Metallic Palm

Metallic Palm Care

Chamaedorea Metallica

What is the plant

Chamaedorea metallica (common name: Metallica Palm, also known as Metal Palm and Miniature Fishtail Palm) is a tough, slow-growing, resilient palm, tolerant of relatively low-light. It makes a good houseplant and used commonly in commercial settings. Metallica Palm are grown outdoors in USDA zones 9-12. Its mature height is five feet tall.Metallica palm is native to shady understory forest beds of Mexico, which helps make it tolerant of low-light. Due to its low-light adaptations, Metallica palm is best kept out of direct sunlight. The stiff, undivided leaves are borne on a single-stem trunk and are dark blue-green with a metallic sheen with a ‘fish-tail’ shape. Large, dark-green leaves are a common trait of low-light plants including Spathiphyllum, Aspidistra (Cast Iron Plant), and Janet Craig Dracaena.

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Lighting

Part Sun

Hardiness zone

9b - 12

Difficulty

Easy

How to Care for the Plant

Water
Chamaedoreas in general don't have very impressive root systems for the size of the plant, so it's easy to drown them. Use a soil that drains quickly, and then water often. If you can't do that for one reason or another, aim for watering when the soil is about halfway dry. The plants at work stay pretty wet all the time, but then it's also hot and humid in there, which means they're growing a lot faster and need more water.
Fertilizer
Light to none. Not only will tips burn if the plant is exposed to excessive fluoride or boron, they'll burn a little bit if there are high soluble salts of any kind. Plants are naturally found in fairly alkaline, limestone-heavy soils, so adding conservative amounts of calcium very occasionally will help with the fluoride and boron problems.8 They don't have very high requirements for nutrients to begin with, says the growers' guide, so go easy.
Sunlight
Chamaedorea metallica will adapt to most light conditions, though I wouldn't try full sun.

Disease diagnosis

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Soil
Humus-rich well-drained soil when grown indoors or out.
Temperature
According to at least one site, mature, established plants outdoors can handle temperatures down to 28ºF (-2ºC) for four days without any leaf damage. The growers' guide says that Chamaedoreas in general (i.e., not metallica specifically) do best between 75 and 90ºF (24-32ºC), and tend to be injured below about 45ºF (7ºC).
Popularity
22 people already have this plant 9 people have added this plant to their wishlists