Do Palm Trees Bloom Flowers? (Solved!)

If you’re looking to add an instant tropical flair to your garden, room, or patio, you can’t go wrong with a palm tree.

As much as you enjoy their flattering green fronds, nothing can beat the momentous feeling of seeing your houseplants bloom. But do palm trees actually bloom flowers?

Most species of palm trees bloom large flower clusters known as inflorescences. This normally happens once a year, and flowers typically emerge at the start of the warmer season (usually spring). Provide filtered bright natural light and other optimal conditions to encourage blooming.

There is no one-size-fits-all care and blooming schedule for all palm trees. How and when palm trees flower is almost as varied as their assortment of fruits.

You must ensure you know exactly what your palm tree needs to bloom well and flower robustly.

That’s why I’ve pulled together this handy guide on when common palm tree species bloom flowers. You’ll also learn what may cause them not to bloom and what to do to encourage them to flower.

When Does a Palm Tree Bloom?

What may surprise you is that there are well over 2600 species of palm trees that also fall into various genera. Each palm tree blooms differently depending on the species, variety, and climate.

In their native climate, tropical palm trees may bloom several times throughout the year. They alternate between flowering and fruiting on and off year-round.

But the type of species has the biggest influence on when and for how long palm trees bloom.

For instance, coconut palm trees start blooming 4-6 years after the first sign of growth. On the other hand, some species of palm tree even bloom only one time in their lifecycle.

An excellent example is the Corypha palm which thrives in the US Department of Agriculture zones 10 & 11.

After they begin to grow, Corypha palm trees may take four to five decades before producing flowers.

And when these palm trees do bloom, they often die once the fruits form from the mature flowers. The table below details when and how each palm tree species blooms.mature flowers.

The table below details when and how each palm tree species blooms.

Palm Species	When Does It Bloom?	How Long Does It Bloom For?
Areca Palm	Bloom yellow flowers between late spring and early summer.	The inflorescences last a few months then become fruit.
Parlor Palm	They bloom in early spring, and the flowers are small and yellow in color.	The flower lasts for few months
Ponytail palm	Only mature ponytail palm trees bloom 2-3 times a year in late spring to early summer.	The flowers bloom for a few weeks before they mature into cream-reddish fruits that turn dark black when fully ripe.
Sago Palm	Sago palms bloom golden corn-like flowers once every 3-4 years, but rarely indoors.	Blooms once in three to four years
Fishtail Palm	A fishtail palm tree flowers once in its lifetime. Both female and male blooms are borne on the same plant.	Fishtail palm flowering period can last for 5-7 years.
Cat Palm	Bloom bright white to yellow flowers in early spring (or sometimes late winter).	The flowers will produce fruits on the same stalk after a few weeks. The fruits start out dark green then turn dark black as they mature.
Sentry Palm	Sentry/Kentia palms bloom creamy white flowers in November or December.	Sentry palm flowers drop off after a while as young trees. When they reach around age 15, the flowers start maturing into reddish-brown fruits.
Bamboo Palm	Bamboo palm trees bloom yellow flowers in summer. Female and male flowers appear on different plants.	1-2 months
Majesty Palm	Majesty palm trees produce whitish flowers in the late spring and early summer months on long inflorescence branches.	1-2 months before fruiting.

Why is Your Palm Tree Not Blooming

Palm trees bloom when they’re happy and thriving. They can be quite picky when it comes to certain growing conditions.

If something is off, they’ll become prone to problems and fail to send out their beautiful spray of flowers.

If your palm tree isn’t blooming when it should, you must inspect what’s happening around your precious plant. Here are some common problems that are causing your palm tree not to bloom.

I’ve also included tried-and-true steps on how to fix them.

[1] Not Getting Enough Light

Palm trees can be very finicky about their light requirements. That’s why it pays for you to know how much light your tree needs. This usually boils down to the type of palm tree you have.

Most indoor palm trees grow faster and more robustly in bright, indirect light. If they’re not getting enough light, this will result in a sickly plant with stretched-out fronds.

The trunk will become thicker and weak. Your palm tree leaves may turn yellow, followed by wilting and drooping.

Because your plant cannot photosynthesize enough, it won’t have enough resources to promote blooming.

How to Fix

Your palm tree may tolerate light shortage (depending on the type), but it will not flower.

To encourage blooming, move it to an area where it will get plenty of bright but filtered, indirect, or diffuse light. The more hours of light it receives, the more likely it’ll bloom.

Moving it to an east-facing window would be the smartest thing to do. However, if your home or patio doesn’t get this kind of light, the solution is to use full-spectrum LEDs.

[2] Getting Too Much Light

Most types of palm trees, such as areca palms, aren’t tolerant of both too little and too much light.

However, shade-loving varieties like parlor and sago palms will be affected the most by too much direct sunlight.

The strong sun rays will not only scorch and burn the leaves, but the fronds may also turn brown and die off. Of course, sunburned and damaged palm trees won’t bloom.

How to Fix

The solution is easy – simply move your plant away from too much direct sunlight. Most of the sunburned or browned fronds won’t spring back to life. As such, you should prune them away.

[3] Varying Temperature

Palms are native to a variety of climate zones, but they tend to be picky when it comes to temperatures.

Most palm species will do well and flower when temperatures stay in the ideal range of 60-80 °F (15- 26 °C).

Most palm trees will be happy as long as temp hoves above 55°F (13 °C) and are not exposed to cold drafts, frostbites, and sudden changes in temperature.

This usually happens when you place your palm tree near an external window, entrance door, or close to cooling/heating units.

How to Fix

Encouraging your palm tree to bloom again may be as trivial as relocating it to a spot where temperatures hover above 55°F (13 °C), but preferably in the 60-80 °F (15- 26 °C) range.

This can be as simple as moving it away from the path of cold/heat drafts, cooling/heating vents, or uninsulated windows and doors.

In other words, find a good area where your palm tree will be protected from sudden changes in temperatures.

[4] Need Proper Nutrition/Fertilizer

Nutrient deficiency is one of the leading reasons why palm trees don’t bloom. In my experience, a lack of boron, potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen can delay or prevent them from flowering at all.

If your palm tree is potted, you must ensure that it hasn’t exhausted the fertility in the potting mix. You should repot it using a fresh potting mix after one to two years.

In most cases, you notice that the fronds on your palm tree will turn yellow or start paling. Malnourished palms also fail to put out new growth.

How to Fix

If it has been two or more years since the last repotting, it’s time to repot again. Use loose, well-drained (preferably porous) potting mix. Ensure it has plenty of shredded bark, leaf mold, and peat moss.

Feed your palm tree once every four weeks during summer and spring. Use houseplant fertilizer specially formulated for palm trees.

[5] Roots Need Attention/Repotting

I’ve said it many times, but it’s worth repeating that palm trees need a generous supply of nutrients, water, and minerals for healthy growth.

Without enough food, they’ll experience stunted growth and won’t bloom.

Anything that affects the proper working of the roots will definitely impact your palm’s uptake of water and food.

This can be due to root physiological damage, root rot diseases, and waterlogging. Perhaps your plant has become rootbound, or the soil has compacted.

How to Fix

In a lot of these cases, the best solution is to dig up your palm tree and repot. Again, use a loose, generously porous potting mixture.

Perk up organic fertility using peat moss. As a general rule, you must consider repotting your palm tree every one to two years.

Make sure to inspect the roots for any signs of rot disease. If a rotting smell is wafting out of the soil, you’ll probably find rusty brown to black, mushy roots.

Trim all of them and treat the healthy ones with fungicide before repotting afresh.

[6] Overwatering

Giving your palm tree too much water will likely prevent it from flowering. This is because Overwatering creates waterlogging in the soil. In turn, the roots will literally drown and suffocate.

In the worst-case scenario, your palm will suffer from root rot. You’ll notice that leaves will start to yellow, brown, and eventually die.

How to Fix

Palm trees do best in a uniformly moist soil mixture that’s neither soggy/wet nor too dry.

You must let the two to three inches of the soil surface dry out between irrigations. Good thing, you can always turn to the good old finger test.

If root rot is present, use the method described above. Make sure to prune away any diseased parts before repotting.

[7] Underwatering

Another issue that may be keeping your palm tree from blooming is too little water in the soil. When the soil mixture becomes bone-dry, the roots can no longer take up the necessary nutrients and water.

The palm front will start drying, become crispy, and wilt. Excessive moisture shortage may result in the eventual death of your plant.

How to Fix

If the soil is completely dry, it’s crucial that you let it soak up water to the point of saturation.

Give it a nice soaking every two to three weeks in a sink, tub, or outside when it’s not too cold.

Allow the soil to become thoroughly saturated or until water flows freely out of the drainage holes in the bottom.

Make sure to drain the excess water thoroughly. The saucer of the pot should also be emptied out.

[8] Poor Water Quality

Like most houseplants, potted palm trees can be very sensitive to certain harmful impurities like chemicals and minerals in irrigation water. This rings particularly true if you irrigate your palm tree using tap water.

That’s because they usually contain fluoride, sodium, chlorine, etc. These chemicals may also adversely alter the soil pH.

How to Fix

Avoid using tap or softened water. Instead, opt for distilled, rainwater, or filtered water to irrigate your palms.

For best results, you’d want to purchase and use a water filtration system. If you must use tap water, let it sit in a pitcher or glass uncovered overnight. This will let fluoride and chlorine evaporate.

How to Ensure That Palm Trees Bloom to Their Full Potential

You know well that it’s not enough to identify the causes of why your palm tree isn’t blooming. You must go the extra mile and foster conditions that’ll facilitate flowering in your precious plant.

Here are my top recommendations following years of research and hands-on experience:

[1] Nutrient Supply

In their native ecosystems, palm trees benefit from nutrient boosts from composting organic matter.

Rainwater water also carries with it some dissolved nutrition and minerals that can help the palms bloom consistently and robustly in the wild.

You can try mimicking nature and provide your palm tree with a boost of nutrients and minerals that it requires to foster the flowering process.

You can do so by feeding a phosphorus-rich fertilizer to your palm regularly during the blooming period.

I recommend diluting a water-soluble flowering-specific fertilizer down to one-tenth or one-fifth of the standard strength.

For the most part, you can add directly to the potting mix on a weekly basis. Or spray as a foliar feed.

Another route is to repot using a fresh batch of the rich and fertile potting mix right before the flowering season.

[2] Suitable Temperature

Most palm species call for night temperatures of around 60 °F(15°C) and ideal day temperatures in the range of 70-80 °F (21-27°C) when they’re flowering.

You should ensure to provide these ideal temperatures and protect against sudden temp changes and drafts. (Source: Clemson University).

[3] Ensure Enough Light

The vast majority of palm varieties require more than nine hours of bright natural light to bloom. Place your indoor palm tree near a draped or curtained west-facing or south-east facing window.

[4] Compatible Soil

Palm trees grow well and are likely to flower when potted in a loose, porous potting mixture with a good chunk of organic matter. As we’ve mentioned, be sure to add some peat moss or shredded bark.

[5] Good Drainage

The palm soil must be porous and well-draining. The last thing you want is to plant or pot your palm tree in a poorly drained mixture or soil that can easily get waterlogged.

Along with shredded tree barks or pine chunks, you can add some vermiculite or perlite to improve drainage. This is another plausible reason why you should repot your palm to encourage flowering.

[6] Regular Pruning

You must get rid of too old, diseased, or dead fronds to help direct nutrients, energy, and most of the resources towards new growth and flowering.

I find that my palm trees flower on time and generously when I also prune away old fruit/flower stalks and stems.

[7] Watering Requirements

Proper watering will perk up your palm tree and aid flowering. You must be too careful to avoid overwatering and underwatering. Check soil moisture using the trusty finger test.

Water your palm frequently when the 2-3″ of topsoil has dried out a bit. Water deeply until liquid oozes out of the bottom holes.