Neodypsis decaryi/Triangle Palm

I COULD NOT pass this one up although I hovered around it at Lowes for quite awhile before deciding to buy it.....$3....yep you read it right. Three bucks. Why did I hesitate you might ask. Well, I already own over 100 cacti and succulents along with a few orchids and jungle cacti.

Ok, so my problem is I've had a MUCH smaller plant that was either a palm or a cycad and I killed it. I don't know how. It just slowly died. I couldn't tell you at this point in time how much or how little water I was giving it. I'd just like the best advice you can give me so I don't kill this one. Keep this in mind.....I live in mid western Ohio. This puppy will have to live inside and like it (it will be able to go outside in the late spring, summer, and early fall. I DO know that the media it is in is pretty wet. What a surprise since it came from Lowes. Can y'all give me some advice on how to best grow this plant?

Thanks!

Sharon
P.S. One of the photo's has a dog in it just so you know about the size of this palm.

Here is the palm with dog, for a size reference. Dog weighs about 50lbs.

Sharon

You couldn't buy a pot for $3 these days. And the plant looks to be in good condition. Neodypsis decaryi is a synonym, the name now is Dypsis decaryi. They can grow quite tall, about 15 metres. Not that in a pot and in your climate you'll see that any time soon. They like to be well watered but will take a bit of drying out. Although in a pot they'd be more likely to be damaged quicker by drying than if they were in the ground. But they are more of a full sun palm so best to keep it in the strongest light you can.

To tell you the truth, I'm glad I didn't see it for three dollars because I would have bought it as well. Then I would have spent tons of time and money trying to protect it from the cold, finally losing it to a nasty cold snap like we had last year. That is exactly what happened to my spindle palm which I dug up and added to the compost pile last week as well as my screw pine which I trashed in April. I'm still in shock over last winter.

Jim