>>Cycads >>Cycad Help & Advice >>My Cycad Is In Trouble! Sago Palm Care

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This article is written for those who have a Sago Palm or cycad that is trouble and are having a problem with  care of their cycad plant.  I discuss how to avoid the common maladies of growing cycads and also give general sago palm care tips. In this article we discuss the problems that we’ve seen frequently and advise as to potential remedies that seem to help. It is meant to stimulate the reader into inspecting his plants for yellow leaves, brown tips, rot, etc., and coming up with therapeutic modalities for his plants. The better one gets at this, the better grower he will become.
 

What’s Wrong?

Inspect your plant

In growing cycads, it is very important to make a habit of looking at your plants.  Inspection is key to good growing of cycads.  They will usually demonstrate to you that they have a problem. However, it helps to know what to look for while inspecting. This can lead to your diagnosing the problem, or at least let you know something is wrong.. Once you establish what the problem is, you can set out to solve it. Described below are some of the things that you can look for while inspecting your cycads.  Be aware that different climatic areas may see different problems than we've seen here in Southern California.  However, most of the problems discussed below are quite universal to all growing areas.  The problems of insects and pests is not dealt with here and  will be discussed in a future article.

You see visible rot on your caudex or roots: Sometimes one might see rot on the trunk of a cycad. Or, you might see it on inspecting a caudex in pumice that you are trying to root out.  Obviously, this requires you're bare-rooting the plant to inspect the roots and base of the caudex.  Unfortunately, rot can hide and be deceptive, even starting in the most hidden, deepest roots. With rot, the first thing one notices is that the caudex or root tissue is soft. Rot manifests itself as a dark tan to brown/black color in the caudex or trunk . Rotting roots tend to be soft, darker colored, and lacking secondary roots coming out. This is opposed to light, fleshy healthy roots . Usually the rot involves the lower caudex in it’s subterranean area or the roots. Rot can cause cycads to decline or possibly die if it is not addressed. If you find rot on your caudex, use a sharp, sterile cutting tool (knife or saw) to remove the rot. Cut the rot away until you have only hard tissue that is whitish or light tan in color. Note: in some cases you may not find whitish or light tan tissue; in such cases, cut back to hard tissue. Be careful, if you cut the caudex too much you risk the plant dying. If the rot is on the roots, one needs to individually remove involved roots, dissecting up to clean, healthy tissue.  Below are guidelines to the treatment of rot after you've dissected it away.  

General guideline in the treatment of tissue rot:

1) After you have cut away the rot (trunk or roots), soak the plant in both a fungicide and root stimulant. First soak your plant in a fungicide, like Daconil, for 30 minutes.  Always follow manufacturer's instructions about usage and safety on any chemical.  Next you will want to soak your plant in a root stimulant, like DipN’Grow, vitamin B1 or B complex (most liquid root stimulants will work), for 30 minutes. The reason why I recommend soaking the plants for 30 minute intervals is because it allows the caudex to absorb both the fungicide and root stimulant into its tissue

2) Sprinkle a powder root stimulant, like Take Root, onto the base of the caudex and/or the root(s).

3) You should now seal the cuts with an agricultural tar. This assists in keeping the cut surface clean and also helps to protect from future rot. Melted wax preparations can also be used.

4) We use new clean pumice (or scoria) to re-establish the plant.  It is a dry medium and you are less likely to incur rot or other problems.  This typically means submerging the treated area of trunk or roots directly into the pot of pumice.  If pumice is not available, coarse sand can work.  Use a pot that is not overly large for the caudex.

5) The time it takes to reestablish your plant can be three to six months or even longer. Failure will be evidenced by the progression of the rotting tissue and failure to establish leaves or roots.  You may wish to bare root the caudex for inspection from time to time.  One must repeat the cycles above if rot is rediscovered.

The top of your caudex is soft

This is an ominous sign. It usually means the caudex is in the process of or about to collapse and die. It is usually due to rot and the plant is usually near death.  One would typically see the leaves turn brown and fall downward . They may shrivel. On grasping and pinching the crown of the caudex, it will be soft and compress inwards.  It might actually collapse beneath the pressure of the fingers. This often means the demise of the entire plant. If the softness to touch is minimal, quickly treat the crown with a drenching of fungicide, and repeat on a regular basis.  If the crown is collapsing, one can dissect away the crown of the caudex until healthy tissue is found.  Often this is unsuccessful.  The mechanics of doing this are discussed elsewhere, but one would be working from the top of the caudex downward. If one is lucky, new suckers will emerge from this dissected level and the plant will survive. More often then not, this plant is bound for the garbage can and is terminally ill. 

An unrooted caudex does nothing

We’ve found that a healthy caudex can take anywhere from six months to two years to establish adequate roots for survival. Some species are faster than others. For instance, Encephalartos horridus established quite quickly while Encephalartos inopinus gets roots much more slowly. Sometimes the latter will even throw leaves prior to establishing roots. This certainly makes one apprehensive, but it is not always a fatal observation. However, sometimes months and years go by and nothing happens; no roots, no leaves. The first thing to do is to inspect the caudex. Feel it in your hands. Is it firm? Is it still heavy in the hand? Does it feel light? Firmly press the sides of the caudex. Does it collapse somewhat, especially toward the crown? When a caudex goes bad and visual inspection shows nothing, rot is often most evident near the crown of the plant or sucker. Are the cataphylls loose? Pull on them gently. Do they easily pull out? Try float testing the caudex. Unobserved central rot can make the caudex float. If everything seems OK and you find nothing, all you can do is place the sucker back in pumice and wait.

A rooting caudex throws leaves before it roots

 This is always a worrisome problem. It is never the ideal scene, but sometimes happens and can still result in a healthy rooted plant.  We always like to see vigorous roots before a throw of leaves. This can occur just because of the natural cycle of the offset. Let’s say it was about to throw leaves and you removed it for propagation. It will continue to leaf out regardless of being removed. Other times it happens six or twelve months after sucker removal and yet before rooting. In either case, it poses a risk to the new caudex. It is generally agreed that there is a risk of desiccation and death of the caudex as the leaves lose water and the caudex has minimal ability to absorb water without roots.  Also, the leaves don’t have a nutritional flow except from the caudex. The throw of new leaves might have used up the energy reserves of the caudex.   

Once observed, the problem is what to do. Remember to inspect for and treat any rot. One may treat with fungicide and certainly place the caudex back in pumice. But, what of the leaves; remove them or leave them in place? There is no perfect answer for this, but most growers would remove all or part of the leaves thrown. In actual fact, usually these leaves will abort soon after throwing and seldom do they persist as healthy leaves. Sometimes the collapse of these leaves is rapidly followed by a collapse of the caudex. Yet, if they survive, could they not be able to offer some photosynthesis and creation of energy? For this reason, some would say remove all of the leaves except a few and cut those remaining leaves in half. Once repotted back into pumice, carefully avoid watering the crown on such a plant. 

Leaves are shorter than normal

If your leaves emerge shorter than they did the last time, there could be one of several problems:

a) If you are acclimating your cycad (working it out into sun), the new leaves may be shorter than those which flushed in a shadier environment. This is not a problem; your cycad will grow out of it.  Be aware that cycads grown in filtered light (opposed to full sun) ten to stretch their leaves looking for more sun.

b) If this is the first throw of a recently established sucker or a recently transplanted cycad, short leaves can occur. This will change with successive throws.

c) A  throw of leaves in the coldest part of the winter can stunt their length.  You might see this on a recently imported and established caudex whose "biological clock" is set to another hemisphere.   

c) Leaves emerging shorter can also be an indication of a cultural problem. This could be nutritional requiring treatment with fertilizer or microelements.  It could be from a poor soil mix or poor soil aeration.  Or, it could be a symptom of caudex or root rot. If you think it is indicated, carefully remove that plant from its pot and wash away the excess dirt with a hose. Inspect the roots or caudex for rot. With a plant in the ground, gently rock the cycad to see if it is loose in the ground, suggesting root rot. You can also check the trunk of your cycad to see if it is soft in exposed areas. If rot is found, treat as described elsewhere in this article.

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 may 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 can 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 bugs, beetles 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.