Cycad cones and flushes

[DippyD]

There’s some cones, there is some flushes but people often ask how do i propagate suckers/offsets or how do i pollinate a cone, how do i know when it’s ready etc….. today i removed a couple nice offsets from one of my female E. Dyerianus plants. A fairly easy process depending on plant location and soil. These happen to be in easy digging soil. I removed the excess dirt around the area of the offset. Today my tools consisted of a hammer and crowbar. Simply placed the crowbar between the offset and main stem and a couple love taps later we have a beautifully removed female dyerianus sucker. I treat these in a fungicide and add a rooting powder to the exposed areas on the offset. Place in perlite or pumice and give it a good water in. Sit back and wait for your roots to grow…. 

[Dan64]

Dioon edule,  “Palma Sola” pushing up its first

 Encephalartos cerinus with a new frond

 

[Tracy]

55 minutes ago, Dan64 said:

Dioon edule,  “Palma Sola” pushing up its first

 Encephalartos cerinus with a new frond

 

I am a little suspicious about the identity of your Encephalartos cerinus based on the relative width to length of the leaflets.   I don't recall mine at that age and whether wider leaflets are just a juvenile trait, so I could be wrong. 

My boy has had a little green tip poking out, threatening to flush for about a month.  No changes thus far though.  You can see the leaflets are relatively narrow in the leaf photo.

[Dan64]

It’s a juvenile thing 😁 I totally trust the place I got it from

[Dan64]

1 hour ago, Tracy said:

I am a little suspicious about the identity of your Encephalartos cerinus based on the relative width to length of the leaflets.   I don't recall mine at that age and whether wider leaflets are just a juvenile trait, so I could be wrong. 

My boy has had a little green tip poking out, threatening to flush for about a month.  No changes thus far though.  You can see the leaflets are relatively narrow in the leaf photo.

Here is a really big adult female at Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach 

 

[Tracy]

The offset on the main caudices is flushing.  It is like a wort on the otherwise perfectly symmetrical main plant.   Perhaps I should see it ss a beauty mark instead?  A chunky monkey Encephalartos longifolius male.

[Urban Rainforest]

I can see how this Cycas Siamensis “Silver form” got its name. I wish the leaves would stay silver like this but they usually start turning green in a few days after this stage.

[GeneAZ]

On 4/17/2026 at 5:28 PM, Tracy said:

When I planted the two (another a few plants down the wall), I realized that it could be a temporary planting due to the ultimate size.  I'm just enjoying them while I can.  I still have a few inches between the footing of the wall and the edge of the plant, so still some room before they cause a problem.

Speaking of big green cycads, my wife actually likes the Encephalartos laurentianus on the other side of the wall best.  She isn't a fan of getting poked by my cycads, so that says a great deal.

One of my favorite greens is starting to flush now.  It will never be as giant as the Encephalartos ituriensis, but with time, it can get big.

Beautifully lustrous!!

[bubba]

These Dioon's are becoming more interesting to me:

[bubba]

[Merlyn]

@DippyD do you find that prying is better than slicing with a knife or sharp saw?  I have some offsets on a Cycas Multipinnata, a Whitelockii, and a couple of others that I'd like to separate and pot up.  Any suggestions on a fungicide for the cut, like sulfur powder or another?

[Tracy]

This Lepidozamia peroffskyana male is coning again.  Last year it skipped flushing and pushed 2 cones too.  It is ironic that when cycads are small, welcome forward to that first cone on a plant.  At this point I would prefer a flush over another pair of cones on this particular plant.  I have a Ceratozamia that pushed back to back cones and she is just showing a flush.  Perhaps it read my mind that coning without flushing could lead to liquidation?

[Gallop]

Ceratozamia zaragozae x hildae