Hi Guys,

My parlor palm started blooming a couple weeks ago and now a second bloom is coming out.





I've read on other threads here that it's better to cut them back to encourage the plant to put its energy into the plant itself, rather than the flowers. Does that apply to all houseplants as a general rule or are there exceptions? Would that be the recommendation here as well?

Thanks,
Sam

I have heard you should cut the flowers off your house plants to save energy but, personally, I don't buy it. The first priority of all plants is to produce offspring but perennial plants don't suffer in producing flowers unless they're already stressed.

I would cut the flowers off the palm because they make a mess on the floor and aren't all that attractive.

My experience with parlor palm when they have sprays of flowers which are pretty, the little yellow balls will often drop to the floor and cause a mess. I will let them bloom for a bit, but once I notice some of the flowers start to drop, I will cut off the inflorescence spray to avoid a mess on my floors or access to the animals.

These little palms that flower will produce inflorescence only if the plant has enough light. Never lost one from flowering. These are easy care house plants that add a flair in any room especially in winter. If the florescence is cut from the plant it will also do well in a water vase.

The little yellow balls that drop off are the seeds. With palms, it's better to let them complete the flowering process, and wait for the old bloom to fall off on its own. Most palms are dioecious, and this Chamadorea elegans is no exception…that means it takes both a male and a female palm to produce fertile seeds. But these are sold in a broup of individual palms in the same container (usually) because this is a solitary palm, not a clumping palm, and most people want a more full container of palms in the house. So you get a mix of both sexes, and your seeds will be fertile.
The ones that fall into the container will easily and readily germinate by themselves and make new baby palms.
The ones that fall on the floor, you can just sweep up.
The reason it's better to let it complete the flowering process is because after the seeds drop and the infructescense dries up, it will fall off naturally and take the fronds below it with it. This is how the palm grows and makes a nice trunk. It will automatically shed both the old bloom, and the old fronds. It's called 'self cleaning'. If you interrupt the process, your palm has to be groomed by hand.

Thanks all for the recommendations.
I think I'll leave them for now and see how big of a mess they actually make.
Otherwise, I'm happy to leave 'em be and let them "self clean" on their own!

If that were the case, then why would we buy peace lilies, or orchids...?

The amount of energy put into flower production isn't going to have detrimental effects on the plant unless it's monocarpic. In that case it'll die after flowering anyway because it's genetically programmed to do so.

Yeah like those damn Caryotas. I've never understood people who cut the inflos off plants

I think bad advice like 'cut off the flowers' appeals to the desire to 'do something' for the plant, and thus feel more skilled/smart.

I say, it depends on how you want the plant to look. When I was doing interiorscaping some of my clients didn't want the stalks sticking up into the foliage and wanted them removed. Most of them didn't notice. Same thing with C. seifrizii.

People always think they would chop the blooms off Philodendrons and Anthuriums to 'save energy' for the plant. Its just BS

Congrats on your blooms, Sam! I always get a kick out of PP blooms, even after several decades. Still a little thrill. If the little balls fall off while they are yellow, they aren't viable seeds. I've never had any seeds form except a couple times when I put them outside while still blooming.

Ripe seeds are round, dark, hard.

Oh wow, thanks for that info Tiffany!
I can't imagine mine getting that big and dark!

Happy to share. : )

If pollination occurs, seeds will form. I think somebody said above, the trees are either male or female. For pollination to occur, you need to have both, blooming at the same time, and transfer of pollen from male to female.