Ceratozamia hardiness

[redbeard917]

I'd like to hear reports of cold hardiness about the various Ceratozamia species. Looking online, there are a bunch of species available now that I'm not familiar with. I have grown C. hildae, latifolia, and kuesteriana, and they've never had any damage from cold, even here in zone 8. But I haven't had them very long, and they are under the protection of a large evergreen oak. I suspect some of the other species may need warmer weather. Any experience with growing species in this genera is welcome and appreciated.

[cycadjungle]

Except for a couple of the new ones, I've just about grown them all. I have not tested the cold hardy ones to full extent, but I sell to customers who do test them lower, like a nursery owner in Raleigh NC, who is growing the three you mention outside without protection for the last 3-4 years. I am assuming you are talking about burnt leaves and not stem death temperatures? Keep in mind I am also dealing with the diet Dustin freeze events we have here in Florida. As an example, a hildae might take 13 for a few hours just fine, but if it was 3 days at 13, it could outright die. Temperatures are subjective depending on a lot of factors.

Hildae 10-12, Kuesteriana 13, latifolia 12, microstrobila 14, true mexicana 14, sp. Tamasunchale 12, miqueliana 23, Santiago Tuxla robusta 25, euryphyllidia 23, hondurensis 23, norstogii 22-23, mirandae 23, sabatoi 23, sp. Palma Sola 22, sp. green emergent latifolia type that people are calling mexicana here in FL 23, whitelockiana 23,sp. Pres Alemans 23, red backs 18.

Tom

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Tom, You are a wealth of real world knowledge, which is increasingly difficult to find.

[cycadjungle]

How do you edit a post? This tablet changes words all the time. I meant short duration freeze events.

[Silas_Sancona]

22 hours ago, cycadjungle said:

Except for a couple of the new ones, I've just about grown them all. I have not tested the cold hardy ones to full extent, but I sell to customers who do test them lower, like a nursery owner in Raleigh NC, who is growing the three you mention outside without protection for the last 3-4 years. I am assuming you are talking about burnt leaves and not stem death temperatures? Keep in mind I am also dealing with the diet Dustin freeze events we have here in Florida. As an example, a hildae might take 13 for a few hours just fine, but if it was 3 days at 13, it could outright die. Temperatures are subjective depending on a lot of factors.

Hildae 10-12, Kuesteriana 13, latifolia 12, microstrobila 14, true mexicana 14, sp. Tamasunchale 12, miqueliana 23, Santiago Tuxla robusta 25, euryphyllidia 23, hondurensis 23, norstogii 22-23, mirandae 23, sabatoi 23, sp. Palma Sola 22, sp. green emergent latifolia type that people are calling mexicana here in FL 23, whitelockiana 23,sp. Pres Alemans 23, red backs 18.

Tom

Agree with TXcoldhardy, GREAT info Tom. Have just C. hilade and a couple latifolia seedlings atm but would enjoy trying more down the road. Really had my eye on C. norstogii lately.

[cycadjungle]

Norstogii, or what used to be called plumosa, is a great little plant. Twisted leaves that emerge purpleish in color. Not as cold hardy, but still nice. They take a long time to grow into a decent sized plant though. My seedlings from my breeding 20 years ago are just now getting 3-4 inches. Hildaes, as an example will totally mature in 4-5 years and would be 4-5 inches. If someone were to get bored with hildaes, I am growing regular hildaes, brown emergent hildaes, and totally spineless hildaes. I have also segregated hildaes that genetically tend to produce offsets faster, which means they turn into a big cluster much faster. I use my leaf cutting technique on those and can get them to grow 3-4 years worth of flushes each year ( average 7 flushes a year) to make them huge plants in a short period of time. I have about 7000 hildae plants, so I HAVE to play with them.