---
title: "Hello, A neighbor just gave me her palm tree in a pot. She kept it in…"
description: "Hello, A neighbor just gave me her palm tree in a pot. She kept it in her porch. I am going to keep it in my office. I am going to change the potting soil. I…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ/oeGMWQzC3Ucmj2JhpI1WS5"
community: "Pests, diseases and problems"
author: "710 Central"
published: "2025-11-12T15:40:17.138239Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wVnNLP--axNSwrtRwLyAtAPBoV2zCsrDP-4S88YuijQ/NxV5WJQhTA2SnaZPOC6Oyw.webp?size=large"
---

[Community](https://getplanta.com/community.md) / [Pests, diseases and problems](https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ.md)

# Hello, A neighbor just gave me her palm tree in a pot. She kept it in…

_Posted by 710 Central on 2025-11-12_

Hello,  
A neighbor just gave me her palm tree in a pot. She kept it in her porch. I am going to keep it in my office. I am going to change the potting soil. I noticed cream spots in a couples of the leaves. Also some of the leaves are broken which I assume I should cut off. I have no idea about the care of this plant. I believe it has potential, but what do I know. Thank you for all your help. This site is great.

![Attachment 1 of 2](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wVnNLP--axNSwrtRwLyAtAPBoV2zCsrDP-4S88YuijQ/NxV5WJQhTA2SnaZPOC6Oyw.webp?size=large)

![Attachment 2 of 2](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wVnNLP--axNSwrtRwLyAtAPBoV2zCsrDP-4S88YuijQ/RIRiU0syRb2H1pGrQNF9oA.webp?size=large)

## 3 comments

### 710 Central commented on 2025-11-12

Did I mess up by taking this on? I live in the Midwest and we are starting to get cold weather.

#### Tom replied on 2025-11-12

The spots is pests, spider mites normally but as yours has bigger spots could be ever scale or mealy bugs, brown tips at end possibly down to low humidity, yes cut any bad parts of but don’t go to mad, just the odd few, did there porch get strong sun. Palms don’t really like tap water unless you let it sit for other 24hrs, soil looks ok but could be nutrient deficiency if more than a year old. Last thing is that it’s normally best to have a self draining pot so soil doesn’t sit in water, looks like a nice pot though. Give the leaves a good wipe down with water and a few drops of dish soap, then if you have anything like neem oil would be best to spray it down every 4 days for a few weeks to eliminate the pests

#### 710 Central replied on 2025-11-13

Thank you!

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