Grow Fiji palm in full sun, and keep the soil moist but never soggy. Fiji palm is Pritchardia pacifica, also sold as Fiji fan palm. It is not a Chinese fan palm.
Give it full sun, and keep the soil moist but never soggy
| Factor | Recommended | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Light | Full sun; half-day sun is fine | Do not plant it in deep shade |
| Water | Keep the soil evenly moist, especially on a young plant | Do not let the trunk sit in mucky, waterlogged ground |
| Soil | Moist soil that drains, in loam, sand, or clay | Do not plant it in a low, wet bowl |
| Salt | Coastal salt spray is fine | Do not treat salt spray as a reason to skip water |
| Warmth | Frost-free ground, or a bright patio you can move | Do not leave it out through a frost |
Fiji palm is Pritchardia pacifica, a slow, solitary fan palm with a single trunk and large, nearly round, stiff-tipped fans. It is a tropical landscape plant, not a dim indoor parlor palm, so it wants an open, sunny bed and regular water. [1] Soak the root zone when the top of the soil starts to dry, then let the extra drain away. A young plant that dries out looks thin and scorched; a plant that sits wet loses the lower trunk to rot. [2] Give it a spot out of a drying wind if you can, because torn fans never look as good as a full crown. [3] Along a tropical coast, salt spray is not a problem. [4] Feed in the warm season with a palm fertilizer that includes micronutrients, because yellow new fans on alkaline ground are often a manganese or iron shortage, not a cue to water more. If you have ripe fruit and want another plant, the sow steps are on Growing Fiji Palm From Seed.
How much sun does Fiji palm need?
Full sun. Half-day sun is fine. Deep shade makes a thin crown and keeps the soil wet too long.
How often do I water Fiji palm?
Keep the soil evenly moist, then let extra water drain. Water a young plant before the root ball dries out. Do not leave the trunk in standing water.
Can it take salt spray?
Yes. Coastal salt spray is fine. Still water the root zone, because salt in the air does not replace a soaking.
Should I bring a pot in for winter?
If the pot spent the summer outside where frost comes, bring it in before nights stay near 40 F. Keep it in the brightest room and water a little less.
Plant it in frost-free ground, at the same depth it sat in the pot
Wait until nights stay warm. Dig a hole no deeper than the nursery pot and a little wider, so the roots can move out without sitting in a water bowl. Do not nick or cut the roots as you slide the plant out.
- Choose frost-free ground in full sun, with room for a crown about ten to eighteen feet wide at maturity.
- Dig a hole as deep as the pot and a little wider. Roughen the sides if the soil is packed clay.
- Set the root ball so the trunk sits at the same depth it sat in the pot. Do not bury the trunk.
- Backfill with the soil you dug, water once to settle it, and mulch the surface, keeping mulch off the trunk.
- Stake a young palm if the site is windy, so the crown cannot rock the new roots loose.
When can I plant Fiji palm outdoors?
When nights stay warm and frost is not in the forecast. A young plant is more tender than a thick-trunked one.
Start a young plant in a deep pot with a hole
A nursery plant can live for years in a deep pot on a bright patio, though it grows slower than it does in the ground. The pot must drain, because the same wet-trunk rot that kills a bed plant kills a saucer plant.
- Choose a pot with a drainage hole, deeper than it is wide, only a little larger than the nursery pot.
- Fill it with a palm mix that drains. Do not use a cachepot with no hole as the only pot.
- Set the root ball at the same depth, water once to settle the mix, then empty the saucer after about half an hour.
- Keep the pot in bright light. A young plant can take morning sun; harden it before a full hot afternoon.
- When the plant is root-bound and nights stay warm, move it into the ground, or size up one pot at a time.
Can I keep Fiji palm as a houseplant?
A young plant can live in a bright, sunny room in a pot with a hole. It still wants more light than a parlor palm, and it will not stay a table plant as it grows.
Cut only fully brown fronds, and never the growing point
The crown grows from one point at the top of the trunk. If you cut that point, the palm will not put out a new top. Pruning is only cleanup of dead fans.
- Wait until a fan is fully brown and dry. A yellowing lower fan is still feeding the plant.
- Cut the stem close to the trunk with clean, sharp tools. Do not yank the base off, because that can tear the trunk.
- If only the tips are brown, leave the green tissue. Do not cut a green fan to shorten the plant.
- Do not cut the top of the trunk, and do not strip a skirt of half-green fans just to make the stem look bare.
Can I prune Fiji palm to keep it shorter?
No. Cutting the growing point kills the top. Cut only fully brown fans at the base.
Not a Chinese fan palm — and not a Mexican fan palm
Chinese fan palm is Livistona, usually with deeper-cut, drooping segment tips and a different trunk habit. Mexican fan palm and California fan palm are Washingtonia, tall desert-coast palms with a petticoat of old fans on many street trees. Fiji palm holds a rounder, barely split, stiff crown on a shorter, stockier trunk, and it wants tropical moisture, not a long dry season.
European fan palm is Chamaerops, a clumping hardy palm. Windmill palm is Trachycarpus, a hairy-trunk palm for cooler summers. Hawaiian loulu names other Pritchardia species native to those islands; this shop card is the Tongan landscape palm. Parlor palm is Chamaedorea; if that is the tag, read How to Grow Parlor Palm. Kentia is Howea; see How to Grow Kentia Palm. Date palm is Phoenix; see How to Grow Date Palm.
Is Fiji palm the same as Chinese fan palm?
No. Chinese fan palm is Livistona. Fiji palm is Pritchardia pacifica, a rounder, stiffer tropical fan palm.
If the fans yellow or the trunk feels soft, give it full sun and water only enough to keep the soil moist, then let extra water drain.
FAQ
Is loulu the same plant as Fiji palm?
Loulu is the Hawaiian name for native Pritchardia species. This catalog holds Pritchardia pacifica, the Tongan landscape palm sold as Fiji palm. They share the genus, not the same shop card.
Why are the new fans yellow?
On alkaline ground, new fans often yellow from a manganese or iron shortage. Use a palm fertilizer that includes micronutrients, and keep the soil moist but draining. Sudden yellowing from the top with dropped fruit is a palm disease, not a watering miss.
Is Fiji palm toxic to pets?
No poison listing turned up for this species. Still keep pets from chewing the fans, because any plant material can upset a stomach.
Will it flower in the yard?
A mature plant can make short flower stalks among the fans, then small fruit that turns red and later black. Flower is not the reason to grow it.
Related guides
Recommended plants
References
- [1] Palmpedia -
https://palmpedia.net/wiki/Pritchardia_pacifica - [2] Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia -
https://www.pacsoa.org.au/wiki/index.php/Pritchardia_pacifica - [3] Useful Tropical Plants -
https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Pritchardia+pacifica - [4] Llifle -
https://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/PALMS_AND_CYCADS/Family/Arecaceae/24641/Pritchardia_pacifica
This note is part of Pritchardia Guides.
More first-season notes by plant are gathered in How to Grow Guides.
Updated: Reviewed by Bosquelle Editors