Cycad cones and flushes

[Meangreen94z]

Here is the above flush on my Dioon Edule completed and hardening off.

[amh]

16 minutes ago, Meangreen94z said:

Here is the above flush on my Dioon Edule completed and hardening off.

Nice, I see some pups forming, how old do you think your plant is?

[Meangreen94z]

No idea. A couple  years ago I found that buried in a Houston nursery among palms, in a container that was splitting wide open. The barely legible tag said $40, believe it or not they sold it to me for that.

[amh]

2 minutes ago, Meangreen94z said:

No idea. A couple  years ago I found that buried in a Houston nursery among palms, in a container that was splitting wide open. The barely legible tag said $40, believe it or not they sold it to me for that.

That's a helluva deal.

[Tracy]

Encephalartos nubimontanus just starting to push a flush on the main caudex, but also a number of pups or offsets are pushing new flushes.  Sometimes with pups it pushes the main caudex off to an angle away from the pup growth.  In this case, the numerous pups are completely encompassing the main caudex so they haven't had room to push it sideways.  It remains hard to count the various flushes around this plant, but the vertical grey/green leaves with nice stacking coming off the main caudex certainly are attractive in my opinion.

[DG2020]

[DG2020]

First cone for this Dioon. Is this a Dioon mejiae?  The cone looks female. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pollen. 

[Tracy]

2 hours ago, DG2020 said:

Yes, it looks like a female Dioon mejiae cone and plant looks like a D mejiae too.

[DG2020]

Thanks for the confirmation. 

[freakypalmguy]

On 6/16/2021 at 9:52 PM, Tracy said:

Encephalartos nubimontanus just starting to push a flush on the main caudex, but also a number of pups or offsets are pushing new flushes.  Sometimes with pups it pushes the main caudex off to an angle away from the pup growth.  In this case, the numerous pups are completely encompassing the main caudex so they haven't had room to push it sideways.  It remains hard to count the various flushes around this plant, but the vertical grey/green leaves with nice stacking coming off the main caudex certainly are attractive in my opinion.

Dang, that is a pupping machine 

[Merlyn]

Here is a funky octopus-looking flush on my yet-to-be-positively-ID'd Cycas.  The current flush is about 6 feet tall, and just starting to fill out with a week of rain.  The old fronds had been looking pretty bedraggled, but it had been looking like it was going to flush for a few weeks.  Finally it popped out a nice 13 frond flush that went from nothing to 6' tall in about 2 days!  I'm hoping the new flush has nice straight leaflets, and no sign of the prior CAS infestation.

[edbrown_III]

On 6/17/2021 at 12:52 AM, Tracy said:

Encephalartos nubimontanus just starting to push a flush on the main caudex, but also a number of pups or offsets are pushing new flushes.  Sometimes with pups it pushes the main caudex off to an angle away from the pup growth.  In this case, the numerous pups are completely encompassing the main caudex so they haven't had room to push it sideways.  It remains hard to count the various flushes around this plant, but the vertical grey/green leaves with nice stacking coming off the main caudex certainly are attractive in my opinion.

 

[edbrown_III]

your the man!  salute

 

[Tracy]

On 6/15/2021 at 5:42 PM, freakypalmguy said:

A time lapse of that would be really cool

 

On 6/15/2021 at 4:27 PM, Tracy said:

Lepidozamia peroffskyana male cone uncorking or unscrewing I guess would be a more appropriate description.  Will gain several inches in height as the unscrewing occurs and then will be followed by the second cone.

Not a time lapse, but a series of photos over 11 days, with the first of the 11 day period being my original post.  Now even the second cone is unscrewing.

[Jubaea_James760]

12 hours ago, Tracy said:

 

Not a time lapse, but a series of photos over 11 days, with the first of the 11 day period being my original post.  Now even the second cone is unscrewing.

Amazing! Whats the size of the caudex & how long are the leaves? How old is it? I have 2 seedlings ( in pots ) so I'm really intrigued 

Thanks,

James

[Tracy]

12 hours ago, James760 said:

Amazing! Whats the size of the caudex & how long are the leaves? How old is it? I have 2 seedlings ( in pots ) so I'm really intrigued 

Thanks,

James

It was in a 15 gallon pot and probably about a 5" to 6" wide caudex when I bought it in 2010 and planted in late 2010 or early 2011.  Leaves are about 6' to 7' long and there is about 1' of trunk below where the lowest leaves emerge from the caudex.

[freakypalmguy]

On 6/29/2021 at 11:19 AM, Tracy said:

 

Not a time lapse, but a series of photos over 11 days, with the first of the 11 day period being my original post.  Now even the second cone is unscrewing.

AWESOME Tracy, thanks

[Tracy]

Foreground and background flushes happening on a couple of different genra of Cycads.  In the foreground, the main caudex of an Encephalartos inopinus flush just getting ready to start hardening off, while in the background a Cycas debaoensis flush is still stretching it's complex pinnae.  I'm thinking I will need to tie back the one of the six leaves flushing on the C debaoensis because it will make the walkway in front of the plant useless unless I tie it back.

[Paradise Found]

cycad taitungensis x guizhoyensis. Will turn dark green. I've had this one sense it was just a one year seedling.  Very cold hardy and wet hardy in winter. 

Edited July 7, 2021 by Paradise Found

[Tracy]

3 hours ago, Paradise Found said:

C taitungensis x guizhouensis. Will turn dark green. I've had this one sense it was just a one year seedling.  Very cold hardy and wet hardy in winter. 

Congratulations on finding a Cycad that will do well for you in the Pacific North West, of the US of A (PNW, which took us non-PNW's a while to figure out).  Looks like it must defoliate before pushing a new flush.  I'm guessing it loses the leaves during your winter then comes back with a flush in the late spring to summer?  My guess is that a straight Cycas guizhouensis will perform similarly for you as this hybrid.

[Paradise Found]

Thanks Tracy.  Yeah, what happen was the old foliage was flatten from heavy snow. So I cut all leaves off in late spring and fertilize and that helped it too start flushing this summer.  Stands 4' tall and only gets sun in the afternoon, westside of house.  

Someday like to get one of each parent, plant those close to make a trio of cycads.  And then in the background have a potted C. debaoensis over looking all three. That's the plan anyways.  

[Paradise Found]

41 minutes ago, Paradise Found said:

Thanks Tracy.  Yeah, what happen was the old foliage was flatten from heavy snow. So I cut all leaves off in late spring and fertilize and that helped it too start flushing this summer.  Stands 4' tall and only gets sun in the afternoon, westside of house.  

Someday like to get one of each parent, plant those close to make a trio of cycads.  And then in the background have a potted C. debaoensis over looking all three. That's the plan anyways.  

Also it does not die back in winter here, evergreen all year long.  Been through 15F with just a blanket over it not even wrapped and it makes it just fine. That was some time ago. 

Edited July 7, 2021 by Paradise Found

[freakypalmguy]

My Dioon spinulosum finally getting enough overhead canopy to not burn from sun or frost, but still definitely gets a lot of sun.

[Tracy]

1 hour ago, Paradise Found said:

Someday like to get one of each parent, plant those close to make a trio of cycads.  And then in the background have a potted C. debaoensis over looking all three. That's the plan anyways.  

Wish I could help with the C debaoensis, but my male and female are out of sync.  Female pushed a nice big flush of 6 leaves and the male pushed a cone.  Last year, the female was good to go, but I didn't have any pollen available.

[Paradise Found]

41 minutes ago, Tracy said:

Wish I could help with the C debaoensis, but my male and female are out of sync.  Female pushed a nice big flush of 6 leaves and the male pushed a cone.  Last year, the female was good to go, but I didn't have any pollen available.

Maybe next year they will be insync.   

I wonder if Macrozamia riedlei would like it up there this far north? With minor protection or potted. 

[Tracy]

A sequence from June 6 to July 7, 2021 of an Encephalartos arenarius flush.

[GeneAZ]

Quite a narrow leaf form.  Interesting and healthy.

[Tracy]

1 hour ago, GeneAZ said:

Quite a narrow leaf form.  Interesting and healthy.

I have another one from a different source but still has similar leaves.  Both are in positions where they get more shade than most of my other Encephalartos genus cycads, so I expect both are a little more stretched than they would have been if I grew them in brighter spots in the gardens.  They are similar in age, one from Phil @ Jungle Music and the other from George Sparkman.  Unfortunately, I'm not certain which one I got from Phil and which one I got from George as it has been a long time since I acquired and later planted them.

[Tracy]

I was out walking in the garden and admiring the almost hardened off flush on an Encephalartos natalensis x horridus and noticed that below this Spring's flush, there was a cone starting to push out.  I looked more closely and could see that there were 3 cones all below the new flush starting to emerge.  It was strange in that I've seen cones push with a smaller flush on Encephalartos, but I've never had a flush mature to the point of the leaflets being almost completely hardened off and then see the cones starte to emerge below the flush.  It does hold a lot of fuzz at the top of the cone when it's pushing flushes, so perhaps there were nubs I couldn't see, but they definitely took their time to come out.  It was a pretty normal flush for this plant too, not a diminished number of leaves which is more typical of a simultaneous flush and cone emerging.  Cones have a ways to go yet, as they have only popped out an inch or so to be noticeable.

[GeneAZ]

Hybrid vigor is hard to beat!

[Scott W]

On 7/7/2021 at 8:28 PM, Tracy said:

Wish I could help with the C debaoensis, but my male and female are out of sync.  Female pushed a nice big flush of 6 leaves and the male pushed a cone.  Last year, the female was good to go, but I didn't have any pollen available.

Why not harvest the male pollen, dey it and freeze it?  Then you wouldn't have to worry about being out of sync with the cone cycles.

[freakypalmguy]

E. ferox mostly shade grown from a new seedling, 12 yrs old

[Tracy]

Just a pretty sight to look down on.  A pretty new female cone emerging.  She took a year off coning but is at it again in 2021.

[Merlyn]

This new flush on my biggest Encephalartos Tegulaneus is just about done!  I think it's 12 new fronds at once, with just enough space for a full crown on the next flush.  There's an E. Whitelockii peeking in from the right, I'll trim that one to stay more vertical.

[freakypalmguy]

villosus pushing out a fuzzy five leafer

[freakypalmguy]

On 7/13/2021 at 6:18 PM, Tracy said:

Just a pretty sight to look down on.  A pretty new female cone emerging.  She took a year off coning but is at it again in 2021.

Something pretty magical about a Cycad coning.

[Tracy]

On 7/16/2021 at 4:49 PM, freakypalmguy said:

Something pretty magical about a Cycad coning.

I concur wholeheartedly.  I am inclined to say that this first cone on an Encephalartos cerinus will turn out to be male, but I have prejudged and been wrong too many times.  I looked at both the male and female cone photos in Loran's book, The Cycads, which I also refer to as The Bible, and could see things that lead me to believe it can still fatten up (female) or it might just go vertical (male).

[Tracy]

I tried to get these two together last night... Male Cycas debaoensis cone's pollen and Female Cycas tropophyla x micholitzii megasporophylls.  I haven't had any success with Cycas pollination yet and have tried hitting the Cycas tropophyla x micholitzii for a few years now with different pollen.  I'm not sure if it is my timing being off, or if the hybrid just isn't fertile or my climate gets too cold for them during winter.  But it is worth another try.

[freakypalmguy]

Female Cycas cones a really pretty looking, nice colors on that one Tracy. 
 

I have had luck with the easy pollinating revoluta, but that figures since it’s so common. I’ve done revoluta X taitungensis a few times by just setting the cone on top and randomly tapping it on top when the female is receptive. On this one I never harvested the seed, but the squirrels did a good job of cleaning them and spreading them around the yard, now I have this hybrid popping up everywhere, there five or so germinated right at the base of this one.

Edited July 25, 2021 by freakypalmguy
Spelling

[freakypalmguy]

Also, my female taitungensis is getting close, wish I had something special to dust her with, I only have revoluta pollen