PlantFiles: Kentia Palm, Sentry Palm, Paradise Palm
Howea forsteriana

Fantastic palm with really tropical appearance, but also quite hardy.
I recently got two plants (actually there were 3 shoots on each plant), that were growing together in a pot.
I separated the two plants and put them in a semi-shady place outdoors. (avg. temp. 72F/22C) The roots were not damaged during transplantation, and despite the fact that the plants were not put in full shade there was no problem at all.
I saw this palm in a friend's garden at a place that was exposed to the north. Despite our relatively cool winter (avg. temp. Dec-Jan-Feb: 50F/10C), the plant was healthy, growing normally and it was more than 2 meters high. Unfortunately in February 2004 we had the worst snowfall in 20 years. Temperature dropped to 25F/-4C and the palm died. I think that if they had protected it it would probably have survived.

Have had trouble growing this in Coto de Caza. I bought a $600 healthy plant, planted it according to instructions, and it has been struggling for a year. The leaves turn brown.

Not the glossiest,or greenest palm, but the most shapely. And it stays in scale for the average yard. Mine was planted in 1992 as a division of a 3' Home Depot trio.Now it has 12 foot fronds on a five foot trunk. But the trunk is still completely sheaved-no rings. The last few years i have increased the fertilizing since coming to the conclusion that outdoor Kentias are heavy feeders if you have less than great dirt!
Oh,and it's the only palm i have that people insist is a coconut palm...not bad for Nor Cal.
EDIT 2007: My two Howeas had some frost damage from the freeze of 07. A 8 frond Howea about 10' to tip of frond was frosted down to 3 green fronds. My larger 20' Howea just had very minor tip burn-and only on two fronds. Still,i dont think Howeas have a very good cold tolerance-they just grow better in cool summer climates than tropical palms.

Very easy to grow but needs a fairly high humidty else the leaves will brown.
Only repot if neccesary as they dont like their roots disturbed too much.

Beatuful palm can be acclimated to blasting full sun. First put under a shade cloth for a few months, and then take it off. The leaves will probably burn, but all the new ones coming out will be fully adapted to the sun. You could also put it out in the full sun without acclimation, but then the leaves would burn severley and you could risk the life of your palm, but there are more sucessive than failures trying it this way.

I live out in the desert and the palm tree is growing really well out here. It is still small and barely starting to form a trunk. It gets full summer sun throught out most of the day. I just feed it every now and then and water it every day. It is very dark green in color with no signs of burn. It also gets dry winds. I don't know how come it is doing so well. I had it in an area where it was mostly shade and then I moved it to the front of the house where it gets alot of sun and it is doing much better. I had moved it before I knew what kind and how to take care of it, or else I wont of moved it because of what I have read about the palm. I have had it now for three years.

I have a small sentry palm that I have had for several years, read various do's and don't's, one of which was "water only from the bottom" which seems to work, but it doesn't seem to get any bigger, sometimes the new fronds just die, and today I noticed a new type growth--not a pinnate frond--growing out from the base of another frond that has small round, yellow 'balls' at the juncture of various (about 5) offshoots on the branch.

The palm is native to Australia's Lord Howe Island that sits in the Tasman Sea. One of its main exports is this palm that is used as an indoor plant.

Probably the most tropical looking of the palms that will grow in the milder parts of the SF Bay Area. Here in Los Altos I have several in mostly shaded areas but my largest (14 feet tall double with 4' of trunk is in full sun. This is a bit of a challenge in the summer as we get occasional heat waves in the 90s which will burn the leaflets directly facing the sun but the palms flourish despite this anoyance and put out some of the prettiest leaves during the winter. My Howeas have survived mid 20s completely undamaged.

I have 25 large (some over 20 ft trunk height) Kentia Palms in my yard in Carlsbad, CA. Three of the trees in the 8 - 12 ft range are afflicted with "Leaning Howea Syndrome" and are starting to curve.

Howeas are the premiere house palm. They can grow in very low light, do well without much water (though do much better if given ample light and water), rarely need any fertilization indoors and are relatively resistant to spider mites and mealy bugs. Just about every show on TV or movie has a Howea in the background of some room somewhere if you start looking for them.

As outdoor palms they are one of the most tropical looking palms that can be grown in the temperate US. They do burn at 27F or less, but can tolerate frosts fairly well, especially once older and forming a trunk. They have a hightly ornamental green irregularly ringed trunk and a wide 'foot' at the bottom, pendulous dark, green leaflets and are fairly fast growing (for palms). In Southern California, you can create a canopy for more tender palms and tropicals with Howeas in just 10 years.

They do suffer a malady called 'leaning Howea syndrome' and no one yet knows why they get this disease. They just suddenly start to grow towards the ground, with the crown eventually heading straight back down in 3-4 years once they start doing this. Lots of theories on why and how to stop them, but nothing foolproof yet.