Why is my Coconut Palm getting brown spots?

Question

I was just spraying a bit my Coconut Palm with water (repotted 2 weeks ago) when I noticed those little brown spots on some of the leaves. They don't seem exactly the same as the 'overwatering' ones, so I was wondering if this is caused by the recent stress and how to help her?

Answer 1

This is a virus/fungus/bacteria which you can verify by zooming in on the picture. You can see the centre of the spot is dry brown tissue surrounded by a thin ring of dark tissue surrounded by a halo of yellow tissue.
The growth pattern is typical of the grow and pause and is usually found on older leaves.

Most cultivated palms are subject to many different leaf spot diseases for which more detailed information is found here.

The important thing is not to bother with trying to identify which disease is the problem but to change the conditions that allow it to flourish. Most healthy plants can outgrow the problem if you change the cause. Consider:

• do not fertilize with a high nitrogen fertilizer. Particularly from now until spring as most house plants are not actively growing and will not use the fertilizer
• consider your watering practices: over watering is a common problem. As you re-potted the plant it is possible that the new soil is staying wet longer. Leaf spot problems usually start when the root ball at the bottom of the pot stays wet too long
• move to higher light conditions or move a light closer.

Answer 2

It's like a rash,if it's too wet, keep it dry, too dry keep it moist. Coconut palms grow in Sandy soil, so replacing your pot with a soil mix with more sand helps.