rooting sago pups

[FRITO]

last march I transplanted a 17 yr old sago palm. it had multiple "pups" at the base.  when transplanting I cut them all the way back for eaasier access to the main plant. a few month later they started a new flush and I dug two of them out.

I left them in the shade to air dry and callouse over for about 5 days or so. I planted in a loamy free draining mix. it was probably around july of 06.

the pup sat in filter sunlight with a new set of leaves so it could photosynthesize.

this spring i expected roots to be growing as the warm temps heated the soil.

heres what I found today after lifting it out of its soil.

white fresh roots exploding from the bottom of the caudex.

i am currently rooting about 6 more, and I have about 5 or so more to dig from the mother plant.

I have had a problem with the base of the caudex rotting on the smaller pups.

I read somewhere using tree pruning rubber stuff to seal the calloused wound and simply plop it in some soil and wait.

anyone have experince or tips/tricks?

thanks,

Luke

[deezpalms]

It's best to let them rest atop some pumice or vermiculite until a bunch of healthy roots grow out them go ahead n' pot em' up!!

[Gonzer]

Sealing the cut will also seal in any harmful bacteria, fungus, or assorted toe-jam. Best to let the wound heal naturally.

[Kris]

Dear Luke  

thanks for posting that still.i like it (Cycas Maintanence work)

should have been your topic title.

i lost one of those it was 12 years old and a nice big specimen

but rotted due to excess tsunani rains we had 2 years ago.

now iam starting from the start with a small specimen.

thanks & Love,

Kris  

[FRITO]

Kris,

sorry to here about the loss.  These make beautiful pot culture plants. I have seen huge specimens live in pots and they make a easy tropical feel.

Cyaca Revoluta is the only cycad I have experience with.  I am interested in other hardy cycads and am interested in cycas hybrids with the king sago since it is such a hardy plant.

My large king sago is female. here is a photo from may 06

I discovered more good news today. The second sago I started rooting last year along with the first picturedonly shot out 1 leave. (probably stored energy to make roots faster and produce a new flush also)

here are some stills

[cycadjungle]

I have experimented with every possible way to grow out offsets. Some things work better than others, but what I strive for is as close to 100% as possible. Letting the offsets air dry certainly works, and it worked for me, but I only got about 85 to 90% good plants doing it that way. Some people would say that this is good enough, but I never say anything is good enough if I can find an even better way. So, I am one of those people who say to use the sealer, because using that brought me up to right close to 100% and sometimes with a batch of 100, all of them will root in just fine. The key is that I soak the wound in Daconil after making the clean cut on the offset. I only wait for it to dry and put on the sealer at once, this way the wound is clean and doesn't have time to get fungus. I also don't put my offsets in any kind of soil which can hold pathogens, I like pure sand, but perlite, or pumice is pretty good stuff too. I don't water the offsets so if you water them too much, that too can cause rot. People may think, well you go to too much trouble for these, but when you deal with rare cycads, some people are selling unrooted offsets for up to $1200 each, and the same person who had those told me he sold one once for $6500, so you want to be sure you root something like that in the best way possible. You have probably already found my article, but just in case, this is what I have already written on this subject:

Most Frequently Asked Questions

How do I remove the offsets at the base of my sago, and what do I need to do grow them into plants?

This is probably the question I get the most. I am going to describe the method I use. Most people do not have to go through as much trouble as this, but to make sure that every one has a good chance , it doesn't hurt to make sure to do it right.

Cut all the leaves from the offset plants. If you do not cut the leaves off, they will draw moisture and energy out of the offset before it has a chance to produce roots. The secret to all this is the starch content in the offset. It can live on this starch until new roots are formed. This is another reason why the offset does not need to be watered like you would a cutting, I will get into that later. Remove all the soil from around the offsets. After I have removed most of the soil, I like to spray the area with water to wash off every bit of soil so I can see what I'm doing and also to keep everything as sterile as possible. Use a very sharp tool to remove the offsets from the main plant. Make sure to make a clean cut. Do not pull the offset off the main plant. Sometimes the offset will pull out a small, round piece of stem when you do this, and this makes a hole for fungus to get into. Also the more jagged the cut, the more there is a chance to have a place for fungus to get into. Sometimes I have to cut the offset again, once it is removed to make a cleaner, smoother cut. Tools that seem to work the best are very large knives, very sharp shovels, machetes, and if you remove offsets on a regular basis, there is nothing like a reciprocating saw, or otherwise known as a "sawsall."

Once you have removed all the offsets, spray or brush the wounds of the offsets, as well as the wounds on the main plant, with a fungicide. I like to use Daconil. You can add a rooting hormone to the fungicide that you use on the offsets if you want. It seems to help a little. Once this has dried, I paint all the wounds with black tree paint, or also known as tree sealer. Once this has dried, the offsets are ready to plant, and the soil can be placed around the main plant once again.

"Advanced method" If you have done this before, and are good at starting offsets, you can try this advanced method. When you cut the offset, the more area that is cut, the more roots that will be produced. Most offsets are attached to the main plant by a narrow attachment point, instead of the width of the entire offset. By making another larger cut on the offset you can get at least 5 times the roots. This larger cut also has a larger wound to heal, so it is better to get used to rooting offsets before you try this. This is where the tree paint comes in very handy.

Now that you are ready to plant the offsets, place the offsets in containers with the cleanest sand you can find. I use course builder's sand. Any organic material can increase the chance of fungus getting into the offsets. Some people use pumice, or perlite, instead of sand. I try to place an offset in a container that is close to the diameter of the offset. I put the small ones in a community pot. Place the containers in the shade, the sun can dry out the offsets if it is too extreme. The most important thing to remember is that there are no roots or leaves on these offsets. They don't lose very much moisture, and can't take very much up without roots. This means that you don't water these offsets like you would a regular plant, or a cutting. Moisten the offsets maybe once a week or once every other week just to keep them from desiccating. The offsets live from the starch contained in them so there is no need to treat them like cuttings. The offsets will root in faster if it is warm, but even during the warm months, it may take up to 8 months to root in and produce leaves. Once the offsets are fully rooted you can plant them in your normal medium, and put them out in your growing area.

[BS Man about Palms]

I've read a few of your articles, Tom.

Thanks for the info again!

Bill

[FRITO]

Tom,

thanks forr all your valuable information. I believe I ran across that before but didn't bookmark that write-up.

your method sounds amazing.  I will be rooting my next batch this way.

thanks,

Luke