Chamaedorea plumosa

baby queen palm
Baby queen palm quickly grows into small tree in shade or part sun. Best planted in multiples. Champion for narrow upright areas. Solitary.
Chamaedorea plumosaChamaedorea plumosaChamaedorea plumosa
height 12–20ft
width 3–5ft
tolerates Narrow Planting
water
needs		 Moderate
water
info		 This palm should be watered deeply every week or two once it’s established. It doesn’t want to ever dry out completely.
hardy
to		 28F
exposure Full Shade – Part Shade
indoor
outdoor		 Outdoor
drainage In Ground: Cactus Mix, In Pots: Cactus Mix, Tolerates Sandy Soil
fertilizing Palm Fertilizer
origin SE Mexico
california
native		 No
sunset
zones		 16, 17, 21–24

Sunset Zones Map

Outdoor Exposure Guide

OUTDOOR EXPOSURE GUIDE

Full Sun
Six or more hours of sun beams directly landing on the plant's leaves.

Part Shade
Three to five hours of sun beams directly landing on the plant's leaves.

Part Sun
One to two hours of sun beams directly landing on the plants leaves.

Full Shade
The plant is never fully lit by sun beams, but is in a bright spot or has dappled sunbeams playing over the leaves throughout the day.

Deep Shade
The plant never has dappled light on the leaves, and is in a place that feels dim, even on a nice sunny day.

SUNSET ZONES MAP

Growing Notes

Avoid full sun for inland areas.
Palms are generally heavy feeders, and this palm just loves fertilizer. To keep the leaves bright green, they should be fertilized at least three times a year. Almost any fertilizer will please this plant. Try a fertilizer that contains micronutrients, if you see yellowing new leaves or yellow spots on the leaves.
This solitary palm will grow only one trunk during its lifetime. If you have a pot with multiple trunks in it, that’s because multiple separate palm trees were germinated in the pot. The good news is that you won’t need to thin out suckers over time to maintain the number of trunks you started out with.
You can prune off older chamaedorea leaves when they turn yellow or start to look ratty, or wait until they are completely dried up. Either way, once the leaf sheath (the part of the leaf that wraps around the trunk of the palm) dries up, you can just pull it right off, exposing the green trunk. Once this is done, your palm trunks will resemble bamboo cane.

Special Interest

This palm’s plumose leaves give it a soft plumed look.