Potting mix for Cycads

[Gbarce]

Any cycad experts out there?

What potting medium is best to use for Encephalartos seedlings?

What has worked well for you?

Thanks in advance.

[Kris]

Dear Gene  

i always prepare a soil mix for all my plants_palms,cycas,catcus,yuccos & agaves...here my soil mix is the same for all the plants and it has washed river sand predoniment..since when it starts to rain the humidity levels are pretty high due to coastal sea shore area..

And i have said what is in that soil mix before..& here is a still as to how it looks to the eye.

love,

Kris  

[freakypalmguy]

This is what I use. It seams to be high quality.

Ingredients: Canadian Sphagnum peat moss, coarse grade perlite, gypsum, Dolomitic lime, and a wetting agent.

Whatever you use, just make sure it is free draining. Cycads do not like to sit in water.

[Neofolis]

It may not apply, but I decided to experiment with different things for Cycas panzhihuaensis.  I had one seed in 100% perlite, one in 100% coco peat (coir) and one in 100% composted bark chips.  All germinated and are healthy 10+ leaved plants one year later in the same pots and medium as they started.  Of the three, the one in coir is a little slower than the other two, possibly because the coir holds a little too much moisture, but it may just be a slower individual.

In the past I have found my other cycads didn't like peat based composts or sand, hence my experiment, but then none of my cycads are Encephalartos, so they may be different.

[Jeff Searle]

It's one of those questions that you could have many different answers.And they could all be good ones. The main thing here is drainage. These plants love good drainage and lots of sun. I don't use a special mix for these plants because I grow very few of them. When I do, I add more sand and the larger size perlite to my existing mix. I'm sure some of the growers can add quite a bit to this.

Jeff

[palmmermaid]

Tom Broom or Dale Holton could defintely answer this question!  Dale has some of the most beautiful large cycads I've ever seen.  I don't know if he frequents this board but he is on the Yahoo palm groups.

[Gbarce]

I am planning on using this/

Basically lots of pea sized pumice stone and perlite (probably 90%)  and I mixed in some compost and charcoaled rice husks.

I also put some rocks at the bottom of the pot - waddaya think?  Would this drain too much?

[freakypalmguy]

I think that looks good Gene. I have bought many cycads that when I attempted to remove them from the pot to put in the ground, all the medium just fell away. Lots of perlite, pumice and rocks.

From what I understand they don't mind moisture but they just don't want to sit in a puddle of it.

Take care,

Matt

[cycadjungle]

I can tell you what I use, but if you live in another country, you probably can't get some of the products. You have the right idea (you don't need the rocks in the bottom) Your mix is mostly inorganic and drains well. You have a little organic material to make some chemistry work between the soil, fertilizer, and made active by water. I would try a couple of mixes. Do the one you show here, and maybe one that has about 20% organic. The key, like others have said is drainage, which you will have. The things to watch out for is what will happen to your organic material in the next year or so, and if it is going to get mucky over time, you will have to watch that and repot the cycads when the soil looks bad. Each mix will be different and the leangth of time it takes to go bad will vary. You also have to monitor your watering. You may have to water more often if your mix drains better than mine, as an example, but everything in this aspect of cultivation is a ratio. Water holding ability and compensating with water. You have to watch your plants closely and they will tell you if you have to water more often than your doing. Healthy, well grown cycads will hold their leaves for a longer period of time. As another example, I have grown E. ferox plants in the greenhouse that are 6 feet across and 4 feet tall, but still have every leaf on them still since they were 1 gallon plants. When you see more lower leaves going bad than they keep, you would probably need more water. Looks like a pretty good mix though in general.  Tom Broome

[Gbarce]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!! I will sleep better tonight.

Here's another question: If I have a Porous Medium and put a layer of compost at the top-- will the compost make its way down?

[Neofolis]

Going back to your question about too much drainage, I don't think that is possible.  My Macrozamia moorei is in a mix that drains so well, I pour 5 litres of water on it, it's only in about a 10 litre pot and at the end of pouring with an open spouted watering can, the water is about three inches above the medium, but the water is gone in about 2-3 seconds.  It holds almost no water, which mean I need to water every 1-2 days, but the plant seems to really like it and no danger of excessive salt build up.

What Tom said about media going bad is very important.  I switched from peat based composts because fast growing cycads end up with the roots compressing the mix to such a degree within a matter of months that all drainage and oxygenation is lost, even with a fairly low percentage of peat.  If you still with materials that are fibrous or open textured and don't adhere to each other than the mix with rise in the pot rather than becoming compressed and will therefore be usable for much longer.