Question
I'm giving a 6' tall areca palm to a relative.  She wants to split it with her daughter.  Can they just cut the rootball in half when they transplant it?  I have had it outside in semi-shade for the summer and it has been doing well although it did get a bit too wet when we had a lot of rain.  I moved it to the north (front) side of my house 2 weeks ago and it has been fairly mild weather (70's) with 50's for nighttimes.

Answer
Yes! just make sure that each section gets its share of roots, Arecas are very determined growers, and this will actually stimulate further growth, as it was probably root bound at this point anyway. If they put it in containers then line the bottom with a couple of inches of drainage medium, like pea stone. Nick