Kentia (Howea forsteriana): Indoor Palm Care

To care for a Kentia, place it in a room with soft light and no direct sunlight, keep its potting mix slightly moist in summer without ever leaving it in water, let the surface dry out a little before watering in winter, and keep it warm in winter, ideally above 16°C at night.

This indoor palm, known botanically as Howea forsteriana, is renowned for its hardiness: it tolerates moderate light, heating, and occasional neglect. However, it has two weaknesses to be aware of: its tips brown when the air or potting mix is too dry, and its single growing point, which should never be cut.

Here are the guidelines verified by botanical gardens and universities, followed by practical steps to keep it beautiful for years.

🌿 Why the Kentia is the easiest indoor palm

The Kentia owes its reputation to a level of tolerance rare among palms. According to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF IFAS), it is considered one of the best indoor palms for its resilience and elegance.

NC State Extension adds that it tolerates low light, dust, central heating, handling, and even a certain amount of neglect. Its dark green, arching, and drooping fronds give a conservatory feel to a living room, and its slow growth ensures it won't outgrow the ceiling in just a few seasons.

🔎 The Kentia's profile

According to Plants of the World Online (POWO) from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the accepted name is Howea forsteriana (F.Muell.) Becc., a species in the Arecaceae (palm) family whose natural range is Lord Howe Island off the coast of Australia; it is a tree of the tropical rainforest biome.

According to NC State Extension, it is a single-stemmed palm with pinnate fronds that can bear up to 90 leaflets and measure about 3 to 3.6 m (10 to 12 feet) in nature.

UF IFAS indicates that it can reach about 12 m (40 feet) when planted in the ground and only bears fruit around age 15. In a pot, it remains much more modest and grows slowly.

📋 Quick care guide

Essential growing guidelines at a glance.

📍 Where to place a Kentia: light and location

Place your Kentia in a bright room, away from direct sunlight: the RHS indoor palm guide ranks it among palms that tolerate fairly low light, away from windows. In winter, when days get shorter, the RHS recommends moving it closer to a south- or west-facing window.

Its botanical profile indicates a preference for partial shade and north- or east-facing exposure. In practice, avoid intense direct sunlight through glass, which does not match this partial-shade exposure, as well as cold drafts from an entrance door.

☀️ Ideal: Bright living room, 1 to 2 m from an east or north window, no direct sunlight

🌥️ Acceptable: Darker corner of a room: slower growth but a healthy plant

🚫 Avoid: Direct sunlight through glass, heater right next to the pot, cold draft

🪴 Repotting a Kentia: potting mix and method

The Kentia is rarely repotted. The RHS recommends doing so every two years in early spring, only if the roots fill the pot, in a peat-free soil-based potting mix (such as John Innes No. 2) or a general-purpose potting mix, up to pots of 20 to 30 cm.

In other years, the RHS recommends top-dressing: replace about 5 cm of old potting mix on the surface. Choose a pot just slightly larger and with drainage holes: a large volume of soil stays wet for too long. Handle the root ball gently and keep the collar at the same level as before.

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✂️ Kentia care: watering, humidity, and fertilizer

Kentia watering follows the seasons. In summer, the RHS says never to let the potting mix dry out, without leaving the plant sitting in water; in winter, let the surface dry out slightly before watering. Feed it every two weeks from April to mid-September with an all-purpose liquid fertilizer.

For humidity, the RHS recommends placing the pot on a tray of gravel or clay pebbles kept moist, without the bottom of the pot touching the water.

💧 Summer watering: Water as soon as the potting mix begins to dry out, empty the saucer after a few minutes

💧 Winter watering: Wait until the surface is slightly dry, water more moderately

🌱 Fertilizer: All-purpose liquid fertilizer every 2 weeks, from April to mid-September

💧 Humidity: Tray of moist gravel or clay pebbles, group plants together

🧹 Cleaning: Shower or wipe the fronds to remove dust and spot mites

🍂 Pruning a Kentia and caring for it through the seasons

The Kentia is not pruned. According to UF IFAS, each palm stem has only one terminal bud: if it is damaged, growth stops and the palm generally dies. Therefore, never cut off the top to limit its height.

The RHS simply says to remove old fronds by cutting them, without pulling them out, and its guide to pruning palms specifies to only remove completely dry fronds. For brown tips, cut without cutting into the green, leaving a thin brown margin, as recommended by the RHS. From June to September, it can spend the summer outdoors, in the shade.

📅 Seasonal care calendar

🌱 Propagating a Kentia: cuttings only

A Kentia is not propagated by cuttings. A single-stemmed palm with a single terminal bud, it produces neither offsets nor stems to take cuttings from, contrary to what some guides claim. The only method indicated by the RHS Howea forsteriana profile is sowing, at a temperature of at least 19°C.

It is a matter of patience: the RHS estimates that it takes the plant 20 to 50 years to reach its adult size.

🐛 Common problems: causes and solutions

Brown tips are the Kentia's number one concern, and the RHS attributes them to a lack of water or air that is too dry, common near a heater. Occasional yellowing of the lower fronds is part of natural aging; however, NC State Extension and UF IFAS point to a potassium deficiency, which first dries out the ends of the old fronds.

Regarding pests, the RHS cites spider mites, thrips, and scale insects, with UF IFAS adding mealybugs for indoor plants.

🌸 Our Kentia varieties

We offer the Kentia in five sizes, from a young plant to a large specimen, to suit every room. The RHS also mentions a sister species, Howea belmoreana, also native to Lord Howe.

🎨 Kentia or Areca, and what plants to pair it with

Kentia or Areca? The RHS describes the Kentia as tolerant of fairly low light, relative coolness, and dry air, while the Areca (Dypsis lutescens) requires bright light: for a moderately lit room, the Kentia is the safer choice.

It makes a successful duo with the Strelitzia, the bird of paradise near a light window, or with the Schefflera and its umbrella-like foliage. For a low-light room, our guide to plants for north-facing exposure offers other companions.

And if you are looking for a palm tree for the garden, the chanvre palm tree (Trachycarpus) is much hardier.

⚠️ Is the Kentia toxic to cats and dogs?

No: the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) classifies the Kentia (Howea forsteriana) as non-toxic to dogs and cats, and its "Paradise Palm" sheet, which covers the same species, reaches the same conclusion.

NC State Extension also classifies it as non-toxic to cats, dogs, and horses. It is therefore one of the safest large indoor palms for a home with animals. However, a cat may chew on its soft leaflets: without toxic danger, it only damages the foliage.

Find other ideas in our selection of non-toxic plants for dogs.

✅ Our expert tips for success

A successful Kentia depends on a few simple rules: soft light without direct sun, a substrate that is never dry in summer and slightly allowed to dry out in winter, winter nights around 16°C, and regular fertilizer from April to mid-September. Never cut its heart, only remove completely dry fronds, and watch out for dry air, responsible for brown tips as well as spider mites.

In winter, our guide on dry air and heating will help you provide it with a little humidity.