Posted:  11 Apr 2013 19:04
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Feb 2012	Posts:  45 Reputation: Unranked User Rank: 1 - Seedling
Hi I have 2 large Rhapis, 17" pots. They got extremely under watered and now aren't as beautiful as they once were. We've pruned the dead fronds off, but does anyone have any recommendations on helping them to grow in faster? Should we fertilize? any specific kind you'd recommend? As always, your input is greatly appreciated!

Posted:  11 Apr 2013 22:31
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Aug 2011	Posts:  64 Reputation:  6 User Rank: 2 - Sprout
If they're looking bad, replace them. If that's not an option, focus on proper watering.  The palms are probably stressed from the underwatering, so don't fertilize - fertilizer's not a miracle cure, it's just a way to add nutrients.  To fertilize a stressed plant will only do more harm than good.

Posted:  12 Apr 2013 03:06
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Jan 2011	Posts:  798 Reputation:  43 User Rank: 10 - Blossom
You don't say what the growing conditions are at the job site where these Rhapis palms are situated, but unless there's a lot of diffuse sunlight and even some direct sun in the morning, your stressed palms can't be expected to refoliate anytime soon.  Palms typically grow new foliage only from the shoot apical meristem at the top of each stem.  Rhapis are capable of suckering from the base/roots, but that's a very slow process that won't provide you any fullness in the main body of the plant for many years.  Typically, recovering Rhapis will make new fronds at the tops of each stem and become leggy-looking.  In a commercial interiorscape setting, replacement is the proper option at this point.

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