Cycad cones and flushes

[George Sparkman]

 

Encephalartos whitelockii

[Tracy]

On 2/23/2018, 5:38:51, George Sparkman said:

Encephalartos whitelockii

Instead of prolific pupping, you have crazy coning.  That plant is pushing a lot of energy into insuring you have some male whitelockii pollen.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Male cycas cairnsiana pushing a flush. 

Female taitungensis pushing an early flush too. 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Potted cycas panzhihuensis saw 8f in the pots and is why i am positive they are the most cold hardy cycad period. The entire group didnt miss a beat and flushing early.

[yeye]

Very impressive cairnsiana Joseph!

Is it is 'Merinos' form ?

Edited March 1, 2018 by yeye

[5150cycad]

5 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Male cycas cairnsiana pushing a flush. 

Female taitungensis pushing an early flush too. 

Look at all that fur. Looks like they wore their winter coats to get through those tough Texas winters. Great looking plants Joseph. Can’t wait to see the cycas cairnsiana’s in their full glory full of blue leaves. My cycas cairnsiana (only 3-4”) is the bluest plant in my garden. So far it has taken the cold pretty well. I did protect it out of precaution but there were some days where I forgot to cover it. So far so good. I am getting sick of all the frosty mornings. I was scraping ice off my windshield again this AM. Cant wait for the spring weather. 

[JeffP]

22 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Potted cycas panzhihuensis saw 8f in the pots and is why i am positive they are the most cold hardy cycad period. The entire group didnt miss a beat and flushing early.

Those are very tough. I put one in the ground in a fairly well protected area up against the house about ten years ago. Softball size then and now about two feet of stem. Usually cones at least once and flushes multiple times each year.

[yeye]

What minimum temp does your cairnsiana take Bryan ?

[5150cycad]

18 minutes ago, yeye said:

What minimum temp does your cairnsiana take Bryan ?

The coldest temperatures that my cairnsiana has seen so far without any protection was 30 degrees. I have covered it as much as possible over the last couple of weeks because my temperatures have been averaging between 30 and 42 degrees which means frost almost every single morning. I do however forget to cover it quite a bit and it still seems to be doing just fine. I wilI post some before/after pictures when I get home. 

I acquired my cycas cairnsiana from a friend in late February early March last year 2017. I was a little bit concerned because when I dug it I severed some of the main roots. I have heard some say that these don’t like being moved so I was super bummed, especially with  the cold fronts that come in late February. I treated the roots with fungicide, rooting hormone and tree paint. I was shocked to see that it didn’t even skip a beat. 

Another interesting thing about this species is the root system.  There was no main tap root like U would see with encephalartos and dioons. The roots looked like white dreadlocks (about 6-8 of them) all about the same length and diameter of an inch to an inch and a half. They were also very fragile and broke easily. Overall I believe that cycas cairnsiana are pretty cold hardy, they transplant pretty easily, and can take any heat that u throw at them. 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Cycas cairsniana have taken mid 20s in Phoenix with zero damage. I believe only partial burning occured at 23. I have pictures of them after the cold snap somewhere.  This is right on par with what i have seen in the cold frame. 

[George Sparkman]

On 2/28/2018, 12:07:23, Tracy said:

Instead of prolific pupping, you have crazy coning.  That plant is pushing a lot of energy into insuring you have some male whitelockii pollen.

I have way too many E.whitelockii cones both male & female, have not used the pollen in quite a few years. There are about a several dozen mature plants around. A few of the females got some other pollen this season but it takes forever for E.whitelockii to be ready to germinate and in our climate it has very low results. But it is quite cool to see a seed germinate while still in the cone, if the stars are aligned correctly....

[George Sparkman]

Encephalartos arenarius

[George Sparkman]

 

Encephalartos horridus x woodii, winterflush.

[aussiearoids]

debo flush hardening off well

micho also just coming ..

[5150cycad]

On 3/4/2018, 2:29:21, George Sparkman said:

 

Encephalartos horridus x woodii, winterflush.

One of my favorite hybrids. This is the first horridus x Woodii that I have ever seen show any blue whatsoever. All the ones I have seen so far have dark glossy green leaves. Great looking cycad. 

[Palm Tree Jim]

25 minutes ago, 5150cycad said:

One of my favorite hybrids. This is the first horridus x Woodii that I have ever seen show any blue whatsoever. All the ones I have seen so far have dark glossy green leaves. Great looking cycad. 

Mine included!

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Cycas diannensis male cone poking out. 

[5150cycad]

On 3/4/2018, 2:35:08, aussiearoids said:

debo flush hardening off well

micho also just coming ..

Great looking daeboensis. 

[Tracy]

My small Cycas thouarsii x cupida which is flushing... a bit premature to appreciate the flush, but the caudex looked so pretty in this fading light, I had to share it.

[steve99]

These are the first cones produced by my encephalartos ferox.

 

 

[JubaeaMan138]

Encephalartos kisambo!!!

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Liftoff on a cycas ophiolitica..

 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Wild thing blew her top with a big post transplant taitungensis flush. Over 120 leaflets last count. 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Cycas ophiolitica female

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Male ophiolitica, a little better color on this one, but doesnt show well in the photo.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

C. Ophiolitica update 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Something is glitching with the photo upload....

[Palmsbro]

On 4/15/2018, 6:34:07, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Something is glitching with the photo upload....

Lol. Great photos of cycads and bison too. 

[JubaeaMan138]

This horridus has been sitting doing nada for almost 2 years . Was starting to think it didn't like it's current spot and almost moved it . Low and behold finally flushing !!

[Josh-O]

4 hours ago, JubaeaMan138 said:

This horridus has been sitting doing nada for almost 2 years . Was starting to think it didn't like it's current spot and almost moved it . Low and behold finally flushing !!

starting to boost

[Josh-O]

True blue Arenarius cone

 

[Josh-O]

encephalartos transvenosus cones

[Josh-O]

encephalartos longifolius joubertina

check out the seedling sprouting on the top of this 40lb + cone cone. pretty cool!!!

 

[Josh-O]

encephalartos ferox 'cigar leaf' form

double merger cone..looks killer in person

[Josh-O]

encephalartos arenarius x latifrons getting hit with encephalartos arenarius x woodii pollen

[Palm Tree Jim]

Looking good Josh!

[5150cycad]

Just waiting for this cone to fall apart and hoping to see it explode with a new full head of leaves. It was pollinated with arenarius x woodii pollen. 

[Josh-O]

14 hours ago, Palm Tree Jim said:

Looking good Josh!

thanks Jim

[5150cycad]

On 4/21/2018, 10:17:32, Josh-O said:

encephalartos arenarius x latifrons getting hit with encephalartos arenarius x woodii pollen

This will be quite the hybrid josh. Both of those Hybrids are absolutely amazing. Can’t wait to see what the seedlings look like. When did u pollinate the cone?