Cycad cones and flushes

[freakypalmguy]

On 9/17/2021 at 8:13 AM, Tracy said:

Only one of my two of this E. whitelockii x sclavoi hybrids is coning right now.  Last year was the first time for the male and this year I found out that my other one is female.

Love to see a pic of the whole enchilada.

[Firepalm]

On 9/17/2021 at 8:13 AM, Tracy said:

Only one of my two of this E. whitelockii x sclavoi hybrids is coning right now.  Last year was the first time for the male and this year I found out that my other one is female.

Congrats Tracy! Beautiful.  I will try and get an updated shot of mine now that the cones and the flush are fully out.  

[Scott W]

Looks like my female Multifrondis didn't make it.  Noted the cone breaking down and upon closer inspection found her to be rotten to the core.   Really not sure what happened, lots of factors could be at play.  

Hoping the seed turns out good....

 

[GeneAZ]

Don't dig it up, though.  What you're seeing could be just the reproductive structure rotting away.  The caudex could still be intact.  I'd recommend cleaning away all the debris and keeping moisture off the apex.

[Scott W]

On 9/22/2021 at 3:36 PM, GeneAZ said:

Don't dig it up, though.  What you're seeing could be just the reproductive structure rotting away.  The caudex could still be intact.  I'd recommend cleaning away all the debris and keeping moisture off the apex.

I cleaned her up but don't have much hope as the caudex was mushy.  But I'll wait and see what happens 

On a positive note, the Cycas thourasii is holding her seeds.  Noted a little scale which needs to be treated as well.

[Tracy]

4 hours ago, Scott W said:

But I'll wait and see what happens 

On a positive note, the Cycas thourasii is holding her seeds. 

Have plenty of patience, as it takes a long time for them to reach the stage they come off and you can assess if any are viable.   Good luck with them Scott.

[Tracy]

I've tried pollinating this Cycas tropophylla x micholitzii a couple of times previously without success, not even full size seeds grew in the past.  While I have no idea if this last pollination took, at least there are some positive signs this time with full size fruit/seeds produced.  This time I tried Cycas debaoensis pollen.  Patience will tell.

[GeneAZ]

13 hours ago, Tracy said:

I've tried pollinating this Cycas tropophylla x micholitzii a couple of times previously without success, not even full size seeds grew in the past.  While I have no idea if this last pollination took, at least there are some positive signs this time with full size fruit/seeds produced.  This time I tried Cycas debaoensis pollen.  Patience will tell.

Maybe she just wanted to be older first.

[freakypalmguy]

E. transvenosus pushing that big cone out of the way. This is the time of year this plant always flushes so I get varying degrees of quality, depending on how the weather holds out over the next few weeks.

[Tracy]

10 hours ago, freakypalmguy said:

transvenosus pushing that big cone out of the way. This is the time of year this plant always flushes so I get varying degrees of quality, depending on how the weather holds out over the next few weeks.

My Encephalartos transvenosus usually flushes a little earlier in the season, so not in such a precarious time weather wise for damage.  The difference could be that mine hasn't coned yet.  I have this sort of late season flush with my E laurentianus after pushing cones, but it did some strangely timed flushes even before getting to coning age.  Any plans to pollinate this girl you have?

[Tracy]

This only pushed a flush on the large pup off on the other side this year and last year the main caudex skipped a year as well, pushing it's first cone.  This year I'm getting doubles. Last photo was about a month ago, when she was still holding the old cone with the 2 younger sisters pushing her out of the way.

[freakypalmguy]

1 hour ago, Tracy said:

My Encephalartos transvenosus usually flushes a little earlier in the season, so not in such a precarious time weather wise for damage.  The difference could be that mine hasn't coned yet.  I have this sort of late season flush with my E laurentianus after pushing cones, but it did some strangely timed flushes even before getting to coning age.  Any plans to pollinate this girl you have?

Interesting, I thought it might be a transvenosus thing that was ingrained in its genetics, but I guess yours flushing earlier in the season squashes my theory. 
 

Yes, I was able to pollinate it with blue arenarius from a very blue plant. Playing the waiting game now, fingers crossed.

[Tracy]

13 hours ago, freakypalmguy said:

14 hours ago, Tracy said:

 

Interesting, I thought it might be a transvenosus thing that was ingrained in its genetics, but I guess yours flushing earlier in the season squashes my theory

Do you recall if yours flushed earlier before it started coning?  Climate can play a difference as well, but typically people a little further inland and hence warmer earlier in the spring tend to have flushes earlier than mine do.  This is the reverse though, so I'll be interested if yours shifted to later flushes only after it began coning.  You may still be right about the genetics component to flush timing after taking that into account.

[freakypalmguy]

On 10/6/2021 at 9:37 AM, Tracy said:

Do you recall if yours flushed earlier before it started coning?  Climate can play a difference as well, but typically people a little further inland and hence warmer earlier in the spring tend to have flushes earlier than mine do.  This is the reverse though, so I'll be interested if yours shifted to later flushes only after it began coning.  You may still be right about the genetics component to flush timing after taking that into account.

No, it has always flushed late season even before coning. Almost everything else at my place start early spring.

[Manalto]

An update to my Cycas debaoensis flush, increasing by 100% the number of fronds on this plant. Patience...

Is it too early to tell if this is likely to have multiple leaflet divisions once it matures?

As you can see, it's acorn-drop time for live oak. I wonder if they contribute nutrients to the soil.

 

 

Edited October 8, 2021 by Manalto

[freakypalmguy]

On 10/5/2021 at 4:55 PM, Tracy said:

This only pushed a flush on the large pup off on the other side this year and last year the main caudex skipped a year as well, pushing it's first cone.  This year I'm getting doubles. Last photo was about a month ago, when she was still holding the old cone with the 2 younger sisters pushing her out of the way.

What did you end up pollinating her with? What’s your plan for the twins?

[Tracy]

1 hour ago, freakypalmguy said:

What did you end up pollinating her with? What’s your plan for the twins?

Bradon had pollen from one of his male E horridus x woodii which was used on last year's cone.  The sinkers harvested from that cone are still in a bag that I need to clean but I planned on discussing pollen with Bradon for this pair when we get together.  My initial thought would be at a minimum use pollen from two distinct cones even if we did the same back cross again, but there is time to consider.  These have some growing to do yet and last year's cone wasn't receptive until January.

[freakypalmguy]

Very cool, I agree with you, no sense in using the same on both. My cone was receptive in feb or march, I’d have to check my notes.

[Tracy]

7 hours ago, freakypalmguy said:

My cone was receptive in feb or march, I’d have to check my notes.

Do you have a female E horridus x woodii too?  I don't know when E woodii male cones typically yield pollen (best estimate when the now extinct E woodii female probably were receptive), but my horri-wood seems pretty closely timed to when my horridus female cone is receptive which shouldn't be surprising given the shared heritage.

[freakypalmguy]

No sorry I was talking about my transvenosus female.

[Tracy]

1 hour ago, freakypalmguy said:

No sorry I was talking about my transvenosus female.

That makes sense given your late flushes on this species for you.  Many of the Encephalartos species have different timing, just look back through when photos were posted of different cones in this thread over the years.  I've already removed the male cone on a cerinus as it was decaying, while my longifolius cones are still growing and a trispinosis had shed pollen on its lower leaflets when I walked by this morning so is at its prime.

[freakypalmguy]

1 hour ago, Tracy said:

That makes sense given your late flushes on this species for you.  Many of the Encephalartos species have different timing, just look back through when photos were posted of different cones in this thread over the years.  I've already removed the male cone on a cerinus as it was decaying, while my longifolius cones are still growing and a trispinosis had shed pollen on its lower leaflets when I walked by this morning so is at its prime.

I’ve got two doing the late season thing, horridus male almost ready to shed and ferox male cones emerging.

[freakypalmguy]

Trans is coming along nicely

[tinman10101]

On 10/22/2021 at 4:37 PM, freakypalmguy said:

Trans is coming along nicely

wow thats a beauty matt!!!

[Tracy]

Some late season flushes on a few of the Encephalartos... first one is the E whitelockii x sclavoi which was pushing the female cone, then an E ituriensis and finally a little Encephalartos longifolius x horridus.

[amh]

I had a cool summer, so my cycads hadn't grown much till now. Here's some new growth on a pair of Cycas bougainvilleana.

 

And here is some interesting new growth on a Cycas panzhihuaensis X szechuanensis.

Edited October 30, 2021 by amh

[Tracy]

9 hours ago, amh said:

new growth on a Cycas panzhihuaensis X szechuanensis.

Will be interesting to see what that one does.  Cycas szechuanensis ssp fairylakea seems to be a very upright grower with long leaves from what I have seen with mine.  I've even thought it would be an interesting one to try crossing with something like C bifida, micholitzii or debaoensis.  I would suspect that the C panzhihuaensis will give it a bit more cold tolerance too.  Pup on mine is flushing right now and the main caudex had one interesting split leaf tip.

[amh]

25 minutes ago, Tracy said:

Will be interesting to see what that one does.  Cycas szechuanensis ssp fairylakea seems to be a very upright grower with long leaves from what I have seen with mine.  I've even thought it would be an interesting one to try crossing with something like C bifida, micholitzii or debaoensis.  I would suspect that the C panzhihuaensis will give it a bit more cold tolerance too.  Pup on mine is flushing right now and the main caudex had one interesting split leaf tip.

It is an interesting cross so far, the mature leaves are very blue/green, possibly more so than C. panzhihuaensis, while the leaf shape is more in line with C. szechuanensis. I have 2 and both are producing their second leaf now. A C. szechuanensis hybridized with one of the multipinnate species would likely be very attractive; probably very feather-like. I'd want one.

[Tracy]

Pups are poppin' flushes on the Cycas tropophylla x micholitzii hybrid.  The main caudex is still holding the seeds I tried pollinating with my Cycas debaoensis, but I'm not holding my breath for success.

[Marius]

A couple of mine flushing. 

[Tracy]

9 hours ago, Marius said:

A couple of mine flushing.

Beautiful... it is springtime in your hemisphere right now so everything is probably starting to take off and spring to life.

[Marius]

3 hours ago, Tracy said:

Beautiful... it is springtime in your hemisphere right now so everything is probably starting to take off and spring to life.

Yes. I love this time of year 

[Tracy]

Cycas debaoensis male pushing out a couple of late season leaves.  I'm hoping the weather remains relatively mild as its not the only late season flush yet to finish pushing and hardening off.

[Merlyn]

Here is my largest Encephalartos Whitelockii/Ituriensis.  It's a little hard to see, but there is a 9 frond flush about halfway up now.  The biggest fronds are about 7-8' tall, so I am hoping for 10 footers with the new fronds!  This one also took no frost damage last winter at about 30-31F with medium frost.  The ones in the back yard were variably burned the same night, but were about 2-3 degrees colder.

[Tracy]

On 10/31/2021 at 3:32 PM, Tracy said:

Pups are poppin' flushes on the Cycas tropophylla x micholitzii hybrid

As one of the pups flush is opening, it appears these two new leaves will have several split leaflets.  This hybrid has been very unpredictable with some leaves having only a couple of split leaves and others having entire sections along the rachis that have the split leaves versus it's tropophylla parent's single unsplit leaflets.  I had another plant of this same hybrid that died before I replaced it with the current plant, and it was very consistent with the split leaves.  Not surprising that different plants of the same hybrid will tend toward one parent while others show characteristics of the other parent.

[Scott W]

I've noticed that in some seedlings from a cross I did last year, using multifrondis as the pollen donor onto a previous triple hybrid created by Ed Brown.  Some of the seedlings are smaller with split leaf already while a couple are twice the width and no splits.  Will certainly be interesting to watch these grow.

[Tracy]

1 hour ago, Scott W said:

Some of the seedlings are smaller with split leaf already while a couple are twice the width and no splits.  Will certainly be interesting to watch these grow.

Lots of genes to mix and match for different characteristics with such a mix of parentage.  Hopefully some develop into really novel looking plants though.

[edbrown_III]

Cycas dianannensis --- female and male by my bed room window ---  dropped seeds from a pollination 2 years ago 

[Tracy]

Late season flush coming in December, but it should be ok, as it has some protection from above.  Maybe it's only a one leafer pushing on this pup because mama caudex is putting all her energy into a couple of cones right now.  This is my E horridus x woodii.

[Tracy]

On 10/30/2021 at 10:24 AM, Tracy said:

 

I'm hoping this Encephalartos ituriensis flush will harden off quickly.  It's still a bit soft and pushing up with our first real storm with wind and rain due to hit on Tuesday.  RIght now it looks good, but we will have to see how it looks in another week after the system has passed.  The E whitlockii x sclavoi hybrid that was flushing can be seen in the background with it's female cone.  It's flush is a little closer to being hardened off at least.