Parlour palm
Chamaedorea elegans
A small slow palm that has been a reliable indoor plant since the Victorians, tolerating low light and cool rooms better than any other palm and safe around pets. It is sold as a cluster of seedlings in one pot, which is how it should stay — separating them usually kills them.
- Position
- Moderate light
- Water
- moderate demand
- Drainage
- Free-draining, Moisture-retentive
- Grows to
- 60–120 cm × 45–60 cm
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Difficulty
- Straightforward
August
Nothing to do
No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.
Parlour palm’s year
Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.
| Activity | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take cuttings | May. | June. |
Timing that travels
The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.
Conditions it needs
- Light
- Partial shade, Dappled shade, Full shade
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Grows best at
- 16–24 °C
- Soil
- Peat-free compost
- Soil pH
- 5.5–7
- Drainage
- Free-draining, Moisture-retentive
- Water needs
- moderate
- Drought
- moderate tolerance
- Waterlogging
- poor tolerance
- Heat
- moderate tolerance
- Wind and exposure
- poor tolerance
Where these figures come from
- LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parlour palm — position
Checked 2026-08-13
- FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parlour palm — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
- Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parlour palm — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
- SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parlour palm — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Chamaedorea elegans — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
- DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parlour palm — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
On your soil
Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.
| Soil | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy clay | Works, with one condition | Parlour palm will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
| Sandy | Grows well here | Parlour palm grows perfectly well on sandy without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose. |
| Chalky and alkaline | Works, with one condition | Parlour palm will crop on chalky and alkaline, but one thing has to be dealt with first. The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 5.5 to 7, and this soil sits around 7.8 to 8.5.The pH is the obstacle. Small shifts are achievable and slow; large ones are not. On chalky and alkaline the dependable answer is a container of the right compost rather than an attempt to change the ground. |
| Loam | Prefers this soil | Loam suits Parlour palm as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5.5 to 7, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Silty | Prefers this soil | Silty suits Parlour palm as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5.5 to 7, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Peaty and acid | Works, with one condition | Parlour palm will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
| Shallow over rock | Grows well here | Parlour palm grows perfectly well on shallow over rock without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose. |
| Made ground and urban soil | Works, with one condition | Parlour palm will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.
Space and spacing
- Mature height
- 60–120 cm
- Mature spread
- 45–60 cm
- Rooting depth
- 25 cm
Where these figures come from
- Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
In a container
- Minimum volume
- 4 litres or more
- Minimum depth
- 20 cm
Where the container figures come from
- Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Where and how you can grow it
Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.
| Method | Suitability | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor pot | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Container | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Indoors, or outdoors in summer only |
| Windowsill | WorkablesourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Hydroponics | Not assessedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Open ground | Not suitablesourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Tender: will not survive a British winter outdoors. |
Growing it
- ProtectionWatch for red spider mite in dry centrally heated air — fine webbing between the fronds and a dull stippled look to the leaves. Raising humidity is both the prevention and much of the cure.
- TransplantingLeave the clump as it is. Parlour palms are sold as several seedlings in one pot and do not divide successfully — the roots are entangled and separating them usually loses the lot.
- WateringWater when the top two or three centimetres are dry and drain it thoroughly. Palms are far less tolerant of standing in water than of being a little dry, and a parlour palm in a decorative outer pot with an unnoticed reservoir in the bottom is the single commonest way one is lost. Reduce from October, when the plant is doing very little. It is the most shade-tolerant palm sold as a houseplant, which means it survives in dim corners — but a dim corner and a summer watering habit together are what rots it.
- FeedingHalf-strength balanced feed monthly in spring and summer, none in winter. Parlour palms are usually sold as several seedlings in one pot, which is why they look full and why they stay small — they are slow, and no feeding regime turns one into a large palm. Feed for health rather than for size, flush the compost with plain water occasionally to prevent tip-browning, and do not repot into anything much larger.
Where this guidance comes from
- ProtectionSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Palms indoors — pests
Checked 2026-08-13
- TransplantingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Chamaedorea — care
Checked 2026-08-13
- WateringSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Chamaedorea elegans
Checked 2026-08-13
- FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Chamaedorea elegans
Checked 2026-08-13
Safety and edibility
Listed as non-toxic to cats and dogs
Parlour palm appears on published non-toxic lists for cats and dogs. That is a statement about the plant's chemistry, not a guarantee: any plant eaten in quantity can upset an animal, so it is still worth discouraging heavy chewing.source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — toxic and non-toxic plant list — American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Chamaedorea elegans — non-toxic plants list
Checked 2026-08-13
- Pets and livestockpetsNot toxic to cats or dogs. Note that many other plants sold as indoor palms are — sago palm in particular, which is not a palm at all and is severely toxic to dogs.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Chamaedorea elegans
Checked 2026-08-13
Safe with pets. Check the botanical name when buying an 'indoor palm', because sago palm (Cycas revoluta) looks similar in a shop and causes liver failure in dogs.
Sources for this page
GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society
Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.