A Secret Cycad Habit Starting......Shhhhhh!

[Alicehunter2000]

Slowly acquiring more and more colder hardy stuff. Running out of palm species to try.

C. revoluta x C. micholitzii

[tank]

Dave,

I have several of these, although smaller than yours. I hope the leaflets begin to split as in C. micholitzii. My C. debaoensis split took awhile before the leaves started splitting.

[Kailua_Krish]

Nice!

[Alicehunter2000]

Cycas taitungensis x Cycas guizhouensis sporting a new leaf

[Alicehunter2000]

A couple of (Taitengensis x bifida) x taitengensis already splitting!

[Alicehunter2000]

Two Dioon edule var. "Palma Sola"

[tank]

David,

If you don't mind me asking, where did you pick up this interesting hybrids in your neck of the woods? Are these mail order?

[Alicehunter2000]

Got an old surfing/college buddy over in Crawfordville that is palm/cycad nut (John (Wiley) Whiddon)....also has a seed fetish (lol)....We trade stuff back and forth. He's also friends with some of the guys like Luke (Frito), Chumley (the cycad guy) etc.

Runs in some of the same plant circles that we do.

Always trying to get him to post on PT but he prefers FB....He loves to trade stuff and has actually talked about going down to visit YOU ... so he has heard of some of the stuff you are selling/trading.

You got an admirer and didn't even know it .... lol

[tank]

Got an old surfing/college buddy over in Crawfordville that is palm/cycad nut (John (Wiley) Whiddon)....also has a seed fetish (lol)....We trade stuff back and forth. He's also friends with some of the guys like Luke (Frito), Chumley (the cycad guy) etc.

Runs in some of the same plant circles that we do.

Always trying to get him to post on PT but he prefers FB....He loves to trade stuff and has actually talked about going down to visit YOU ... so he has heard of some of the stuff you are selling/trading.

You got an admirer and didn't even know it .... lol

Admirers are better than stalkers!

You guys are always welcome to come by, even if you don't buy anything . Hopefully we'll catch a break this winter and everything will make it through unscathed.

[Alicehunter2000]

Two Dioon "Rio Verde" at the base of Bismarckia

[Alicehunter2000]

A pair of Dioon edule " Quetero"

[Alicehunter2000]

Very recently planted Ceratozamia hildae looking washed out...

[NApalm]

Dave, how's that soil! Looks really sandy. I think I read in your thread that your plan was to keep adding organics for the foreseeable future. Is that yielding results for you?

[Kailua_Krish]

David, have you tried any of the other Ceratozamias? Ive really enjoyed them, they have a very tropical look and are surprisingly hardy. Other ones that Ive liked quite a bit in a 9a climate are Lepidozamia perofskiana (has been hardy for me so far, only lost newest leaves one year from cold), the hybrid between the coontie and cardboard zamia (one with green emergent and one orange emergent), and the hybrid cycas. Dioon spinulosum has survived but not grown all that much as it is regularly defoliated here (seems to be slightly over the edge for cold tolerance here) so Im trying out Dioon rzedowskii as Ive heard its slightly hardier. Im also trying out Lepidozamia hopei too, I found a price I couldn't pass up on one...

Ive tried Encephalartos but so far haven't been super impressed as they grow super slow with the amount of canopy needed here. I have E. ferox which has been very cold hardy, E. whitlockii which lost its leaves when below probably 25/26, E. gratus which defoliates occasionally, and a Gratus x Whitlockii which is the fastest performer for me.

Edited December 19, 2014 by krishnaraoji88

[Alicehunter2000]

Hey Logan

yes the soil is crazy sandy here....just imagine soil with the consistency and color of processed sugar and you will get an accurate picture of the "soil" here. It makes a world class beautiful beach but pretty much devoid of water retention or nutrients.

Don't know if you remember the thread when I first started planting but a 2-3 ft. Layer of organic mulch was buried under a couple of ft. of sand. It has been mostly a good thing as the bigger stuff does not really have to be watered much. Alot of the smaller plants struggle until their roots tap into that layer. It has caused problems as well. Air pockets develop sometimes as the organic layer continues to break down. Have killed a couple of smaller plants failing to realize this problem soon enough. Sometimes I will be hand watering and holes will open up.....just wash the surrounding sand down into the hole until it fills up. The whole yard continues to sink down slowly....good thing Palmtalk members warned me about this from the beginning.....planted everything really high.

Been adding pine straw and inorganic fertilizer fairly regularly and been cutting and letting the non evergreen plants decompose back into the sand. This summer may try and add some horse or sheep manure as I got access to some free stuff. Building up the sand will be an ongoing struggle here.

[Alicehunter2000]

Krishna...yes I think I got some of those....I really like doing these threads because it is a way to keep up with species inventory. My buddy gave me a bunch of different seedlings and luckily had most labeled. As I take more pictures will "rediscover" exactly what is planted....lol. Sounds like you are much further along and I thank you, Jason and others for the advice on what is working for you all in a very similar environment. Although not on your list .....here are two Macrozamia communis.

[Moose]

Wow - your really showing off those cycads. Hope you have a very secured property. Cycads have been known to attract those with deviant scruples.

Signage reading "Warning, this Property is Protected by a Rottweiler with Ebola" could be a preventative measure.

[Kailua_Krish]

I have Macrozamia communis but they don't grow all that well for me, they've been stuck at 2 leaves for over 2 years now. I also have another Macrozamia but I can't remember what species.

Moose, Im not sure people even know what a cycad is in North Florida... most people seem to think they're ferns.

Edited December 20, 2014 by krishnaraoji88

[NApalm]

Nice one dave. I think you'll definitely see improvement over the years!

[Alicehunter2000]

North Florida cycad poachers..........

Boy.....you shore got sum purdy cycads!

[cycadjungle]

Cycads do very well in mostly sand. It certainly drains well. All you need is just s little organic material in the soil so that there is a little bit of chemistry going on to make the fertilizer work properly. I remember Willie Tang telling me 15 years ago that "Lake Wales sand" was the best natural soil for cycads and he didn't even know Lake Wales was right near me. There is nothing wrong with lots of sand for cycads, it's the other plants that don't do as well. Having layers of sand and organic material isn't the best way to go. It is a lot better to mix, let's say, 20 organic to the 80% sand and mix it up, and then throw that in bulk in your growing area. Even having layers in containers sometimes can cause a problem with uniform moisture absorption and that kind of thing. Having lots of sand is not a curse when growing cycads. The people with clay, or rock for soil would be envious. Tom

[Alicehunter2000]

Thanks for the advice Tom....would love to get down that way and tour your place a nd pick up some larger plants. Time and money are in short supply at the moment. ...lol.

Cycas taitungensis

Zamia vazquezii

[Alicehunter2000]

Zamia furfuracea (back from dead after polar vortex) this was one of several larger ones that was originally planted.

Zamia pumila starting to cone

Zamia floridana double.....I've got tons of seedlings planted of the Florida native

[Alicehunter2000]

Zamia floridana broad leaf form? Had quite a few seedlings of this originally....but managed to rot most of them in a pot.

Tom is broad leaf variety the correct term?

[Moose]

North Florida cycad poachers..........

Boy.....you shore got sum purdy cycads!

2842161245_deliverance_remake125102656_sq_thumb_m_xlarge_thumb.jpeg

That's Bubba - he cleans Cycad seeds with his toofies

[cycadjungle]

Today's taxonomy says that coonties are 1 species, so for now, we have a thin leaflet form and wide leaflet forms. You can also say east coast and west coast. Wide leaf forms come from the east coast, normally found under oak canopy. West coast forms are found out in the open, under pine trees, or under deciduous trees, so they get more sun and have evolved with either thinner leaflets, or leaflets that just appear to be thinner since they are just turned down.

A long time ago I figured out how to afford bigger and/or more cycads and that is wait till they cone and let the plants pay for themselves. Now that I am older, I have found that buying coning plants that either pay for themselves, or make more than what they cost is the way to get a great collection much faster. All my 30,000 cycads have paid for themselves 20 times over now, and most will still produce seeds for at least another 300 years.

I started with no money and is not the way i would build a collection now. I'll give you one example/good idea on building a huge cycad collection for free. I know you are far away from Miami, but we used to go down to Fairchild every once in a while, for at least their members day sales. (Where you could find killer rare cycads easily, before the internet) Zamia vazquezii becomes receptive in November, which means in October, they have viable seeds on them, but the cones haven't fallen apart yet. Botanics used to sell full coning vazqueziis for about $35 and when you picked through them, you could find some females with 3 cones full of seeds. I used to get 75 cents per seed, and if you pick 3 big cones I could pick $135-$150 worth of seeds on each $35 plant and sell the seeds at once. So, I could pick up 3 males and 5 females for $280 and get $700 for the seeds within a month. Now you have a colony of 8 plants that will produce seeds, and more money for the rest of your life, and you instantly you pay ypurself back for the investment, and have $400 in the buy more cycads for investment fund. Just from this one investment, it will still give you another $500 every single year to add even more to the cycad investment fund. Buying already coning plants may cost more at first but they can pay for themselves at worst, in 1 year as opposed to 5 to 10 years later.

I guess when you ate younger, it is fun to get small material and watch it grow up but as I get older, I like getting full sized plants. They don't even have pay for themselves any more, and every once in a while a just get plants for fun. As an example, I'm starting to put together a real nice collection of dwarf, variegated Rhapis palms just for fun, but even those, someday, may pay for themselves after collecting offsets, but I just love looking at them.

[Moose]

Bubba has a nice ride, that's why he is smiling ...

[edbrown_III]

what a love story wheres the vaseline!

[edbrown_III]

at least 35 species for you maybe more the hybrids provide endless varieation to the eye. Many of these species thrive in pure sand and thats their habit but yo gotta get all the nutrients to them. ---- I have made a bout 6 inches of good peat topsoil in alot of places in my yard. High water table I know but it you keep them wet --- add sufficient nitrogen via green waste and air --- the aerobic bacteria and earthworms will do the heavy conversion. Most of this I have done in less than 10 years

Best regards

Ed