Can anyone help me save my majesty palm?

Question

Hello,

I'm new to plants, but 2 weeks ago, I purchased a majesty palm (5') and an areca palm (3'). Both have done well thus far. I water about once a week, being sure to keep the soil fairly moist, I spray each one down every morning with a soapy water mixture to combat pests and help keep them healthy, and I have them each about 2' away from a south-facing window.

When I woke up this morning, my majesty palm was looking kind of bad. Many of the fonds on one side of the plant had turned a a dark yellow or even brown (see pics). The weird thing is that the yellowing/browning side was the side closest to the window; I rotated the plant around this morning when I noticed the issues. I've read somewhere that yellow fonds likely means you've over-watered, whereas brown fonds means that you've under-watered. However, since this is my first plant, I'm unsure which it is and how to approach this problem.

Please help--I love these plants and want to save them!

Thanks!

PS, my areca palm, within another room, surprisingly has no issues...

Images:

http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=46092&d=1218556921

http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=46093&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1218556949

Answer 1

You water once a week but soap them every day? Some of that soapy water is seeping down and concentrations of that level cannot be healthy. I work in a wholesale nursery and we grow and sell arecas NOT ONCE have we had to treat for pests. If you don't see living scale on your palm there's no need to continually soap it (if it ain't broke don't fix it), and if you have scale soap won't faze it. Arecas don't like full sun but as yours are inside I don't think thats the issue. Is it Possible there's not enough sun in that particular location? I would say start  by watering twice a week, lay off the soaping, and go from there. Also maybe feed them we use an 8-6-6.  

Answer 2

palms are very beautiful,however they need to be watered more than once a week.i would also suggest that they be planted in the ground.you will also need to put palm food on the twice a year.it sounds like they need fed now.good luck.