Cycas Revoluta hardiness?

[UK_Palms]

I'm thinking of acquiring one of these in the next few days and it will be quite a hefty purchase at £160 ($200).

Before dong so, I want to get a few opinions and clarifications on their hardiness, specifically in my type of climate. My winters are cool and wet, whereas my summers are warm and dry. Annual rainfall is around 18-20 inches. Of which 75% of my rainfall falls between October - February (recent years). Spring and summer are very dry, especially the period from April - July.

My lowest temperature last winter just gone was 26F. The lowest the winter before that was 22F. However I have experienced a low of just 13F here before in the past, since I live out in the rural countryside, away from any urban areas, or any coastal influence for that matter, as I am about 35 miles inland. The temperature always warms up above freezing during the day in winter however, to at least 35-40F. I have never seen a daily high below 34F here. 

Would the winter temperatures pose a problem for Cycas Revoluta? 

Would the severe lack of rainfall from April - July require an excess of watering/irrigation?

Would they survive in general at 51N where the winters are long and cool/wet?

Cheers

[Jeff zone 8 N.C.]

I live on the North Carolina coast, USA, 34 degrees lat.. Your winter temps and frequency almost match perfectly to my temps here as any winter can go to 15F (lower in rare cases) but the vast majority, of years, go to 20F, with some years only getting to 25F.  Most winter nights range to lows in the 30's 40's, and 50's F.  Also it is very rare to have days below freezing. Most cold days go into the 40's-50's or above. We are sunny year round but do get regular cloudy rainy weather in winter, although a lot of our winter rain means moderate temps.  We do have many C. revoluta here. They can lose their leaves if it gets too cold but sprout back with a full compliment of leaves in the spring. If you plant it where sun can hit it on winter mornings before it warms up the leaves will damage. Again this is not a problem for the plant as it just pushes new fresh leaves as if nothing happened in spring.  This is good knowledge in case you expect a very cold night and need to protect the plant you can just cut the leaves off and wrap the trunk.  Having said all that I think you are ok with your temps with C. rev , C. panzhihuaensis, C. taitugensis and maybe even other Cycas as well as some hybrids. They would benefit from some water in dry times especially to push fresh leaves but they seem to be pretty drought tolerant (even in strong sun). Now as far as latitude I can not help. I have noticed here that all marginal or tropical looking plants grow better for every few miles you go south even though temps are similar. Of course that is due to more direct overhead sun and more sun overall the more south you go. Still having seen some beautifully grown marginal plants in the UK i will bet you will be ok.  Also if you are buying the one in the picture, the babies below the big mother (or male, as the case may be) are large enough to be removed and rooted as new plants.

 

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by Jeff zone 8 N.C.

[Plantasexoticas]

I’ve had mine through 2 winters (kept fairly dry) although it’s not yet experienced any real big frost yet as the first year was on my balcony in a fairly protected spot under other plants and this winter just gone never saw any major lows (although it spent the winter in a much more exposed spot)

im not sure if it’s still there but there was a large cycas revoluta in Nymams garden close to a wall which have experienced several cold winters in its time there 

first pic is mine and second is the one at Nymams garden 

[UK_Palms]

5 hours ago, Jeff zone 8 N.C. said:

I live on the North Carolina coast, USA, 34 degrees lat.. Your winter temps and frequency almost match perfectly to my temps here as any winter can go to 15F (lower in rare cases) but the vast majority, of years, go to 20F, with some years only getting to 25F.  Most winter nights range to lows in the 30's 40's, and 50's F.  Also it is very rare to have days below freezing. Most cold days go into the 40's-50's or above. We are sunny year round but do get regular cloudy rainy weather in winter, although a lot of our winter rain means moderate temps.  We do have many C. revoluta here. They can lose their leaves if it gets too cold but sprout back with a full compliment of leaves in the spring. If you plant it where sun can hit it on winter mornings before it warms up the leaves will damage. Again this is not a problem for the plant as it just pushes new fresh leaves as if nothing happened in spring.  This is good knowledge in case you expect a very cold night and need to protect the plant you can just cut the leaves off and wrap the trunk.  Having said all that I think you are ok with your temps with C. rev , C. panzhihuaensis, C. taitugensis and maybe even other Cycas as well as some hybrids. They would benefit from some water in dry times especially to push fresh leaves but they seem to be pretty drought tolerant (even in strong sun). Now as far as latitude I can not help. I have noticed here that all marginal or tropical looking plants grow better for every few miles you go south even though temps are similar. Of course that is due to more direct overhead sun and more sun overall the more south you go. Still having seen some beautifully grown marginal plants in the UK i will bet you will be ok.  Also if you are buying the one in the picture, the babies below the big mother (or male, as the case may be) are large enough to be removed and rooted as new plants.

 

I have heard that Cycas Revoluta only push out one set, or wave, of new fronds each spring/summer. Although some summer's they don't produce any. That seems to contradict what you are saying... that they can be defoliated essentially, then go on to produce a whole new crown over the course of spring/summer. Obviously I hope the latter is true, which you are claiming. It's just that I have heard conflicting stuff now.

I get the impression you know what you are talking about though, so I am going to take your word for it. Not that I would necessarily incur a total defoliation in my climate, but should I experience one, it will push out a new crown in the spring, as you say. That is more reassuring, as I was concerned that new fronds, and growth in general, would be extremely slow in my climate (if it was true that you only get one burst of new fronds in spring). 

Can I ask at what temperature you notice cold damage on your Revoluta? And how cold it has to get for a defoliation? 

Nonetheless, I think I am going to invest in one. 'Live and learn', or so the saying goes...

[Tracy]

12 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

I have heard that Cycas Revoluta only push out one set, or wave, of new fronds each spring/summer. Although some summer's they don't produce any. That seems to contradict what you are saying... that they can be defoliated essentially, then go on to produce a whole new crown over the course of spring/summer. Obviously I hope the latter is true, which you are claiming. It's just that I have heard conflicting stuff now.

Cycads like Cycas revoluta do push a set of new leaves as opposed to sequential leaves the way palms do.  Depending on weather and genus/species of the cycad they can push more than one flush when mature.  Young small seedlings will actually push leaves more like a palm, 1 or 2 leaves at a time and may push multiple over the course of the growing season.  Once they get to the size of the one you posted, they will push a big flush but less frequently and here in my climate alternate between a flush and coning.  Essentially all the information on Cycads is over in the forum for "TROPICAL LOOKING PLANTS -other than palms".  You can do a search and probably find out a lot more information on cold tolerance for Cycas revoluta there.  My temperature tolerance knowledge on cycads tends to be more in the range of what will grow in my climate, so I won't speculate on the temps you have identified.  They are great tropical looking plants so I hope you find that it will work for you!

[Turtlesteve]

I have C. revoluta, panzihuaensis, and taitungensis.  It may be a hair warmer here but still zone 8A and wet in the winter.  Of these three, all survive fine.  I would suggest the other two species if you can find them though, as revoluta is very slow to flush new leaves in the spring - so after bad winters they will look like crap until May.  The others flush in late March or early April.

[Fusca]

58 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

I have heard that Cycas Revoluta only push out one set, or wave, of new fronds each spring/summer. Although some summer's they don't produce any.

I agree with Tracy.  For what it's worth my fairly large C. revoluta flushed 4 times last year but usually only 2-3 times.

[Turtlesteve]

Oh forgot to add - I got a light amount of burn this year, and we had a warm winter (low of 24-25F).  Mine are quite exposed and with part shade or near buildings they would have been fine.

[UK_Palms]

4 hours ago, Plantasexoticas said:

I’ve had mine through 2 winters (kept fairly dry) although it’s not yet experienced any real big frost yet as the first year was on my balcony in a fairly protected spot under other plants and this winter just gone never saw any major lows (although it spent the winter in a much more exposed spot)

im not sure if it’s still there but there was a large cycas revoluta in Nymams garden close to a wall which have experienced several cold winters in its time there 

first pic is mine and second is the one at Nymams garden 

Thanks for the input mate. That's a big specimen at Nymams garden, a place I am not familiar with. 

I'm guessing your specimen is situated at your allotment plot? Also, is your specimen planted in the ground, or containerised in a pot?

If I do get a Sago, I will probably look to keep it in a pot, given that I will be moving house in the next year or two. That is why I have so many containerised palms/exotics right now.

[UK_Palms]

51 minutes ago, Tracy said:

Cycads like Cycas revoluta do push a set of new leaves as opposed to sequential leaves the way palms do.  Depending on weather and genus/species of the cycad they can push more than one flush when mature.  Young small seedlings will actually push leaves more like a palm, 1 or 2 leaves at a time and may push multiple over the course of the growing season.  Once they get to the size of the one you posted, they will push a big flush but less frequently and here in my climate alternate between a flush and coning.  Essentially all the information on Cycads is over in the forum for "TROPICAL LOOKING PLANTS -other than palms".  You can do a search and probably find out a lot more information on cold tolerance for Cycas revoluta there.  My temperature tolerance knowledge on cycads tends to be more in the range of what will grow in my climate, so I won't speculate on the temps you have identified.  They are great tropical looking plants so I hope you find that it will work for you!

Thanks Tracy, I will be sure to check out the 'Tropical looking plants' section. I don't know if I have ever checked out that sub-section before. Probably not.

And cheers for helping to clarify the 'flush' frequency and growth cycle information. It has definitely provided more clarity. 

All the best. 

[sipalms]

I've tried cycas revoluta. They are a very slow grower here at 43S. While winter lows don't kill 'em, I guess summer temps aren't as great and less overhead sun year round than they'd prefer. I have seem some huge healthy specimens around Christchurch but they're just slow growing. In the northern parts of NZ they're everywhere.

[Tyrone]

All cycads need really good drainage if you get cold wet winters. Where these come from, they get cool dry winters and wet humid summers, which is the opposite to your climate. I'm in the same situation with the rain coming at the wrong time of year, but I'm a lot warmer. My cycads only flush once a year. I've got a C revoluta just flushing now in April, which would be equivalent to your October as you are in the northern hemisphere.

The beauty of C revoluta is they can last an eternity in a nice pot, which means you can move it to shelter if a cold spell comes through. Also C revoluta seems to have a big need for manganese. A manganese deficient revoluta will bleach its leaves in the strong summer sun. Once bleached, the leaves are wrecked and you have to wait for the next flush. I used to work in a palm and cycad nursery in Perth and we used to pour liberal amounts of manganese sulphate in solution over the caudex sometimes more than once to correct this. They're the only cycad I know that do it, but possibly taitungensis does the same but I haven't had as much experience with them to see if they follow revolutas needs. Possibly where they come from in habitat the soil has incredibly high amounts of manganese. I knew other nurseries that used to douse their revolutas in manganese sulphate. A good dose of trace elements would probably do the same and keep each flush nice and green and sun tolerant. Also a well nourished cycad will handle colder temps than a malnourished one that's trying to cling to survival.

[Plantasexoticas]

10 hours ago, UK_Palms said:

Thanks for the input mate. That's a big specimen at Nymams garden, a place I am not familiar with. 

I'm guessing your specimen is situated at your allotment plot? Also, is your specimen planted in the ground, or containerised in a pot?

If I do get a Sago, I will probably look to keep it in a pot, given that I will be moving house in the next year or two. That is why I have so many containerised palms/exotics right now.

I’ve kept mine potted just in case we have a particularly cold spell as it’s a very exposed area, I had a display garden over at the allotment and I just plunged the cycad in its pot into a hole so it looked planted 

Nymans is a nice garden and probably gets a fair amount of frost. It’s in a border with Musa Basjoo and musella lasiocarpa as well as tetrapanex. From reading up on the garden, I understand they do wrap up the plants in winter 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Plantasexoticas

[Jeff zone 8 N.C.]

"Live and Learn". One of my grandfathers favorite sayings. It looks like everyone here has given good information. Good nutrition does make a difference.  The manganese sulfate is a good idea if your soil needs it.  The seller may have an idea about that. Landscapers here use it on palms and C. rev.  Growing them in pots is easy too (except they can get heavy).  Honestly I have not tried to record temps at which they get damage as that seems to be variable.  Remember sun in morning after freezing can burn leaves so those planted where they get no sun 1st thing in the morn hold up better. Throw in the fact that most people, here locally, just chunk them in soil and forget them versus some people actually take care of them and it makes it hard to tell about actual low temp damage. Also we have a lot of micro climates since we are coastal. I never worry too much about what temps they take, but do generally protect a little when the cold is predicted to be really low.  I think latitude and, if I am right, your possibly less sun will make the biggest difference between your experience and ours. I do not suggest that you routinely cut the leaves off as you are so much further north and they are bound to be slower growing. Light  to heavier protection according to severity and duration of cold is a better idea.  I'm sure there are others in the UK growing these for years.