Cat Palm is a gorgeous addition to your home decor that can be managed with minimal effort. Depending upon the environmental conditions and other factors, you might only need to water the palm only once a week. Your primary focus with the watering schedule should be to keep the soil moist and not have water suspended at the bottom of the pot. Having excessive moisture in the pot will lead to root rot and several other issues.
Many gardeners have recently been struggling with leaves curling on their cat palms. If you’re in the same boat and don’t know how to fix the plant, follow these methods.
How to Fix Cat Palm Leaves Curling?
- Increase Water Supply
Even though this palm does not need to be watered more than once a week, it all depends upon the lighting and the environmental conditions in your region. So, there is no one specific rule about how many times you should be watering your plant in a week. The primary reason behind the cat palm leaves is most often linked to the insufficient water supply to the plant. It not only creates issues with the curling of leaves but also stuns the growth of the palm.
The best method to get around this problem is by simply increasing the water supply. However, at this stage, most people go overboard with the increase in water supply which is also damaging towards the plant. So, instead of increasing the amount of water supplied to the plant, you should increase the frequency of times you water the plant. Doing this will allow you to get ahead of the curling issue without worrying about damage to the plant roots.
Similarly, if you’re unsure about how much water you should give to the plant, then check the top two inches of the potting soil. If there is sufficient moisture in the top two inches of the potting soil, then the plant will grow ideally without any curling issues.
- Regulate Temperature
Now, this might be common knowledge, but most people don’t bother with managing the temperature needs of a plant. This leads to several problems, like the leaves of the plant curling up and the plant dying eventually. The cat palm prospers in relatively higher temperatures and can’t tolerate low temperatures. So, if you live in a cold region and have placed this plant in your garage, then the cold might be causing the plant leaves to curl up.
Luckily, if you take immediate action, this problem can be fixed by bringing the plant indoors and keeping it near a warm place. Usually, keeping the palm near a well-lit window would be enough to manage the lighting and heat requirements. However, if you keep the plant close to the fireplace and don’t provide it with sufficient light, then the problem will remain in the plant.
For this specific reason, you should plan the layout of your plant before going towards the implementation of the new layout. So, if you don’t have sufficient space available near a well-lit window, now might be time to change some things and make space for your cat palm.
- Changing Soil Mixture
Sometimes in order to boost the growth of their plants, many gardeners use excessive fertilizer. Instead of getting the desired results, the plant starts to die due to the high number of salts and other nutrients in the soil. The moderate use of the fertilizer indeed helps the growth of the plant, but going overboard with the fertilizer has never helped anyone. So, if you have anciently used extra fertilizer and notice the leaves curling up, try this method.
You need to try and remove the excess salts from the soil mixture if the amount is within manageable limits. However, if the number of salts far exceeds the plant’s requirements, then you will have to prepare a fresh potting mixture and change the pot your plant is placed in. This process won’t be easy, and the fertilizer might help you minimize the transplant shock.
If you’re familiar with the transplanting method, then simply changing the soil mixture and keeping track of your plant requirements should be enough to manage the leave curling issue in your cat palm. However, if for some reason you’re unable to get this problem fixed, call an expert to help you.