Threatened with extinction in its South American homeland, the Chilean honey palm is a popular ornamental plant in Mediterranean gardens, but is still quite rare in Germany. It grows quite slowly, which makes it very interesting as a houseplant.

Young Chilean honey palms do not like frost

How do I take care of my Chilean honey palm in winter?

If your Chilean honey palm has already been around for a few years, then it hardly needs any special care in winter. It now tolerates frost down to around -15 °C and is therefore hardy. It does not need fertilizer in winter and you can also reduce watering. However, you should not give up watering completely, otherwise your Chilean honey palm will die of thirst.

Do young plants need to be treated differently than old ones?

Until the age of about 5 years, the Chilean honey palm is not hardy and should therefore overwinter indoors. The winter quarters should be at least frost-free and also bright. The warmer and brighter your Chilean honey palm is in winter, the more water it needs. The honey palm does not hibernate. For example, if it is in the living room, then it is constantly evolving.

However, in the case of the Chilean honey palm, this all happens quite slowly. It only grows about 5 cm a year and only flowers when it is about 60 years old. The palm tree also lives for a correspondingly long time. Their trunk can reach a circumference of up to 1.5 m. It was almost exterminated in its homeland because palm honey and palm wine are obtained from the honey palm. For this, however, the palm tree must be felled.

The essentials in brief:

  • Chilean honey palm not hardy as a young plant
  • needs lots of space
  • grows very slowly
  • blooms extremely late (around 60 years old)
  • the warmer it is, the more watering

tips

Even if the Chilean honey palm grows very slowly, it needs a lot of space when it gets old. At some point it will be too big as a houseplant and should move to the garden.

Category:

Trees