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My Cycad Is In Trouble! (Continued Page 2)

The tip of the leaves are brown

 If the tips of your Sago or other cycad are burned the are a few things that could be going on:

a) The most common thing we've observed is that the plant is stealing nutrition in preparation for a new throw of leaves.  This is especially seen in the oldest leaves.  The tips can be discolored or the leaves can be haphazardly unattractive. The treatment is patience with removal of unsightly leaves as felt necessary. 

b) Another cause of brown leaves can be fertilizer burn.  Cycads, in general, don't burn easily.  However, entire leaves or the tips of the leaves can burn from over-application of fertilizer.  It can definitely be apparent on newly emerging leaves.  They seem particularly susceptible.  The salts in your overzealous application of fertilizer cause too great an osmotic load for the plant tissues. Once observed, the treatment is to vigorously leach the soil with ample fresh water.  In the ground, water the surrounding ground for 30 minutes of longer.  In a pot, water it ten to twenty times.  Hopefully, this will wash away and leech out the salts in the soil. You mayl have to do this multiple times over the course of two weeks. This will not make the old leaves green again.  However, it might help save the plant.  Remember to only fertilize on moist soil.  It is always safest to use slow release fertilizers to avoid this problem.  

c) Poorly draining soil can cause leaf discoloration including browning to the tips of the leaves, yellow discoloration to the leaves or even leaf collapse.  Remember: Cycads die from rot and poor drainage causes rot. Clay soils are notorious for this. If the plant is in a container, change the soil. Use a soil high in sand/pumice content. If it is in the garden, consider moving the plant to a location where the drainage is better. Or, amend the soil with sand or pumice to increase drainage. If this is not sufficient, consider digging holes and breaking through layers such as clay or sandstone to promote drainage. Consider diverting channels to take away ground water or water layers in the soil.. Or, consider mounds to get the plant off the present ground and water table level and artificially giving it better drainage. Mounds with rocks and cycads are actually very appealing to the eye.  Brown tips can also be an indication of rot. You can incur rot if some problem has gone unaddressed for too long.

d) Brown tipping, brown spotting, or a "limey" discoloration to the leaves can occur if the cycad you have is in more sun than it really wants.  Some cycads do not want to be in full sun; this can make the plant look burned and ugly. The solution to this is to put them in a shadier environment.

e) The leaves of your cycad can also burn from cold weather. Usually this is a more diffuse discoloration of the leaves, especially in the most exposed areas.  However, you might see it localized to the tips of the leaves.

Leaves are spotted or discolored

This is a difficult symptom to accurately diagnose and is rather nonspecific.  It is usually some cultural type of problem, but may be simply the result of too much sun, too cold of weather, or any of the problems listed in the previous section. It can also be from harsh weather problems like hail or freezing temperatures. Hail can actually put small brown dots on the leaves. These obviously will not be on the next throw of leaves. We have also seen this problem with plants in very old soil that needs to be changed or soil that does not drain well. Vague leaf discoloration or spotting can also be from fungal or bacterial infections. If you suspect this, utilize fungicides or antibacterial treatments. If it is seen only on one plant, it is probably something peculiar to that one plant. If you see it on multiple neighboring plants or a whole collection, it is undoubtedly a major cultural problem or widespread infectious process. The latter needs immediate attention or profession consultation. It might be worth you time to take the leaves to an experienced cycad grower. 

Leaves have dried up, aborted, or laid down

 These are more potentially ominous symptoms and often antedate a more serious prognosis. Sometimes it is not a major problem. Read below to determine what type of problem you might have.

a) Leaves thrown during cold weather: It is not unusual for a swirl of leaves coming out during very cold weather not to reach anticipated length or to abort. There’s not much to do about this except maintain the plant and wait for another throw of leaves. However, do check for other problems described below.

b) Fertilizer damage: Leaves on a cycad can dry up when the plant has been over-fertilized. See leaching instructions elsewhere for treatment of this problem

c) Rot: Leaves can also dry up and shrivel when the plant has crown rot (central apex of the cycad), or rot of the lower trunk or roots. As mentioned above, central crown rot is almost impossible to treat. You can pour a fungicide down the crown of your cycad, and repeat this treatment on a weekly basis. It may need dissection. The mother plant may or may not survive, even if just in the form of basal suckers. It is very ominous when a plant has what appears to be big beautiful leaves and they just lay down laterally and then collapse downwards all the way.  If they seem weak and flimsy at their hinge point with the caudex, this almost always means a major problem. Check for rot.

d) First set of leaves while establishing a removed sucker: This can happen and doesn’t mean, necessarily, the demise of the caudex. Continue checking for rot and treat accordingly.

e) Leaves laying down while the plant is coning: The leaves often lay more horizontally as the plant is coning. This is not always seen. During this normal occurrence, the leaves are tightly held at the hinge point with the caudex. It is particularly common with female cones in Cycas revoluta. It is not a pathological condition. 

Yellow leaves

Seeing yellow leaves is a relatively common problem and is usually easily remedied. 

a) Yellow leaves can be caused by a microelement or nitrogen deficiency in the soil.  We have observed this with an iron deficiency.  Other microelements seem to cause it as well.   To remedy this, all you have to do is give the plant iron, microelements and a well balanced nitrogen based fertilizer.  A balanced slow-release fertilizer with a ratio of approximately18:6:18 or 18:6:12 would be ideal.  Make sure it has microelements. We also like using blood meal, as it is organic, slow to uptake, and has some iron. If you use quick release fertilizers, make sure the ground is wet when they are applied. Also remember that most cycads like a soil with a pH of about 6.5 to 7.0. Very alkaline soils can lock up microelements and nutrition. Over-acid soils can likewise prevent good growth.  pH testers can tell you if this is your problem.  

b) Too little sun can cause yellow leaves. The remedy is more light.  

c) Too much sun for a shade loving species can cause this. We will see this on species like E. ferox, E. gratus, and E. villosus when they receive too much intense sun.

d) Too much moisture can cause the same. The remedy is discussed above.

No new leaves in many seasons

This is seen in many situations. It is usually from some type of cultural deficit. It could be too little sun hitting on the plant. Most Dioons and Encephalartos want full sun.  Moving a shade-out plant into sun often causes it to throw leaves.  It could be from lack of heat during the summer. It could be from cold damage during the winter. Or, it might result from lack of nutrition. It it’s a sun loving species, consider trimming above it or moving it into a sun location. If you lack summer heat, consider species more tolerant of your weather. Remember to fertilize on a regular basis, also providing microelements necessary to good plant growth. Sometimes when a caudex is about to cone, one will not see a new throw of leaves. Also, the problem can be from hidden rot in the caudex or roots. Inspect the plant and try to diagnose and treat the problem.

Pest problems:

We shall deal with this problem in another upcoming article. Scale, mealy bug,beatles and other infestations can be troublesome problems.  There are some newly introduced species of scale that can even kill cycads, especially Cycas species.    They do cause unsightly cycads.  However, typically rot is the hidden killer of cycads.  And, often, poor culture is the cause of rot.  

(Continued on next page)

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