Hi all, brand new here 👋🏻

Ive recently been getting more and more into houseplants and started building my collection 🪴

Treat myself to a Kentia Palm as read they were cat safe and moderately easy to care for but when it arrived it had some brown tips and I've noticed the leaves are looking quite crinkled and dry.

I have trimmed the brown tips and the soil has always been moist and I have kept on top of watering once the soil starts to feel dry. I have it in a well lit room with a couple of hours of forest sunlight a day.

I'm in the UK so know that humidity probably isn't the best in the house, I have a diffuser that lets off steam near it, have been misting (not sure if this does anything as read conflicting articles) and also have been leaving wet washing on the radiator in the room to try increase humidity.

Any advice on getting it looking it's best would be greatly appreciated 🙏🏼

Just some more photos as wouldn't let me add more than one on original post

They're terrific palms for the indoors. Just watch the watering, indoors, under coolish conditions, they want to go slightly dry between waterings, but if you go too dry, the stems will noticeably shrink some until rehydrated. These are essentially solitary palms but often grown as multiples, as your are. Yours looks health though. Good luck.

subtropix said: They're terrific palms for the indoors. Just watch the watering, indoors, under coolish conditions, they want to go slightly dry between waterings, but if you go too dry, the stems will noticeably shrink some until rehydrated. These are essentially solitary palms but often grown as multiples, as your are. Yours looks health though. Good luck.

Had lots of palms, not that one, but great advice above.

Watering aside, I had good luck with trays of fine gravel just enough for a bit of a humidity bubble with a bit of water.

Not everyone agrees but it worked well for me.

Humboldt, I have a bit of an obsession with these palms. YES, I know they are quite expensive to purchase and can be hard to acquire. In the USA, this is probably due to two reasons. Firstly, they tend not to be grown in that great state for tropical palms..., FLORIDA. They seem to resent Florida's high summer heat, day and night. Many seem to come out of Hawaii and California. They are also not the fastest growers. But as solitary specimens, I think they do grow somewhat faster. I have four solitary ones of this species (Howea forsteriana) and one of Sentry Palm (Howea belmoreana). I had lost a large one that I had had for YEARS, so of course, it had to be replaced with FOUR new, smaller ones. I think my mistake with the one I lost was by overwatering and messing with the soil in the Winter. In the warmer months, mine go outside on my back deck in bright light but protected by direct sun. And in the high heat of my Summers, I water them every day without any problems.

subtropix said: Humboldt, I have a bit of an obsession with these palms. YES, I know they are quite expensive to purchase and can be hard to acquire. In the USA, this is probably due to two reasons. Firstly, they tend not to be grown in that great state for tropical palms..., FLORIDA. They seem to resent Florida's high summer heat, day and night. Many seem to come out of Hawaii and California. They are also not the fastest growers. But as solitary specimens, I think they do grow somewhat faster. I have four solitary ones of this species (Howea forsteriana) and one of Sentry Palm (Howea belmoreana). I had lost a large one that I had had for YEARS, so of course, it had to be replaced with FOUR new, smaller ones. I think my mistake with the one I lost was by overwatering and messing with the soil in the Winter. In the warmer months, mine go outside on my back deck in bright light but protected by direct sun. And in the high heat of my Summers, I water them every day without any problems.

Hey,

Good to know, thanks for the advice.

I wonder if they'd do well here, NorCal.
Chilly winters but rarely freezes, warm summers, humid between the rainy seasons and being one mile from the ocean.

I'd agree over-watering can take stuff out and is a likely culprit.
And I try to let my plants rest during the winter also.