Identification: What are these and how do I care for them

I am helping a friend revive some plants that he recently inherited (so to speak). Some of them were completely dead and one palm (despite the fact that all of the leaves were brown and dried out) actually came back to life when I brought it home. Here are pictures of two plants that I have seen many times but I am unsure of the name and therefore unsure of the best way to care for them. Please help me so I can help these plants.

The first three pictures are different angles of the treelike plant.

The next three pictures are of a plant that had very wobbly stalks and the leaves were very weak and droopy. Many of the leaves just pulled out of the dirt and had little or no roots. I put fresh potting soil in the stalks that appeared to have a decent root system. The others I tried various techniques. Some I placed in just water, others I dipped in some sort of "root growing" powder and placed in a pot of soil. They seemed to be doing alright at first but now the ones that lost their roots are turning yellow. The main plant still seems droopy and a little weak (the leaves are not crisp). And now there are some little sprouts (which is the seventh picture) growing. Maybe just something that was in the potting soil?

The last two pictures are of the palms that survived. I gave them a haircut and cut off all of the dead palms and then I trimmed the tips that were brown and dried out in hopes to save the rest of the leaves. That seemed to work. Any other suggestions there? I'd appreciate all help.

Thank you in advance. I love flowers but still have a lot to learn.
~Jennifer

 

ok the first row is a Rubber tree .. the next set is a Chinese evergreen .. and then some sort of plam .. looks like a typical one ..

rubber trees and chinese evergreens like sunlight .. morning sun is great for plants.. if you havent watered them . then water it .. but if they are allready wet .. then let them dry out some before watering again ..
hopefully this helps ya ..
palms are a lil picky .. you can try misting then all .. expecially at first were there is not much roots .. it is the only way a plant can get water at first .. mist a couple of times a day ..

goodluck

Marn

 

Thank you!! Funny thing is that I thought the first one was a rubber tree. Don't know why, but that was the first thing to come to my mind. I actually looked it up but I wanted a second opinon.

The problem with ALL of these plants is that they were completely neglected. They were totally dry when my friend got them and that is how most of them died. For some reason these survived. When my friend got these plants he drenched them with water. When I came on the scene, they were in pots with poor drainage or sitting in water. I immediately took them out of the water because I knew that would be too drastic. I think the dramatic change is what got the Chinese Evergreen. Like I said before, it was very wobbly and I saw somewhere that wobbly stalks were a symptom of overwatering or underwatering (I can't remember exactly).

The palms and the rubbertree appear to be doing well now that I added some TLC and a little new soil. The Chinese Evergreen is the one that is giving me trouble. My house has no windows with direct sunlight. It is all very filtered. Do you think that is the reason this plant is having difficulty coming back? Does it like direct light?

 

i would put it in a window with the most light for now .. filtered .. then if it does good then give it more light .. but if it does really good were ya have it moved to then just leave it there .. but give it some light for now ..

Marn

 

Thanks again. Unfortunately I have no window sills so I am putting the plant on a shelf next to the direct sun beams, but not in them. I don't know what else to do. i have the Chinese Evergreen in two pots. So I am doing this with one of them so we shall see what happens I guess.

 

Early Chinese evergreens (Agloanema) cultivars aren't tolerant to temperatures below 50F. So that might be a consideration in PA, too. Harry

 

Yeah, I just discovered that with some of my research. I think that was definitely one of the problems that plant had with its previous owner. It was in a cafe' and the plants were kept in the smoking section of the cafe. The problem is that they used an open window with a fan as the smoke removal system. I think that damaged the plants in addition to the improper watering.

Thank you for adding more info.

 

My experience was that I transported one that I recieved as a gift in the back of a pickup on a wintery day. It was probably dead on arrival. It just took a while for me to realize it. :( Hope yours has a better final result. Harry

 

Your humidity levels may be too low for the Palms and your sickly leafy plants.
I know from experience, just how rough on plants forced air can be.
If you have mites in your potting medium, I'd say it was time for the composter or civic plant recyling plant.

 

I considered the humidity levels since I know that my skin pays the price for living in such dry PA winter air, so I bought my friend a spray bottle that I filled with water that I had sitting in a jug for three days (not straight from the tap). I told him to mist the palms. He also found some thing that sits in the old radiator type register that is meant to hold water and then allows it to evaporate from the heat of the register. hopefully that'll help.

As far as mites... I saw no signs of them.

 

The smaller pot of palms look like Arecas. Difficult to tell from the photo about the other, but I would suggest Parlor palm, or again, Areca.