Luca

Licuala Grandis

• Luca likes...
  • 
    Light watering

    He likes his soil to be slightly moist but never soggy. Give him a drink when the top two inches of soil are dry.

  • 
    Medium light

    He’s happiest in a bright spot but away from direct sun, which will burn his leaves. He can take light shade too.

  • 
    Humidity

    His leaves are quite delicate, so he likes to be misted every couple of days to stop them drying out.

• Quick facts

  BOTANICAL NAME

  Licuala grandis

  COMMON NAME

  Fan palm; Vanuatu palm; Ruffled fan palm

  PLANT TYPE

  Palm, indoor

  PLANT HEIGHT (INCLUDING POT)

  80-90cm

  PET/BABY SAFE?

  Mildly toxic if ingested

  NURSERY POT SIZE

  17cm

• About fan palm

  This plant is a little bit special. For a long time, it was almost impossible to find and it’s still quite rare and extremely popular. It’s not hard to see why. Its huge fan-shaped leaves make it a real statement plant. It rivals even the mightyfiddle leaf figfor Instagram-ready looks.

  Despite its dramatic appearance, it’s actually a fairly easygoing plant. It comes from the island of Vanuatu, where it grows in hot, extremely humid forests. That means it likes to be put somewhere fairly bright, but not in direct sun, and for the air to be quite moist. You can easily do that bymistingit every couple of days. An even easier way to keep it happy is to put it in a sunny bathroom.

  This one is quite a slow grower, but you can help it grow healthily by giving it a dose ofliquid fertiliseronce a month in spring and summer.

  Did you know?

  In the wild, this plant’s leaves can grow to one metre across.