Thursday, July 25 2013
As mid summer approaches, there are many cycad growers on “cone watch.” This is the time of year when cones begin to emerge in our gardens, if fortunate enough to have sexually mature plants. North of the equator cones can begin to emerge between June and August, and usually reach maturity within one to six months from full emergence.
For the intrepid few that choose to try to make their cycads productive and can locate both male and female cones maturing simultaneously, there is a small window of time in which you can assist in the production of viable seed. This involves what is commonly termed “hand pollination.”
Hand pollination can be achieved by delivering pollen into the interior void areas of the female cone when it becomes receptive. This process can be done with dry pollen or adding the pollen to water and pouring that mixture into the void channels of the female cone and repeating the process several times within the perceived period of receptivity at one to five day intervals.
It is important to note that caution should be taken not to use the water method if the female cone does not visibly show any exposed peduncle. The peduncle is the stem of the cone which attaches the cone and the caudex. See photo #1.
Female encephalartos Vilosus cone joined to the caudex by the peduncle - Wikimedia.org
If there is no peduncle showing, and the cone is tightly nested into and in close contact with the caudex or trunk of the female cycad, the use of water while pollinating should be cautiously undertaken or avoided altogether. See Photo #2.
 
Female encephalartos cone nested in caudex - nzpalmandcycad.org
My first attempt at pollinating any cycad was back in 1978, and I used the pollen/water method. The cone was nested closely to the caudex with no separation showing, i.e. no peduncle. The pollen/water mixture that I was pouring through the cone from the top down was trickling down through the cone and gathering in the top portion of the caudex. Well, as many of us know, standing water in contact with any portion of a cycad is usually a bad combination. After a few months as I was waiting for the cone to mature and break down (dehisce), the cone and the caudex began to turn to mush. My first lesson learned was that water as a pollen delivery system is OK, but the water mixture needs to have a way to drain away from the caudex and not be trapped in the caudex crown.
If the aforementioned condition exists as you are pollinating cones (the female cone is embedded in the nest of the top of the caudex), I would recommend one of the many techniques that involves the use of compressed air to deliver your pollen through your cone as a dry pollen delivery technique.
Grow and prosper,
Keith
Tuesday, June 25 2013
Back in the early 90’s, I had a very close family friend who worked at Roger’s Gardens in Orange County, CA. She knew that I was enthusiastic about growing cycads, and she suggested that I bring some of my cycads to the annual sale that the gardens sponsored in the spring. I took a good selection of material to my display space that was provided. One day when we were discussing the different species of cycads, she was referring at one point to some of the larger size cycads with their myriad shades of green, and she called them “big greenies.” I don’t know if this was her term, or if it was a term common to Rogers Gardens employees when referring to larger foliage plants. That term has stuck with me, and I still refer to any of the non blue species of cycads as “big greenies.” And yes, I do include the appropriate species label.
In my early years of collecting, many of the seedlings that were available, but still relatively scarce, were of the genus Encephalartos, and they were, for the most part, the medium to large green species. As my collection grew and rarer forms became more available, my “big greenies” were reaching a more advanced juvenile stage (not quite full mature footprint). During this period of time, the “blues” (any blue leaf colored cycads) gained in popularity, almost to the exclusion of the green forms all together. I believe that this was partly because most back yards in southern California just didn’t have enough space for a sizeable collection of the larger green form cycads.
The trend for collectors to seek out the blue forms is not without merit, because it is difficult to argue against the logic of collecting any of the striking blue leafed cycad species with their wonderful varieties of leaves and cones.
As I reflect on the material that I have collected, I have no regrets that I acquired material in the order that I did. Although it would be nice to have some of my blues in sizes that approach the size of my “big greenies,” the green species of cycads will almost always grow faster, and be more robust than the blue forms. However, the “big greenies” in their mature form always seem to draw attention in the garden, whereas in more juvenile sizes, they are hardly noticed. The sheer size of mature “greenies” and their fullness and stateliness is what makes the difference.
To give the “big greenies” their proper regard, I can’t imagine not having the considerable variety of green and blues together with their interesting contrasts of color, size, and form. In your gardens and collections, don’t overlook the bold statement that these regal “big greenies” can add, even if you only have room for a few.
Grow and prosper,
Keith
Monday, May 27 2013
In the warmer spring months following a fairly cold January and February, we are happy to see many of our cycads in the ground and in containers begin to push new leaves. This winter we had some very cold temperatures, resulting in many frosty mornings, and even a couple hail storms.
 As you might expect, we had a lot of cold damage in the garden. And as a result, March and April of this year, much of my time in the garden was spent removing frost bitten, brown cycad leaves. The damage this year was reminiscent of the damage from “The Winter that Rocked My World”, the blog from December of 2012.
But now that leaves have been cut back, it is easy to see how spring rains, sunshine and longer days have done their magic once again, and these hearty plants are pushing new leaf flushes. This is when it is time to give nature a helping hand and pump this growth with fertilizer.
I have made an effort to grow my cycads using as little chemical fertilizer as possible. I really like the idea of growing nearly all of my plants with organic nutrition. The one time of the year that I break with tradition is when I have plants pushing new leaves. I like the fact that the occasional seasonal shot of a water soluble plant food gives the plant immediate access to absorb useful nutrients.
I know that it can be argued that chemical fertilizer can do more harm than good, but I do use it sparingly and primarily during the time of leaf production. The repeated use of chemical fertilizer can deplete and damage many of the beneficial organisms in a healthy soil, but I don’t think that the occasional use will have a devastating effect on the soil.
After leaves have hardened off, my fertilizer applications include mostly organic components. This helps to feed, repair, and replace colonies of micro-organisms in the soil that may have sustained damage from chemical fertilizer applications.
As you can see, I have taken a middle of the road approach to the application of fertilizer. The debate of “chemical or organic” is likely to persist, but in time, each grower will usually settle on what works for him/her. This feeding process has proven successful for me.
Grow and prosper,
Keith
Friday, April 19 2013
There are several things to consider when in the market for cycads as a signature element in your garden.
Understand Value/Rarity and Plant Size/Age
I combine budget and plant size into one heading because they are, for the most part, directly related to each other. When considering separate plants of the same species, if there are no obvious deficiencies or variations, the plant with the largest trunk (caudex) will have greater value. The caudex is the primary means of measure for determining value. The larger the caudex, the greater the value within each species. This rule doesn’t necessarily apply if one is comparing a large specimen of a common species to a small specimen of an extremely rare species. Having some sense of the relative rarity of each species can help the buyer to make a good decision on valuation.
Understand space requirements for mature plants
A mistake that is all too often made is the failure of the grower to adequately understand the mature size of each species being planted. Do your homework. Cycads typically do not produce fully mature leaves until the caudex has developed to approximately 90% of its mature footprint. In other words, mature size leaves are in direct relation to the development of the mature diameter of its caudex or its “footprint.” Learn the mature size of the caudex and leaves by reading or viewing mature plants, in order to gauge their approximate mature size. Leaf size can vary unnaturally if a plant is positioned in too much sun or too much deep shade. Too much sun can make leaves stay more compact (shorter), whereas too much shade can cause leaves to stretch out or extend in their attempt to reach for adequate light.
Choose an appropriate location for planting
Plant placement is a subject that can make or break the impact of a garden setting. I believe that cycads show best if they are given sufficient space to show their form without competing with other plants or architectural hindrances. In other words, give them the space that their mature form will need. This can be very difficult, especially if you are putting several young plants in the ground. Your garden will likely look somewhat sparse for a few years, but as they mature and fill out, your genius will become evident. It is also important to allow plenty of clearance around the anticipated mature leaf size beside foot paths for maintenance, pool access, and whatever pedestrian traffic your garden may experience. In addition don’t forget to leave plenty of clearance overhead. Under decks or eaves is not the best location for taller growing plants. You don’t want to have to remove them when they get big, if possible.
Understand the sun requirements of your cycad(s)
Another aspect of plant placement to consider is the amount of sun exposure or shade protection that each species prefers. In our southern California climate range, if you are planting within 15 or 20 miles of the ocean, most of the cycads available can take full sun. There are a few, however, that would prefer some shade or filtered sun exposure during the hottest hours of the afternoon. Some of the more tropical species do best with a bit more canopy protection. Further from the ocean, some plants may need more canopy protection.
In closing I hope that these recommendations give you confidence in your next cycad acquisition, and help you maximize your cycad growing experience. Remember that there are not too many absolute rules, and what I have suggested are just my take on certain guidelines that I have found to work for me. Be enthusiastic; be bold; and be wise.
Grow and prosper, Keith
Friday, February 15 2013
For those of you who have grown cycads for at least a few years, you probably have heard repeatedly that the most important rule to observe for the successful growth of cycads is to be certain that they are grown in a well draining soil. This is in reality a very general and somewhat relative concept. I know that many growers have different ideas as to how to formulate a good well-draining mix for cycads. I think that there is no one perfect soil mix. More realistically I believe that cycads in general are quite adaptable, and that there is a fairly broad range of well-draining mixes that are well suited to cycad growth.
I basically classify my soil mixes into two general component groups. Group number one includes a variety of mostly inert components that enable the final mix to permit good water drainage. Specifically some of the primary components that allow drainage are: decomposed granite, small size gravel, coarse sand, and pumice. These are crucial, although these components deliver very little in the way of nutrition to nourish the plant.
Number two is a group of materials that are broadly described as naturally occurring organics. These components provide nutrition to the plant by way of microorganisms in the soil which feed on the decomposing organics and help to provide nutrition that the plant can absorb. These components can be a combination of well-decomposed compost, made up of and leaf mulch, small twigs, and tree bark. There are additionally quite a few organic materials that are processed for sale from local nurseries and big box stores. Some of these components are chicken manure, peat moss, oak leaf mold, steer manure, worm casting, etc.
When varying combinations of each of the aforementioned two groups are combined into a final mix that drains well, then you have produced a soil mix that will be suitable for growing cycads.
I have not given an exact proportion of group number one and group number two materials. This is primarily due to the fact that cycad growers don’t agree on any one formula. This tells me that there is a general range of materials that will work well. Combined elements from groups one and two should be tried and proven, and gradually refined for your geographical location and seasonal conditions. The average range for combining groups one and two would be at 50% of group number one to 50% of group number two. This would be a good place to start a mix if you have never made your own mix before. In time you may learn that certain plants may respond if your mix is altered as much as 5% to 25% for either of the two groups. You may alter either of these two groups to gain more drainage in wetter climates or to gain a little more water retention in dryer climates.
If you try this approach I think you can develop a soil mix that will benefit your plants and promote optimal growth.
Grow and prosper.
Keith
Wednesday, January 16 2013
In my experience as a cycad grower I frequently come across individual plants that display a single unusual characteristic that I have never seen associated with that plant in the past. In nearly all cases it turns out to be what I term as an “example of singular occurrence.” To me this means that I don’t remember seeing it happen to that plant in the past, and it hasn’t persisted in successive years, when the plant repeats the same portion of its growth cycle. When I discuss these occurrences with other cycad growers, the typical response from them is that we were observing a mutation.
I decided I needed to look up the definition of mutation. The dictionary defines it as “any heritable alteration of the genes or chromosomes of an organism.” This caused me to think that if what many of us have been characterizing as a mutation, and a mutation involves the “heritable alteration of the genes or chromosomes,” then why are these alterations or deviations not consistently displayed year after year in the plant, as do other genetic characteristics? Perhaps we are not really observing a mutation at all. Perhaps the term anomaly would be more appropriate. The word anomaly is defined as: “Deviation from the normal or common order, form or rule.” I suppose that these two definitions may be interpreted to have some degree of synonymous meaning. However as defined, a mutation can also be considered an anomaly, but an anomaly isn’t necessarily a mutation, because an anomaly doesn’t have to have a heritable change of genes or chromosomes.
Although this term anomaly may be more acceptable, by definition it still suggests no root cause that would describe what, if anything, physically has taken place to cause cycads to display the “example of singular occurrence.” For me the question remains unanswered. The many influential variables that comprise cycad culture convince me to believe that perhaps we may never be able to connect all of the dots to understand what may cause an “example of singular occurrence.”
An infrequent or unusual manifestation could be the result of any singular or combined number of abnormal or extreme conditions that the plant may experience. This must include any of a myriad of cultural variables, such as: excess or shortage of water, nutrition, heat, cold, dryness, humidity, shade, sun, pests, etc.
It occurs to me now while I ponder the many aforementioned variables that cycads are subjected to in nature, that nearly this entire list of conditions, even in their more extreme form, doesn’t really seem to be that unusual. In other words, the more time I have spent growing, the more often I have witnessed a variety of unusual or extreme examples, which ironically tend to make these occurrences less unusual.
Just perhaps in the overall scheme of things, the occasional example of “singular occurrence” isn’t a mutation or an anomaly at all, but in the big picture of the potentially long lifespan of cycads, these occurrences may be considered the norm.
All dictionary definitions are quoted from the New College Edition of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
Grow and prosper,
Keith
Monday, December 17 2012
As a grower of palms and cycads for the past 40 years I can honestly say that I have enjoyed nearly every minute of it. A memorable exception would be during the winter months of ’03 to ’04 when the temperatures were consistently cold at night and cooler than normal during the day. During one brief stretch the nighttime temperatures ranged from the mid teens to the low twenties Fahrenheit for three to four consecutive nights. Nearly all of my green form Encephalartos cycads showed the effects of severe cold damage, as most of the leaves of each plant had turned brown. To my surprise most of my blue form Encephalartos cycads only showed slight damage. I believe this may be due to the inherent cold tolerance that is common to their native habitat.
After the cold had finally passed, I could assess the full extent of the damage. I had the feeling that I was going to lose most of my larger green form Encephalartos cycads that I had spent many years growing. It was depressing to walk through the garden and see so many brown leaves. It took me about a month before I could pull it together and get to work at the task of cutting hundreds of dead leaves.
When I remove dead or declining leaves off of my cycads, I cut them into smaller sizes and put them in the compost heap, or distribute them around the bases of my cycads and palms, or spread them onto my garden paths. I feel it is important to keep the organic value of leaves and non seed-bearing weed and other organic material in my garden. After removing and dispersing all of the damaged leaves, all I could do was wait and see what would come back as the temperatures warmed up in spring.
As it turned out, most of my cycads survived! Those that didn’t make it were plants that had no canopy protection from the cold, and had a caudex of 4 ½ inches or smaller. I now believe that the greater caudex dimension or mass of the larger established plants is a significant protection against extreme cold temperatures. I don’t think that they could survive indefinitely in those temperatures, but for the temperatures and time frame that I have described, their size/mass was sufficient. I do believe the smaller diameter caudex plants succumbed because the cold temperatures were low enough and long enough in duration to freeze to the core of the caudex.
Spring and summer blessed my garden with many new flushes of leaves and almost twice as many cones as I had had in any prior season. I have heard from other growers that cycads that have endured any of a variety of survivable extreme conditions will often respond by entering into a “survival mode” and produce leaves and/or cones. Although I have no way of knowing to what degree the cold weather setback brought the onset of new leaves and cones, the circumstantial evidence leads me to believe that there is some truth to the “survival mode” response by cycads.
Grow and prosper,
Keith
Wednesday, November 21 2012
For those of us who have become smitten by the allure of growing cycads for the sheer joy of it, there are a few additional aspects of collecting that deserve consideration. Years ago when I began to see mature cycads at many of the well-known public and private garden venues around southern California, I was floored by their mysterious beauty. My desire to one day achieve some measure of the success of these great gardens was a goal worthy of pursuit. Well, I’m certain that my story is a fairly common one, but the reality soon set in that the acquisition of large cycad specimens like the ones that I so admired was proving to be beyond the reach of my starving student budget. It became clear to me that my goals were not going to change, but that my ability to achieve them would just take a little longer than I had originally thought. Early on it was clear that I had chosen one of the crown jewels of the botanical kingdom to pursue.
I know that it seems somewhat shallow to place monetary value on the individual items in one’s collection, but the monetary valuation of cycads is a market reality. And collectors who wish to do so can benefit from this aspect of growing cycads. Cycad valuations are driven by several primary factors: rarity, size/age, and beauty/desirability.
Rarity
The pursuit of the rare is universal to collectors in general. The motivation to acquire what few others have creates a very intoxicating sense of satisfaction for the collector. As with nearly all things collectible that are rare, monetary valuations are commensurate. As it goes with cycads, some of the rarer, harder-to-find species, even of relatively small plants, can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. There are collectors who will willingly pay these prices to acquire these exceptionally rare cycads.
Size/Age
With cycads, size equates to age. This is another factor that affects the valuation equation. Often a fairly common cycad species that has reached mature size can command prices that were once considered unthinkable. Size is the equalizer. Size can push a common species into the rarity valuation column, simply because very large old cycads are somewhat rare, and do not often become available. If you are fortunate enough to have a very rare cycad with great size, then your valuation has compounded.
Beauty/Desirability
For collectors, beauty and desirability are perhaps the purest motivation for collecting cycads. I say this because rarity and size are obvious measures of prestige, an ego response, amongst knowledgeable collectors; however I believe that beauty is more of an emotional response. This does not mean that beauty by itself carries no weight in the scale of valuation, but it doesn’t necessarily seem to be equal to rarity and size. Nor does it mean that rare and large plants are not beautiful. Some species that are very beautiful are relatively common, and therefore command valuations that make them more affordable to the beginning collector. Acquiring attractive affordable cycads is a fairly common pattern for the beginning collector.
Although many collectors consider it taboo to use the term “investment” when referring to their collectible plants, the reality is that the acquisition and competent cultivation of some of the rarer, highly sought-after species can in time out-perform certain well selected financial investment programs. I have personally had individually plants pay back dividends in the form of pups (offsets) and seed crop that returned 10 to 70 times my original investment within a 10 to 20 year period of time.
Again I will emphasize that my original motivation for collecting cycads was not to make a buck in return, but I sure do not object to the valuations gained along the way as my original investments reach maturity and become productive. Not only are cycads beautiful in garden and landscape settings, they are also botanical marvels that can attain great age, and grow in value.
Grow in Value and Prosper.
Keith
Tuesday, October 23 2012
For those of you who are fortunate enough to have coning sized cycads, this is the time of year that your cones should be evident. Occasionally mature coning sized cycads will put out one cone or multiple cones each year. However cones don’t necessarily come every year. Female plants are more prone to skip a year or two between coning cycles to allow the plant to regenerate its food reserves. The female plants use much more of their food reserves than do the male plants for cone production, mostly due to their larger cone size and structure.
For nearly all cycads that are in cultivation and are not in or near their natural habitat, natural pollination does not occur. This is primarily because the native insect species that typically facilitate the pollination process are usually habitat specific and not available to do their part in the pollination process of cultivated plants, which are located outside of their natural habitat.
Hand pollination has proven to be a useful means of producing viable seed for many years. Time does not permit detailed explanation of all of the known techniques of human-assisted pollination. Generally speaking, when male and female plants produce their cones, and when the male cone begins to shed pollen, the human assistant can collect the pollen from the male cone by cutting the cone from the cycad and laying it on a piece of butcher paper (or something similar) for several days in a cool dry area. The male cone will, in time, shed much of the fine pollen grains onto the paper. Lightly tapping the cone over the paper will aid in maximizing your pollen collecting. I have found the garage to be an acceptable location for this process.
Ideally your male and female coning plants will be in sync. The female cone will give subtle signs that it is receptive to pollination. The timing of the introduction of pollen is critical to your success at producing viable seed. The female cones of different genus of cycads can have different indicators that signal receptivity. Most of the closed cone genus female cones, Encephalartos, Dioon, and Macrozamia to name a few, are receptive when the cone scales begin to separate and create openings that allow the insect pollinators to enter to the inside of the cone. The window of time of female receptivity can last as little as a couple of days to as long as a week or two. More studies are needed to assign more definitive time frames of receptivity for each species.
The introduction of pollen is primarily performed in one of two methods. These methods work best on all genus, except the genus Cycas, whose female cone structure is different, and would require an alternate method of pollen application. The “dry method” is to collect the pollen from the paper on which the male cone has been resting. Then pour or puff the pollen with a straw into the central axis of the female cone just below the top cluster of smaller cone scales. Many growers will completely remove one to three of these upper level cone scales to facilitate the dispersion of pollen into the hollow labyrinth of spaces within the female cone.
The “wet method” is achieved by mixing the dry pollen with water in a plastic bottle with a cap and adding a couple of drops of liquid soap (Green Soap), which works as a wetting agent to help the pollen-laden water to coat all interior surfaces of the female cone. Then pour from the plastic bottle ample quantities of pollen solution down through the chambers of the female cone. A squeeze bottle with a pointed spout, a turkey baster, or a large plastic basting syringe can also be used to deliver the pollen solution.
For either method, if possible, repeat the pollination process every few days to increase your odds, as long as you have pollen and as long as the female cone appears to be receptive.
If your male and female cones are NOT in sync, and if the male plant cones first, the pollen can be collected and placed in small air tight containers with a little desiccant, and stored for several months in the freezer. Clearly label the containers with species and date collected.
If your efforts have been successful, you will be rewarded with viable seed, when the post harvest ripening period has been completed and the seed has fully developed. In most cases this takes place within six months to a year. This is another area that could benefit from further study to determine the post harvest ripening periods for the seed of each species. Producing seed is one of the many joys of growing cycads.
Collection and propagation of seed will be discussed in a future blog.
Grow and prosper,
Keith
Wednesday, September 12 2012
I can’t begin to cite the number of times that I have been called to survey an entire collection or partial collection of cycads that had no tags or identification list whatsoever. Since I am familiar with numerous cycads, I am able to identify many based on characteristics such as leaf shape, leaf margins, color, spines, etc. But most collectors don’t know all the cycads or all of their unique features. Throw hybrids into the picture, and you could have an identification problem.
The difficulty of dealing with collections with no plant identification, has led me to emphasize to all cycad collectors the importance of establishing a method of identifying all plant material in your collection. You must ask yourself, “If I suddenly was no longer on the scene to care for my collection, would someone be able to make sense of my plant material?” It seems that cycad collectors, and I suppose collectors in general, often get caught up in the fury of the process of collecting, with little initial consideration as to basic as well as long term care and maintenance obligations for these unique plants. I too am guilty. But provenance is important, especially with these rare beauties that can live to be hundreds of years old, and can pass through the hands of numerous collectors in their life spans.
Care of our collections after we are gone is not a subject that many of us care to consider, but it is a certainty that most of our cycads, given reasonable care, are going to last much longer than we will. Often a family member is left to deal with a collection that they know little or nothing about. Leaving an easily understood inventory of one’s collection, along with some basic care instructions, can eliminate much uncertainty for those who may wish to continue to grow the plants. It will also help to ensure that the plants will be kept in fairly good condition until the transition to other collectors, botanical gardens, or any other chosen entities can take place. Possibly make arrangements now, or at the very least, have an agreement with family members as to your wishes regarding the distribution of your plants.
For any collectors who have a few years into their collections, it is important to realize how fortunate you are to share some of your life experience with these unique plants. With the ownership of cycads, one should feel privileged to have that opportunity, and to not only have a long term plan in place, but also make every effort to learn to cultivate your collection to the best of your ability. Generally speaking cycads are not difficult to grow. Once the basics of cultivation are understood and needs are met, the plants will just do what they have evolved to do. Grow and be productive.
The high cost of ignorance is what really persuaded me to learn all I could to try to get it right. Since I first became interested in cycads in 1972 while attending college, I usually didn’t have much spare change to indulge in my new found interest. So the sting of losing seedlings due to my misguided cultivation techniques ran deep. I must acknowledge in partial defense that in those days there were few people that collected cycads, and even fewer had much knowledge on cultivation. There was very little written, and, of course, the internet did not exist, as we know it today.
In conclusion I feel that as collectors, we all share a responsibility for the short and long term care of cycads. We all should adopt a sense of stewardship toward our collections, and try to accept some degree of awareness as to the immediate care and eventual distribution of our collections. We must understand the whole picture. Cycads are not only a part of our lives, but we are a part of their long life experience. Remember that we should feel privileged to be part of the lives of cycads. If these plants continue to be cared for now and after we are no longer here, they will inspire future generations to be guardians of these living fossils.
Grow and prosper,
Keith
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