Question
I recently bought these two plants.  The rubber plant is beginning to molt and some leaves are turning dark.  The instructions said to keep moist.  The plant sits away from a window across the room, so it is not gettng direct sun light.  The Palm tree is turning yellow and sits right in fromt of the window.  The instructions also said to keep moist.  As soon as I watered last week it started turning yellow.  I am assuming because it has too much water, so how often should I water it?  Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions.  

Answer
Hi Karen,

The instructions that come with plants are often hard to understand and misleading.

Rubber plants need lots of light when they are indoors. I suggest that you move it so that it is right in front of the window and not across the room. Keep the window uncovered throughout the daylight hours. Assuming you did not put it into a larger pot, then you should allow the top quarter of the soil to become dry to the touch before watering thoroughly. The lower portion of the soil where most of the roots are will remain moist. I suspect you may be keeping the soil too moist.

There are hundreds of diferent types of palms and they have very different requirements. Thus, I cannot advise you on yours until I know just what species it is. If you can e-mail a photo to me at the address beow, I will ID it for you and tell you how to care for it.

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.

Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

You can E-mail me directly at: [email protected]

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