Should I mount Cycas debaoensis?

[epiphyte]

For almost two years now I've been attaching plants to my friend Carol's avocado tree here in the Los Angeles area...

This past weekend she received a Cycas debaoensis that she purchased from Tropiflora...  

She asked if we should attach it to the avocado tree and I was like, hmmmmmm...

Hmmmmmmmmm...

What do you think?  

She doesn't really have the space to put it in the ground.  So it either stays in a pot or it goes on the tree.  On the tree I'd attach it in the very bright spot directly above the Platycerium superbum in the 1st pic, which would essentially function as a basket that would get bigger and bigger and produce its own moist but well-drained medium.  In my experience a wide variety of plants love growing in staghorn "baskets".   My friend Jerry even has a rose bush happily growing in his stag.  The stag was initially growing above the rose which it managed to air-layer.  He also has a stag with a happy king palm seedling growing in it.  You can probably guess how that happened.  Since so many plants are so happy growing in stags I made it a plant rule (#17) that all stags should have companions.  

Cycas debaoensis isn't an epiphyte, but the medium that this one is potted in looks fairly organic.  There is only one epiphytic cycad... Zamia pseudoparasitica, but I'm guessing it can't grow outdoors here.  Out of all the cycads, which species would be the best for growing epiphytically in the Los Angeles area?  Zamia furfuracea?  Have you ever personally seen a cycad growing on a tree?  

I'm going to give the Cycas a week to acclimate before doing anything with it.  In the meantime please share your thoughts (plant rule #2).  

[Silas_Sancona]

14 minutes ago, epiphyte said:

For almost two years now I've been attaching plants to my friend Carol's avocado tree here in the Los Angeles area...

This past weekend she received a Cycas debaoensis that she purchased from Tropiflora...  

She asked if we should attach it to the avocado tree and I was like, hmmmmmm...

Hmmmmmmmmm...

What do you think?  

She doesn't really have the space to put it in the ground.  So it either stays in a pot or it goes on the tree.  On the tree I'd attach it in the very bright spot directly above the Platycerium superbum in the 1st pic, which would essentially function as a basket that would get bigger and bigger and produce its own moist but well-drained medium.  In my experience a wide variety of plants love growing in staghorn "baskets".   My friend Jerry even has a rose bush happily growing in his stag.  The stag was initially growing above the rose which it managed to air-layer.  He also has a stag with a happy king palm seedling growing in it.  You can probably guess how that happened.  Since so many plants are so happy growing in stags I made it a plant rule (#17) that all stags should have companions.  

Cycas debaoensis isn't an epiphyte, but the medium that this one is potted in looks fairly organic.  There is only one epiphytic cycad... Zamia pseudoparasitica, but I'm guessing it can't grow outdoors here.  Out of all the cycads, which species would be the best for growing epiphytically in the Los Angeles area?  Zamia furfuracea?  Have you ever personally seen a cycad growing on a tree?  

I'm going to give the Cycas a week to acclimate before doing anything with it.  In the meantime please share your thoughts (plant rule #2).  

Nice to see you post something again Carlos   You might  double check your picture links though, shows up as some sort of #/letter code for me, vs. more great images.

[Palm Tree Jim]

Yup....no pictures.

[epiphyte]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Nice to see you post something again Carlos   You might  double check your picture links though, shows up as some sort of #/letter code for me, vs. more great images.

Looks like I can't edit the post.  I can see the pics on my laptop (where I'm signed in to Palmtalk) and on my phone (where I'm not signed in).  I use Chrome browser on both.  Which browser are you using?  

In my original post I copied and pasted the pics.  I'll try using the "choose files" method...

 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 minute ago, epiphyte said:

Looks like I can't edit the post.  I can see the pics on my laptop (where I'm signed in to Palmtalk) and on my phone (where I'm not signed in).  I use Chrome browser on both.  Which browser are you using?  

In my original post I copied and pasted the pics.  I'll try using the "choose files" method...

 

 

   That tree looks pretty sweet..  Use Firefox myself.  The " choose files " is definitely the easiest way to post pictures. ( have tried it the other way in the past )

I'll let  those a bit more experienced w/ these (  @Palm Tree Jim @Tracy, etc ) share their thoughts regarding attaching.. Sounds like it would look awesome though if it is do-able.

[Tracy]

20 hours ago, epiphyte said:

Before I answer your question Carlos, I want to observe that the cycad in question doesn't quite look like Cycas debaoensis to me.  It looks like a young Strangeria eriopus with those broad leaflets.  I would be reluctant to try Cycas debaoensis as an epiphyte for a few reasons.  First is that i would want to try with something a little more common as my cycad "guinea pig".  Second is that they tend to get long leaves, so without much to root into, I would worry about the torque on the caudex and roots.  Having it up high and exposed to wind without a substantial root system seems to be inviting trouble.  A more compact cycad that remains smaller would be my inclination to try.  Ironically, Strangeria doesn't get very large so would actually be a better candidate to try than C debaoensis imo.  Obviously Zamia furfuracea fits the bill as a less expensive "guinea pig".  I would think that some of the other Zamia's that grow well outdoors here might also be candidates such as integrifolia, inermis and loddigesii.  Just be prepared that it might not work and you can lose the plant.  As long as that is the mindset, I would say give it a try.  Keep us posted on how it works out.

On the Zamia pseudoparasitica, I agree, I think you would need a greenhouse here.  They have a nice one inside the new Conservator at former Quail Botanical Garden now "San Diego Botanical Garden" located not in San Diego, but here in Encinitas.  I still struggle with that name preferring the old moniker.

[Palm Tree Jim]

3 hours ago, Tracy said:

Before I answer your question Carlos, I want to observe that the cycad in question doesn't quite look like Cycas debaoensis to me.  It looks like a young Strangeria eriopus with those broad leaflets.  I would be reluctant to try Cycas debaoensis as an epiphyte for a few reasons.  First is that i would want to try with something a little more common as my cycad "guinea pig".  Second is that they tend to get long leaves, so without much to root into, I would worry about the torque on the caudex and roots.  Having it up high and exposed to wind without a substantial root system seems to be inviting trouble.  A more compact cycad that remains smaller would be my inclination to try.  Ironically, Strangeria doesn't get very large so would actually be a better candidate to try than C debaoensis imo.  Obviously Zamia furfuracea fits the bill as a less expensive "guinea pig".  I would think that some of the other Zamia's that grow well outdoors here might also be candidates such as integrifolia, inermis and loddigesii.  Just be prepared that it might not work and you can lose the plant.  As long as that is the mindset, I would say give it a try.  Keep us posted on how it works out.

On the Zamia pseudoparasitica, I agree, I think you would need a greenhouse here.  They have a nice one inside the new Conservator at former Quail Botanical Garden now "San Diego Botanical Garden" located not in San Diego, but here in Encinitas.  I still struggle with that name preferring the old moniker.

Great advice.

[epiphyte]

Tracy, thanks for the input.  Very interesting that the cycad might actually be Stangeria eriopus.  Never heard of it before.  It looks so much like a fern.  It isn't quite as appealing to me as debaoensis, so this would count as a Laban's trick, but not a very big one.  

That's an interesting question about whether the leaves of a mounted debaoensis would be disproportionate to its roots.  I have quite a few old Ficus in relatively small pots, and their leaves are relatively small as a result.  They are essentially bonsai'd.  

Around five years ago for fun I sowed some Echinocactus grusonii (Golden Barrel Cactus) seeds in a smallish Platycerium veitchii.  You can see a pic that I took last year.  When people see it their 1st reaction is to laugh and say that the cactus is going to get huge and fall.  But can the cactus really get huge?  I think the only way it can get huge is if the staghorn also gets huge.  My hope is that it will get huge by growing on the wall.  I think it's possible because a while back my friend showed me a huge bifurcatum growing on her neighbor's brick wall.  I was impressed.  But just like the wall looks so much better because it has a stag growing on it, the stag would look so much better if it had an orchid, cactus or cycad growing in it.