Looking for Parlor Palm vs. Areca Palm comparison?
Growing green plants indoors means beautifying the room, creating a pleasant background, and helping the purification and oxygenation of the air.
Palms are, without a doubt, among the most preferred green plants for indoor spaces since they make us feel like we're on a relaxing vacation.
If you're looking to get a green palm for your home or office, the following comparison and information about the Parlor Palm and Areca Palm might help you make a decision.
Parlor Palm vs. Areca Palm - Differences
Let's look at the difference between these two palm varieties now.
1. Origin
Understanding the origins of a plant will help you provide the best growing and environmental conditions for your plant.
The Parlor Palm is a plant with origins in Mexico and Guatemala, where it grows in lush green rainforests.
This palm is a small variety, growing close to the forest's ground, shaded by larger trees and palms that grow all around them.
The Areca Palm is native to the island of Madagascar and is now available in several other places, such as Cuba, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Florida, and even Jamaica, where it grows successfully.
It is a typical garden plant, but you can also use it as an indoor plant.
2. Appearance
The Parlor Palm is a type of palm that doesn't grow too tall, making it among the most popular choices for indoor palms.
It features a thin green trunk and an underground rhizome, from which tubular stems grow.
These stems end up with fronds of bright green color, with a feather-like appearance.
The older the plant gets, the more leaves it will develop.
When it comes to the Areca Palm, it is possible to notice that multiple stems grow straight from the ground, in a formation that resembles a bamboo plant quite a lot.
In comparison with the Parlor palm's leaves, which are smaller, the Areca palm features large, arched fronds with 40 to 60 pairs of leaflets on each axis.
The color of the fronds is a light green to a yellowish-green.
3. Other Names
The Parlor Palm is also known as the Bella Palm or Neanthe palm, while the Areca Palm is known as the Butterfly palm, due to the way its fronds look, the Yellow Cane Palm, or just the Yellow Palm.
4. Size
As mentioned earlier, the Parlor Palm is small-sized, usually reaching heights of 2 to 3 meters or 6 to 9 feet.
It is also a slow-growing palm, so it can be successfully grown in smaller pots and containers during its early years.
The Areca Palm, however, is much taller.
It can reach heights of 6 to 12 meters or 20 to 39 feet, making it suitable for those with plenty of space to accommodate it, such as a tall ceiling.
Of course, it can be grown outdoors as well, in the garden, if the weather is warm enough throughout the year.
5. Sunlight Requirements
Both palms need a sufficient amount of natural light to thrive and grow successful and, above all, to maintain their leaves green.
But the Parlor Palm will appreciate filtered light more than direct sunlight.
On the other hand, the Areca Palm will enjoy a higher dose of natural light, even direct sunlight, as long as it does not scorch the plant.
6. Watering And Fertilization
When owning a Parlor Palm, it is good to know that it doesn't enjoy too much watering.
Bear in mind that it's coming from warm and dry regions, so allow the soil to dry at the surface before watering the palm.
Do not allow water to puddle in the pot, so make sure the pot allows a good draining of water.
On the other hand, the Areca Palm loves humidity, but it will be sensitive to overwatering.
This is why it is best to wait until the top layer of soil is dry before watering.
Also, this palm does not enjoy fluorinated water, so it's best to water it with distilled or collected rainwater.
You may want to pay attention to the room's humidity levels as well.
If the leaves of the palm are turning brown, the air is probably too dry.
Spray some water on the plant's leaves to increase humidity or place the pot over a plate with pebbles covered in water.
The water will evaporate slowly, creating the humidity the plant needs.
7. Blooming Period
Although it is not that common, palms do bloom as well, mainly when cultivated outside their natural environment.
The Parlor Palm makes scented flowers that look very much like the mimosa, of yellow, light-yellow, or orange color.
However, this palm rarely blooms indoors.
If it does, you may expect to see flowers during springtime.
The Areca Palm produces flowers as well, of a yellow color, which can be seen, if blooming occurs, during summer months.
These flowers grow in bunches from the plant's stem.
8. Interesting Facts
The Parlor Palm is among the very few species of palms that have their leaves harvested for floral arrangements.
This palm's fronds are highly appreciated because they can last up to 40 days in an arrangement or decoration after being cut.
A staggering 400 million fronds end up in Europe and North America, from Guatemala, every single year for such purposes.
The Areca Palm was a while ago included on the endangered plants' list, so it is quite amazing to see it become so popular and appreciated.
Today, in its natural habitat, the palm is in the Near Threatened category, which means it is doing quite well but needs supervision.
Parlor Palm vs. Areca Palm - Similarities
Even though the Parlor palm and Areca palm are two different types of plants from separate regions, there are some similarities between them.
They are both species of palms that can be grown indoors successfully.
The plants appreciate a soil pH that is slightly acidic to neutral.
And both of them remain green throughout the year.
None will tolerate overwatering and soils saturated in water.
So, water your palm with caution by paying attention to the soil.
It's best to wait until the soil gets dry to a certain degree before watering the plant.
They both enjoy warm temperatures, ranging between 60- and 75-degrees Fahrenheit.
They can be grown outdoors, but only if the temperature doesn't drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Parlor palm tends to be more resilient to lower temperatures, but it will wither if touched by frost.
Fertilizer should be used for these plants only once or twice during their entire growing season.
During winter, do not apply fertilizer at all, as it promotes salt build-ups in the soil.
These plants are propagated through seeds, so cutting leaves and stems won't help you obtain a new plant.
If you want another parlor palm or areca plant, it is recommended to buy another plant, as it is propagated properly out of seeds by specialists.
Now, let's take a look at the FAQs below.
FAQs
No, they are two different species of palm category of plants.
On the other hand, both of them can be kept as indoor as well as outdoor plants.
They do well in these conditions, provided you give them enough water, sunlight, and fertilizers regularly.
Yes, Parlor Palm comes under the category of air-purifying plants.
So, you can definitely get one for yourself for this specific property.
Note: The same thing applies to Areca Palm as well. It also does a great job in removing pollutants from your room.
All palm varieties thrive in a reasonable amount of sunlight.
Talking about the Areca palm variety, it also needs a decent light for the photosynthesis process.
Having said that, it can still do reasonably well in low light places.
But as with any other plant, you won't see a standard growth rate for your Areca palm plant with such adverse conditions.
Therefore, it's better to keep it in sunlight for at least a couple of hours in the morning.
Yes, you can mist your indoor Parlor palm plant.
However, I'd not recommend you to do it in winters or cold weather.
Otherwise, it may hurt the plant's growth.
The best time to mist your Parlor palm is the summers!
This is when the outside temperature gets hot and makes the conditions a little difficult for small plants.
In such cases, you can mist the plant to lower the intensity of heat on your indoor plants like Parlor Palm.
Also, it's essential to mist them during early mornings or late evenings, as it helps prevent sunburn on the leaves.
Yes, you can trim the unwanted dead leaves from your palm plants.
However, you need to be careful while pruning the plant.
Whenever you start to remove the brown or yellow leaves off the plant, make sure you don't remove the green leaves.
Also, don't perform pruning or trimming on a regular basis.
Sometimes, the plants do exceptionally well when they are unattended.
So, depending on the size of your plant, make sure to have a gap of 3-6 weeks between each pruning session.
You can read more about it in this detailed guide.
Over To You
Liked this comparison guide of Parlor Palm vs. Areca Palm?
Well, I hope you get to learn a few things about these two different varieties of palm plants.
If you still have any more questions or doubts, feel free to leave a comment below.
And I will try my best to answer your queries as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, if you found this guide useful, please do share it with your friends and family.
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