunlight. In fact, you'll want to set this plant where it can receive bright indirect light at least six hours a day. The more indirect light it receives, the happier your majesty palm will be. This means a south-east or south-facing room in your home with lots of windows could be the perfect spot for your palm.

Majestic Palm on the balcony

Type of Soil for Majesty Palm

You want a soil that drains easily. Some people opt for a potting soil for succulents. An acidic pH is preferred for the majesty palm. You can try a potting soil mix for cactus, palm, and citrus.

Fertilize Your Majesty Palm

During the growing season (spring and summer), you'll need to feed your majesty palm in the spring and again in the summer. If you have nutrient rich potting soil, you shouldn't need to fertilize it.

Pruning Maintenance for Your Majesty Palm

You will need to prune your majesty palm to promote plant health. This is a simple process since you will only prune the fronds that turn brown or yellow.

Majesty Palm Pest Prevention

While you can't completely safeguard against an insect infestation, you can lessen the risks. By maintaining and giving your majesty palm proper care, you reduce the risk of pests. Spider mites are the biggest threat to a majesty palm. If you don't provide ample humidity, spider mites can set their sights on your plant. Keeping your plant misted discourages these pesky pests from setting up new homes in your plant.

Is the Majesty Palm Toxic to Pets?

The good news is the majesty palm is nontoxic to pets. You don't need to worry about placing this houseplant in your home.

Majesty Palm Outdoors

You can grow a majesty palm outdoors. With an expanded space for the root system to grow beyond a flowerpot, the majesty palm can reach 60 feet or more in height.

Choose the Right Planting Zone

The ideal growing zones for majesty palms are tropical. These zones are 9b to 11. The temperature range is between 45°F and 85°F.

Other considerations include:

  • Like its indoor cousins, the outdoor majesty palm needs indirect sunlight.
  • A sandy soil that drains well is most similar to the majesty palm's natural habitat in Madagascar.
  • The majesty palm will thrive best when planted near water, like a stream or lake.
  • Outside, the palm fronds can grow as massive as 8 feet long.
  • Fertilize once in the spring and once in the summer.
  • Prune any brown or yellow fronds.
Areca palm repotting

Majesty Palm for Indoor and Outdoor Enjoyment

You can add a majesty palm to your houseplants or if you live in one of the right zones, you can plant one in your yard. This regal plant will add a flair of elegance and romance to your home.

Giving a Majesty Palm the Proper Care to Thrive