Neanthe Bella/ Parlour Palm (Chamaedorea Elegans)

I want to start off by saying if you absolutely love palms but don't want one that will quickly outgrow your home this is the plant for you. I came across this beauty while I was shopping around at Walmart  for another green baby. It caught my eyes just sitting there so graceful looking and its foliage was drop dead gorgeous in my opinion. Needless to say I decided to buy it and bring it into my home I knew nothing about this plant but I was definitely excited to learn. This Palm absoulely thrives in a home or workplace versus other palms that may struggle to thrive. Another great addition to that is this plant is known as being one of the cheapest palms you can buy. I picked mines up for $2.98 that's a huge bargain in my eyes and it was very healthy when I picked it up. This plant has been very popular as a indoor plant because it can adapt to low light and humidity levels indoors. This is another plant that made NASA list for being a great indoor air cleaner. Now let's talk about the light requirements, this plant will tolerate low light but having it in deep shade will stress this plant. I always say just because it's low light don't men no light so always keep that in mind with any house plant. Avoid putting this plant in direct sunlight for long periods of time this will possibly cause leaf burn to the plant leaving it to look sickly. Now let's move on to watering the Bella Palm I would say it's better to underwater this plant versus overwatering. I never water on a tight schedule I always let the top dry out and then I'll stick a light colored stick down in the soil to check for any type of moisture. It's important to check the soil before watering. You want to avoid overwatering and having a possible root rot case on your hands. If this plant is in a low light setting it will always take less water so please be mindful of where you store your plant. I will now talk a little bit about humidity for this plant. Luckily this plant can adapt to low humidity but I will highly recommended that you spray the foliage often and keep it on a tray of wet pebbles to help with the humidity to avoid any pest. The Bella Palm is actually made up of several single plants so having enough nutrients is very important for this plant to thrive in your home. Just keep in mind this is a small slow growing plant so you still don't want to over feed it, I always feed mines about once a month but never in the winter months. Speaking of winter months it's important to keep this plant on the warmer side this plant will do well with temperatures 50 degrees Fahrenheit and above. Now so far as repotting goes for this beautiful plant it really don't like its roots to be disturbed to much. They have a very weak root system so you want to avoid repotting this plant to much. I brought mine in a 4 inch pot and waited a few weeks before I repotted it into a 6 inch pot and it's very happy and popping up new shoots like crazy. I must say that my plant was seriously root bound so it was definitely time for a new home. They say you should repot every year until it's mature but I recommend that you pop it out of its pot every now and again and check the root system. If the roots are going in a circular motion with more roots then soil it's definitely time to repot into a bigger pot. Always go up one pot size never ever overpot any house plant you can easily overwater your plant which can cause serious problems with your plant. So far as the height and spread of this plant I never seen one indoors taller then 3ft tall. One thing to remember is this plant spread as wide as it will get tall so if your plant grows up to 3ft tall it will spread 3ft wide. I never propagated my plant and never will but if you want to do this you can by dividing this plant. Just remember it's made up of several small plants so if you do that your plant will not look as full. Before I forget I want to mention that mealy bugs and spider mites love to attack this plant but I haven't had any problems with any pest. A couple of things I do is wash the foliage off often, spray it down with regular dawn dish soap, and wipes the foliage down with a damp cloth. Just remember when you spray it wish dish soap (only use 1-3 drops in a spray bottle filled with water) spray until it starts to drip off the foliage. Let it sit for 1-2 hours and make sure you rinse the foliage off very well and then sit it in a place with indirect sunlight. The last couple of things I want to say about this plant is use a very good draining soil and this is considered a non poisonous plant. This is a very easy plant to grow with little cafe requirements as you can tell I highly recommend this plant as a first timer plant. As always if you have any further questions feel free to leave a comment and I'll get back with you asap and remember to always do your part to keep this world green.