Cycad cones and flushes

[tropicalb]

This is a pretty pathetic spectacle, but here is my E. arenarius purchased 3.5 years ago as a golf ball sized seedling, that has finally flushed. The two older leaves turned brown right as this single leaf flush emerged. I don't know what caused it to sit for so long, but I tried more water, less water, different ferts, and more/less shade all with no results. It just sat, with two leaves and a nice firm caudex, so I knew it was still alive. It must be nice to have the money to buy nice sized specimens and have an insta-garden instead of nursing seedlings along, but that is not my reality.

matt...just a heads up:

i can tell you from experience that if you are using that much mulch, it is VERY easy to overwater your cycads....make sure you keep a close eye on how wet it actually is a few inches below that mulch. I have unintentionally rotted cycads MUCH larger than the one in your pic above, even though i thought my water regimen was VERY frugal.

[yachtingone]

Wow! That is an awesome E. horridus plant anywhere... but to think that it looks that nice in NYC is just amazing.

Jody

nicely said Jody!!!!!!!!!!

[freakypalmguy]

This is a pretty pathetic spectacle, but here is my E. arenarius purchased 3.5 years ago as a golf ball sized seedling, that has finally flushed. The two older leaves turned brown right as this single leaf flush emerged. I don't know what caused it to sit for so long, but I tried more water, less water, different ferts, and more/less shade all with no results. It just sat, with two leaves and a nice firm caudex, so I knew it was still alive. It must be nice to have the money to buy nice sized specimens and have an insta-garden instead of nursing seedlings along, but that is not my reality.

matt...just a heads up:

i can tell you from experience that if you are using that much mulch, it is VERY easy to overwater your cycads....make sure you keep a close eye on how wet it actually is a few inches below that mulch. I have unintentionally rotted cycads MUCH larger than the one in your pic above, even though i thought my water regimen was VERY frugal.

Thank you Burt, I'll pull the mulch back a bit. The problem is, I have (probably all of us have) the cycads on the same line as the palms which require more water. I use different rate emitters and right now I'm watering every third day, and they appear to dry out between waterings, but I'll check a couple inches down the next time on the third day before the watering to be sure.

Matt

[Urban Rainforest]

Cycads are starting to throw in a big way now that summer is cranking! About 3/4 of all my seedlings are either flushing or have already flushed. Here are some of the bigger ones though. This one I purchased as E. Princeps but I have had some say It looks like Lehmannii. What say ye experts .

[Urban Rainforest]

Encephalartos Gratus

[Urban Rainforest]

Cycas Thouarsii. Man these things are FAST!!!

[Urban Rainforest]

And last but not least these may be the seed of future Horlocks (E. Horridus x E. Whitelockii). It is amazing what a couple of days of sun can do to a cone that was frozen in time . I pollinated the cone when it was receptive with 9 male Whitelockii cones worth of pollen over a 2 month period . Has anyone seen this cross before? Hope you enjoyed the pics.

Stevo

[virtualpalm]

Cycads are starting to throw in a big way now that summer is cranking! About 3/4 of all my seedlings are either flushing or have already flushed. Here are some of the bigger ones though. This one I purchased as E. Princeps but I have had some say It looks like Lehmannii. What say ye experts .

Definitely E. lehmannii.

Jody

[Urban Rainforest]

Cycads are starting to throw in a big way now that summer is cranking! About 3/4 of all my seedlings are either flushing or have already flushed. Here are some of the bigger ones though. This one I purchased as E. Princeps but I have had some say It looks like Lehmannii. What say ye experts .

Definitely E. lehmannii.

Jody

Thanks for the quick ID Jody.

Stevo

[freakypalmguy]

Hey Stevo, you might want to protect that horlock cone, I bet you have critters in that canyon of yours that might carry them away now that she has started to dehisce. I'd cry.

[Urban Rainforest]

I thought they were toxic . Anyhows no fear...the pellet guns are locked and loaded .

Stevo

[virtualpalm]

Stevo, the sarcotesta (outer fleshy coating, red in your case) seems to be non-toxic to many small mammals.

Also, once the cone begins to dehisce you can cut it and remove all the seeds right away... there really is no need to leave it on the plant.

Jody

[Urban Rainforest]

Stevo, the sarcotesta (outer fleshy coating, red in your case) seems to be non-toxic to many small mammals.

Also, once the cone begins to dehisce you can cut it and remove all the seeds right away... there really is no need to leave it on the plant.

Jody

Jody, GOOD NEWS!! I pulled a couple seed , filled the sink with water, threw them in and they sunk like rocks . I think I'm going to break down the cone this weekend. Any tips on storage time, soaking, removing fruit, germination medium etc. much appreciated. I have my ideas but I am far from an expert and I want to make sure I get these right!

Stevo

[Urban Rainforest]

OK, You guys got me nervous enough I threw a net over the cone until I can break it down . Living on a canyon we have no shortage of critters.

Stevo

[freakypalmguy]

OK, You guys got me nervous enough I threw a net over the cone until I can break it down . Living on a canyon we have no shortage of critters.

Stevo

OK, I will sleep much better now

[virtualpalm]

Stevo, why not just cut off the cone and throw it in a bag (paper works better than plastic) until you have time to work it? There is no special handling required when removing the cone.

As for seeds, I recommend soaking them in plain water to soften the sarcotesta (fleshy outer layer) until they are easy to clean. In most species of Encephalartos this happens within a few days (I don't know for sure about E. horridus, though). Make sure you get all of the flesh off of the seeds when you clean them or you can induce fungal growth. I would then air dry them.

This is where some people have differing views regarding post-dehiscence storage of seeds and germination methods. My personal way of doing it is to put the cleaned and dried seeds directly into BARELY damp (too damp will cause rot) peat moss inside an air-tight ziploc baggie and store them in a warm place. For those seeds that have an after-ripening period (which is typically around 6 months for many Encephalartos species), they will stay adequately hydrated in the peat moss (as opposed to storing them in a paper bag or something like that) during that extra developmental period. Then I just check the baggies every week or two for roots. Once I see a root, I carefully remove the germinated seed and pot it up.

Jody

[yachtingone]

More E. munchii pics.

I see two more cones today!

7/11/10

7/12/10

7/14/10

More pics comming

[yachtingone]

7/15/10

7/16/10

Night time pic

Thats all for now!

[Urban Rainforest]

Stevo, why not just cut off the cone and throw it in a bag (paper works better than plastic) until you have time to work it? There is no special handling required when removing the cone.

As for seeds, I recommend soaking them in plain water to soften the sarcotesta (fleshy outer layer) until they are easy to clean. In most species of Encephalartos this happens within a few days (I don't know for sure about E. horridus, though). Make sure you get all of the flesh off of the seeds when you clean them or you can induce fungal growth. I would then air dry them.

This is where some people have differing views regarding post-dehiscence storage of seeds and germination methods. My personal way of doing it is to put the cleaned and dried seeds directly into BARELY damp (too damp will cause rot) peat moss inside an air-tight ziploc baggie and store them in a warm place. For those seeds that have an after-ripening period (which is typically around 6 months for many Encephalartos species), they will stay adequately hydrated in the peat moss (as opposed to storing them in a paper bag or something like that) during that extra developmental period. Then I just check the baggies every week or two for roots. Once I see a root, I carefully remove the germinated seed and pot it up.

Jody

Thanks for all the valuable info Jody!! I will get right on it.

Stevo

[Urban Rainforest]

Randy, Your Munchii is looking awesome!! My Kisambo coned for the first time this year and at first I thought it was a male but as they developed It became apparent that they were female cones. Here are a few pics.

Stevo

[Urban Rainforest]

Villosus coned for the first time this year as well but it was a male.

[Urban Rainforest]

And my Whitelockii I used to pollinate my Horridus was just insane with 9 male cones and flushing at the same time . These must store alot of energy.

Stevo

[yachtingone]

Check this out! Approximately 80" caudex E. woodii sold at auction for $420,000.00 !!! Lots of zeros

http://cycadforum.co.za/index.php?topic=1285.msg7063;topicseen#msg7063

[Palmzilla]

One of my favorite cycads

[fdrc65]

I forget which this is, it may be a Ceratazamia, but its still in the pot so that cheatin'

hello Bill

I think it's a C. Latifolia

[Gbarce]

I made a post on my blog on the progression of the latest flush of leaves on my Cycas Debaoensis.

http://freakofnature...two-leaves.html

If only I could film this in time lapse.

Here's a post on some special photos of the leaves:

http://freakofnaturezzz.blogspot.com/2010/07/random-shots-no-26-flush-of-new-leaves.html

Maybe someday.

[UnderAPalmNapping]

Gene, What was the total height on those? Based on the avg. doorway height it looks 12' or higher.

That really is tremendous. Yes, I wish you could have got that in time lapse like the other you did.....too cool.

[Gbarce]

Underapalmnapping - I think its only around 7 or 8 feet tall. That debaoensis is planted in a very large pot and the pot is elevated about a foot so that probably adds to the illusion in relation to the door in the background.

I'm actually trying to figure out how to film the other large one I have that's still in a movable pot. At that size though the leaf flushes are few and far between.

[tropicalb]

Stevo, the sarcotesta (outer fleshy coating, red in your case) seems to be non-toxic to many small mammals.

Also, once the cone begins to dehisce you can cut it and remove all the seeds right away... there really is no need to leave it on the plant.

Jody

Jody, GOOD NEWS!! I pulled a couple seed , filled the sink with water, threw them in and they sunk like rocks . I think I'm going to break down the cone this weekend. Any tips on storage time, soaking, removing fruit, germination medium etc. much appreciated. I have my ideas but I am far from an expert and I want to make sure I get these right!

Stevo

Stevo...

i don't want to burst your bubble, but you need to be aware of the fact that just because your seeds are "sinking like a rock" does not necessarily mean that the seed is viable. Bottom line:

if there is no suspensor coil inside, that seed is not going to germinate....simple as that.

[DippyD]

Lets keep on the positive side, Stevo im sure with the amount of pollen you used and the technique you will have plenty of viable seed. Here are a few updated shots of some previous plants that i was waiting for something to do or already doing something.

[DippyD]

First plant is the large ferox that was just beginning to flush, as common as they are this is still an amazing plant...

[DippyD]

here is another ferox half way though its flush that i have planted in its little colony as well...

[DippyD]

Here is a couple photos of the E. trispinosus that i was waiting for something to happen and it finally did....

[DippyD]

Here is a little E. horridus that threw 3 cool little colored leaves....

[DippyD]

Another horridus with high hopes.....

[DippyD]

one of the smaller arenarius finally finished its flush....

[DippyD]

A small middleburgensis with its first leaf hardening and decided to throw another one...

[DippyD]

A E. lehmanii throwing a couple nice leaves...

[DippyD]

The so called "princepts" finished its flush and still is a mystery to me......

[DippyD]

A little dolomiticus i was rooting out finally gave me a couple little leafs as well...

as well as this cupidus...