Pygmy date palm
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Middling It gives warning, with time to act.
Also called Dwarf Date Palm, Miniature Date Palm, Robellini Palm and Roebelin palm.
Toxicity is partly unassessed
What the sources say about its care
Sources file this plant under other names: Phoenix robellinii (ASPCA). Citations below point at the name its source uses.
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shadeRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1B — 10–15°C 10–15 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA, filed as Phoenix robellinii · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA, filed as Phoenix robellinii · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- A thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Tips first on a pygmy date palm, then margins. Affected tissue is papery and slightly curled, and the damage stops rather than advancing once conditions change.
Heated air holds less water than the plant loses into it, so moisture leaves the leaf faster than it arrives. Penn State Extension cites ASHRAE's indoor range of 30% to 60% relative humidity, and winter heating often takes a room below it.
Telling it apart: Whether the soil is dry too. Crisp edges with damp soil point at the air; with dry soil, at the watering.
Penn State ExtensionDiagnose leggy growth on this Pygmy date palm- Bleached patches on the side facing the glass
On a pygmy date palm the marks are patchy and one-sided. Fronds on the shaded side of the plant keep their colour entirely.
Full sun or partial shade is what its source names, and outdoors that sun comes with moving air that cools the foliage. Behind still glass the same light heats the tissue well above the room, and the exposed patches dry out first.
Telling it apart: Whether shaded parts are clean. Scorch follows the light exactly; a disease does not care where the sun fell.
RHSDiagnose spots on the leaves on this Pygmy date palm- Soft, sagging fronds low on the plant in soil that has not dried
Yellow spreads upward through the pygmy date palm a few fronds at a time, and the compost darkens and stays cold to the touch.
A pot that does not dry between waterings keeps the roots in water rather than in damp soil, and the fronds above them yellow for want of what those roots can no longer send up.
Telling it apart: Two inches down with a finger. Above the soil, drowning and thirst look the same; below it they are opposites.
RHSDiagnose drooping on this Pygmy date palm
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Pygmy date palm.
Routine care
- Watering
- During growth, water moderately and give a balanced fertiliser monthly. Give little water in winter.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Feeding
- While growing, water moderately and give a balanced fertiliser monthly.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Repotting
- It likes to be a little root-bound and seldom needs repotting.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- In spring sow seed at 19 to 24°C.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Pruning is not needed.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by banded greenhouse thrips and fern scale.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Under glass, glasshouse red spider mite and scale insect can be troublesome. Disease is uncommon.RHS · read 13 September 2026
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Photographs
About the plant
Phoenix roebelenii, with common names of dwarf date palm, pygmy date palm, miniature date palm or robellini palm, is a species of date palm native to southeastern Asia, from southwestern China, northern Laos and northern Vietnam.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- China (Yunnan) to N. Indo-ChinaWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Indo-ChinaNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026China to Indo-ChinaRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- subtropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- Perennial, Shrub, Tree; habit erect, spreadingNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Bushy (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 72–77 in; width 36–60 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 1.5-2.5 metres; spread 1.5-2.5 metres after 20–50 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers cream/tan, white; blooms in springNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers yellow in summerRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Uses
What sources record people using this plant for. A traditional or medicinal use listed here is a record of use, not advice to eat it or treat anything with it.
The drupes can be eaten.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Other Phoenix
More of the Arecaceae family
Areca palmA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Chusan palmBleached patches on the side facing the glass
Kentia palmDry, curled edges on fronds near a heater
Lady palmA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Parlour palmCrisp margins that appear in winter
Bamboo PalmSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Plants with similar care
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.