New cycad flush laying down?

[KellerAg]

 

Hey everyone!  I read this forum often but I don’t really post.  I have a hybrid cycad that I grew from a seed.  It’s a taitungensis x panzhihuaensis.  It’s about 4 years old now and it’s growing great I think.
 

It just flushed for the second time this season (finished flushing 4 days ago maybe) but after the last few days, the new fronds all started to lay down.  I don’t think it’s rot but I guess that’s a possibility.  It rained a lot last week but it’s been plenty warm here so I think that would be odd.  
 

Does anyone know if this is just normal behavior for some cycads?

Any help would be much appreciated!

[GeneAZ]

Are the leaves loose at their attachment to the trunk?

[Merlyn]

I saw this with a Dioon Spinulosum that PT member ChuckG had been grown in a pot for 10+ years.  When he moved it from his back nursery area to the front all the fronds suddenly collapsed down, similar to your photo.  In that case it was because the plant was heavily rooted into the ground and he had to rip up a lot of roots in order to move the pot.  We guessed it was a "sudden loss of hydrostatic pressure" due to the root loss.  The plant survived, I bought it and put it in the backyard.  So root rot could be a possibility, maybe it flushed and didn't have the water uptake from the roots to support the additional transpiration rate of the new flush?

Another possibility is not rot-related but heat + new flush related.  A different Dioon Spinulosum was starting a flush this spring, and I removed most of it's shade in the middle of the flush.  It suddenly had twice the sun as before, and the new flush immediately laid down about halfway.  My theory is that it flushed right at the start of our May heatwave/drought and I trashed the bamboo that provided shade at the same time...so it was just really unhappy about that.  Right after I took this photo I removed the bamboo on the right side.  The new light green fronds were spread out at about a 30-45 degree angle, even though it's not super obvious in the picture  Normally new fronds are almost totally vertical:

After ~4 months the fronds are mostly upright again, despite now being in full sun:

If the fronds are firmly attached at the crown (as Gene asked) then it might just be a combination of too much leaf area in too much heat and sun, and not enough root absorption.  I'd hesitate to suggest cutting off the old flush, since it's not guaranteed that the new flush will harden up correctly.

[KellerAg]

Thanks for the input.  The fronds seem to be attached firmly.  Also, now that you mention the heat - it seems like that could be part of it because in the morning the fronds are slightly more upright.  It seems to get worse as the day goes on and gets hotter.  

[Tracy]

On 9/8/2022 at 8:27 PM, KellerAg said:

Thanks for the input.  The fronds seem to be attached firmly.  Also, now that you mention the heat - it seems like that could be part of it because in the morning the fronds are slightly more upright.  It seems to get worse as the day goes on and gets hotter.  

I notice some variation in how leaves are held on some cycads depending on temperature or time of day, particularly if they are still flushing.  Early mornings they tend to be upright while very lax in the heat of the day.  Same Encephalartos inopinus flushing below, photos taken less than a day apart.  The first is after a hot day, and the second is the following day before it began heating up.  So it is definitely possible that the heat is involved.  I would still monitor it and avoid watering it for a while if you have had extensive rainfall.  They can always go without for a while but too much water can cause rot as you appear to already know.