Areca palm leaves turning brown and yellow

[NeophyteGardener]

Hello,

I have this areca palm for 4 months now and it had been quite healthy all these months. I noticed these browning and yellowing of leaves suddenly 4-5 days back and I am not able to understand what went wrong.
It is placed about 3-4 feet away from an east facing window so it gets bright indirect light for the whole day. I water it twice a week (when the soil feels dry) and mist it once everyday. I use plant food sticks ( npk 10-5-6 ) for nutrition. Where I live is quite hot and dry with outside temperatures reaching 43-44 degree C sometimes in summer. I inspected the leaves but could not find any bugs. The only difference I have made to my routine is instead of watering it out of a bottle, I started watering it in the sink and thoroughly water it till the water drains out from the drainage hole ( which I read is the right way to water plants?) Could anyone please advise on what maybe going wrong with my plant and how to save it?

 

[oneeye]

The food sticks (NPK 10-5-6) and overwatering are causing the browning and tip burn. The pot should only be watered one time in 7 to 10 days. When you water, only water until you get a tiny bit of water to come out the bottom, then stop. If you flood the soil with water out the bottom of the pot, you will flush out all the nutrients and cause problems. . Let the soil dry well and try to dig those spikes out, if its not too late. Let the top 2 inches dry before watering again. Oxygen is just as important as water when it comes to wet to dry cycles. The soil needs a little dry time in the root zone.

 

[NeophyteGardener]

Thank you so much for your guidance, I was really lost! I should be able to dig the sticks out. Do I need to provide an alternative nutrient?

 

[oneeye]

No need for fertilizer.