How Fast Does An Areca Palm Grow

Areca palm is one of the most loved plants all over the USA, no matter if you live in California or Florida. It has low maintenance and looks very nice, giving an aesthetically appealing presence wherever they are kept.

Here we are going to discuss the areca palm growth rate per year and how fast an areca palm grows.

Growth rate of the Areca Palm

• A typical areca palm, they grow up to 5 to 10 inches, but there are many factors that are responsible for this growth. However, they stop growing when they reach a height of 7 feet tall.
• The roots of the tree spread horizontally from the trunk. Here we will be discussing why your areca palm grows slowly and how to grow them faster.

Also Read: White dots on areca palm leaves [How to Prevent]

Areca palm growth rate per year

• The growth rate per year of areca palms can differ from place to place. For example, in Hawaii and Florida, the temperature and other conditions have so well suited areca palms that they usually grow up to 2 feet every growing season. 
• Also, in some parts, Areca Palm can grow up to 10 feet tall every year when met with bright conditions. The roots of the areca palm spread horizontally from the trunk of the plant. Hence in a period of 2-3 years, your areca palms can be fully grown plants.

Reasons for the slow growth of areca palm or Why is my areca palm growing slowly?

• Even though areca palms are low maintenance and forgiving plants but still there are times when you will see that they are not growing at a rate as they should have grown. There are certain reasons for the slow growth of areca palm, no matter how fast areca palm grows in general.
• The first step is to investigate and analyze the reasons for slow growth. Without knowing the reasons for their slow growth, we will not be able to cure it, and hence here we will discuss why your areca palm is growing slowly by focusing on the reasons the slow growth of areca palms.

Check out: Brown Spots on Areca Palm Leaves [6 ways to Fix]

1. Deficiency of nutrients-

• The lack of nutrients like iron and nitrogen makes the plants stunted growth as they dont get enough nutrients. Due to nutrient deficiency, the old foliage can be affected as well as the new leaves.
• Due to a lack of mobile nitrogen, the old foliage gets affected and hence the slow growth. Similarly, a lack of mobile iron affects the growth of new and middle aged leaves. These nutrient deficient leaves get less food due to this deficiency and result in stunted growth, turn brown and die.

2. Less humidity-

Areca palms are tropical plants, and they do best in hot and humid conditions. Due to low levels of humidity, their growth might get slow.

3. Underwatering-

• When you under water your plants more than often, there is a chance of them turning brown and then dying slowly. They might be alive for some time, but they will definitely not grow. Underwatering your areca palm will affect the roots of the plant as it will become weak due to nutrient deficiency.
• Also, they will not be able to transport nutrients from the soil, which means that they will not be able to produce food due to a lack of photosynthesis. Hence it will lead to the areca palm not growing well.

4. Soil conditions-

• Because of the soil conditions also your areca palm might be having stunted growth. Soil conditions can be poorly drained soil. This means that your soil gets overwatered on watering the plant due to improper drainage.
• This improper drainage in the soil can be due to a lack of gravel in the soil or the lack of drainage holes in the pot. Because of either of the reasons, the soil gets very wet, and hence the roots start to rot. So the soil conditions are responsible for the stunted growth of areca palms.

5. Root conditions-

When you plant your areca palm in small sized pots, the roots feel compacted. Because of this, the roots become weak and unable to absorb nutrients from the soil. This root condition might become responsible for your areca palm’s slow growth.

6. Imbalance of light conditions-

• Areca palm is a tropical plant. This means that it grows well in good light conditions. The imbalance of light causes the temperature to get low, which results in the slow growth of the areca palm.
• Too much light also burns the leaves and turns them yellow, and too less shade also leaves the areca palm stunted in growth.

7. Diseases and pests-

• The areca palm is most susceptible to root rot diseases. These diseases result in the damaging of roots, and thus only a few roots remain. The transportation of nutrients is less as a result of few healthy roots, and hence the plant growth rate gets stunted.
• Pests like spider mites feed on the stem sap of areca palm, weakening the stem’s nutrient transporting ability. Hence this results in small foliage and leaves and hence slow growth of areca palm.

Also Check: How To Remove Areca Palm Tree Root?

How can you make the areca palm grow faster?

Once we know the reason for slow growth by complete investigation and analysis of the plant, then we can easily navigate in the direction of working towards fixing it. Here we are discussing how you can make your areca palm grow faster.

If you follow them religiously, they will surely help your areca palm to grow faster.

1. Right watering methods-

• Overwatering and underwatering are both not good for your areca palm, as discussed above. Hence you should water regularly but not over water your plants.
• Also, you can use a good kind of water for your plants and not chlorinated water, as it will hinder the growth of the plants.

2. Nutrients added through fertilizers –

Nutrients are a very important part of the growth of any plant, and so is true with areca palm. Make sure that you give the plants the required nutrients once a month at least.

This will ensure that the plants are growing well and fast. However, over fertilizing causes plants to turn brown so do it in balance to avoid such conditions.

The best kind of fertilizer for your areca palm can be a slow release fertilizer or an organic one. For this, you can refer to our other article as well named as “Homemade fertilizer for areca palm” and use the tips in it to help your plane get enough nutrients.

3. Sunlight –

• It is very important for the areca palm to be in a well lit area for chlorophyll and hence photosynthesis. It is a tropical plant, and it needs to be kept in a place where there is an ample amount of light all time of the day.
• However, you must not keep it in direct sunlight as the leaves will burn and turn yellow.
• So if you are keeping it indoors, then keep it next to a window that gets sunlight all day. And if you are keeping it outdoors, keep it at a place where it gets sunlight all day but not direct sunlight.

4. Improving drainage conditions-

• The soil drainage condition plays a very important part in helping the areca palm plant grow faster and also in keeping it healthy. To improve the drainage of soil you can add small pebbles and gravel to make sure that the soil is airy and also well drained.
• Alternatively, you can also add composted tree bark or perlite. If you do this, the soil will become well drained.
• The most important thing, together with that is to ensure the pot has enough drainage holes so that the water doesn’t get percolated at the bottom, making the roots rot. Hence a well drained soil will prevent root rot and hence nutrient deficiency and help your areca palm grow faster.

5. Environment-

• Areca palm loves a tropically hot and humid temperature environment. Hence a very cold and dry environment should be avoided. Even very hot temperatures should be avoided. Areca palms do it like extremes of temperature.
• For this, you can use humidifiers where the plants are and avoid keeping them in places where there are air conditioned rooms. For places that get frosty and all, you can also use frost-protection sprays.

Read: How Often Should A Newly Planted Areca Palm Be Watered?

How big do areca palms get?

• The maximum that it has been found is that they can grow up to 30 feet tall. They grow from one season to the other differently in different parts of the USA because of many conditions being met or not.
• However, they can grow from 1 foot to 10 feet tall in a year in different parts of the country.

How Fast Do Areca Palms Grow Outdoors?

• If you keep your areca palm outdoors, it will grow at a much faster rate than compared keeping it indoors. This is because the light conditions will be met. They will have good sunlight outside; however, avoid direct sunlight and keep them in a place of partial sunlight.
• Also, during the seasons when the temperature is hot and humid, it will affect the plant in a good way. When kept outside, their growth has no limitations, and they can grow up to 10 inches if all conditions are met. That means they can grow up to 25 to 30 feet tall outdoors.

Also, you may like some more Gardening tutorials:

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• Philodendron Selloum Soil Mix
• Can you grow areca palm from cuttings?
• Is Areca Palm Toxic To Rabbits And Cats?
• Areca Palm Leaves Turning Yellow
• Areca Palm Dying – Causes and Fixes

Conclusion

Here we have discussed the growth rate of areca palm per year and how fast an areca palm grows. They can grow from one foot to 10 feet in a year, depending upon many factors.

We have also discussed the reasons for the slow growth of the areca palm so that you can investigate and figure out the reasons why your areca palm is growing slowly.

Most importantly, we have discussed whether can you make your areca palm grow faster. This will help you do the right thighs to make your areca palm grow on the taller side if that’s what you want.

We have included as much information regarding this topic as we thought you might require. If you have any queries, you can write to us below, and we will make sure we get your doubts covered.