The spit palm (Euphorbia leuconeura) belongs to the spurge family and originally comes from the rainforests on the north coast of Madagascar. Despite its poisonous milky sap, this euphorbia, which is suitable for the windowsill, is a very popular houseplant due to its visually attractive growth habit as a stem succulent shrub.
How do you optimally care for a spit palm?
For optimal care of a spit palm, you should water regularly (twice a week in summer, once a week in winter), fertilize monthly, overwinter the plant in cooler rooms and wear protective gloves when caring for it. Make sure there is good drainage to avoid waterlogging.
How often should a spit palm be watered?
So that a Euphorbia leuconeura can enjoy almost the same growing conditions indoors as in its natural home, its root area in the pot should never dry out completely. However, it doesn't do well with waterlogging, so the spit palm should be watered relatively regularly and sparingly. Between spring and autumn you should water about twice a week. In winter, however, watering once a week should be enough, especially if it is installed in a slightly cooler room.
What should you consider when repotting the spit palm?
With the spit palm, you can influence the size growth of the plant based on the pot size you choose. If the developed taproot has little space to develop in a pot that is too low, the shape of the spit palm remains somewhat compact and stocky. However, the maximum growth height of 1 to 1.8 m can only be achieved, even under favorable growing conditions, with a planter that is at least 30 cm high and sufficiently large.
Can the spit palm be cut?
As a rule, a spit palm grows unbranched and quite compactly, which usually makes pruning unnecessary. If the plant is cut anyway, the larger the cross-section of the cut, the greater the risk to plant he alth that the plant will be injured.
Which pests can become a problem when caring for a spit palm?
The larvae of fungus gnats can be problematic for young spit palm seedlings. Otherwise, the spit palm is relatively insensitive to pests.
Are there any common diseases of the spit palm?
Especially during the winter months, you should not panic if the leaves fall off the spit palm. This certainly happens when there is a lack of light and cooler temperatures. The plant usually produces a large number of fresh leaves all by itself in spring.
How is the spit palm optimally fertilized?
When fertilizing you should pay attention to the following things:
- monthly fertilization between April and September is sufficient
- Supplying nutrients with liquid fertilizer is uncomplicated (€6.00 on Amazon)
- after repotting in fresh cactus soil (usually pre-fertilized) there is no need to fertilize for half a year
- No peat should be added to the substrate in the pot
What should you consider when overwintering the spit palm?
Like most other euphorbia species, the spit palm is not hardy. It can either be overwintered at normal room temperature in any room of the apartment, or at least 10 degrees Celsius in a correspondingly cooler room. During the winter, it is essential to ensure a regular water supply, as the spit palm should never dry out completely at the roots.
Tip
Since the milky plant sap of the spit palm contains toxins such as ingenols, phorbol esters, diterpene esters and triterpene saponins, you should only carry out care measures with suitable protective gloves, as with other poisonous species of Euphorbia.