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

 

[DippyD]

4 hours ago, Merlyn said:

@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?

I would say a slice is cleaner than a pry. Every situation is a little different. The cleaner and smaller surface area you can disturb the better. I’ve seen guys use all sorts of different sealants/fingicides. Even quickrete… 

[Billeb]

Couple more coming in. Encephalartos Green Arenarius is always a great grower for me.  Encephalartos Princeps from another grower is the 2nd. 
 

-dale 

 

[GeneAZ]

This is my old F1 woodii x natalensis I got from Cynthia Giddy who made it in SA.  My cycad log says 1985 acquired for $60.  Cynthia was visiting Hermione Stover in California and brought with her hundreds of these bare rooted in bundles of 3, like cigars.  All had been treated with her signature petroleum dip, so they largely failed.  Mine I washed off and soaked and rinsed many, many times, but it still smelled of petroleum.

Well, here's the plant today with 3+ feet of trunk growing 20 leaves.  You'll notice the characteristic folded- hands leaflets among the lowest leaf bases -- a trait directly brought from pure woodii.

 

[GeneAZ]

I can never grow it in enough proper sun in Arizona due to the summer heat and other harsh factors.  So it's never at its best for me even growing in strong light, but dappled shade.

[Merlyn]

5 hours ago, GeneAZ said:

I can never grow it in enough proper sun in Arizona due to the summer heat and other harsh factors.  So it's never at its best for me even growing in strong light, but dappled shade.

I have the same problem here in Central FL.  I failed with several Transvenosus, Natalensis and at least two NatWoodi F1 seedlings.  In full sun they'd just wither and die, either after winter frosts or in mid to late summer after our typical May and October hot droughts.  It wasn't until talking to Neil in Cocoa Beach that I tried part to full shade.  He has a coning sized F2 that looks amazing...in some AM sun and consistent PM shade.  It hasn't coned yet, to my knowledge.  After that I planted an F1 on the East side of my house with a big Arenga Pinnata for shade, and a couple of big Nat seedlings in similar spots under a Butia or trunking Revoluta.  They have all done great for the past 3 or 4 years.

[Tracy]

6 hours ago, GeneAZ said:

This is my old F1 woodii x natalensis I got from Cynthia Giddy who made it in SA.  My cycad log says 1985 acquired for $60. 

$60.00 was a significant amount for a bareroot small plant back in 1985 even though it sounds like a bargain for an E natalensis x woodii.  It is a beauty and I'm curious if it pups much?  

My F1 horridus x woodii female is probably around 25 years old based on its size when I got it,  It has one large pup, and two or three newer small pups, one of which is just beginning a flush.   It thrives in the full coastal sun, even though it has become more filtered at times during the day as my palms have grown.  I have 2 more seedlings of backcrosses of male and female F1 horridus x woodii, and the one in the ground in full sun is just pushing out flushes off to the side of the main flush, so it appears that one will have 3 caudices from a very young age.

The main caudex on the older plant is clearly showing that it will flush as opposed to cone again; she's taking a little rest after pushing out 3 cones last year.  I'm ok if she just gives me a nice big flush this spring.  Here is the flushing pup, and main caudex but you can't see the flush about to emerge from the main caudex.

 

[DippyD]

Smaller F2 natwood sending out a few new ones. I’ll take a couple update photos of the larger ones tomorrow along with some f2 trans woods. 

[DippyD]

Eugene 

[DippyD]

Took some pics of the LARGER F2s. What’s crazy is i planted some out immediately and some remained in pots until last year. I think i have 1 left in a pot which essentially is just being stunted/bonsai’d. The growth on these things are completely insane! Some of the newer leafs are 5-6’ long 

[Tracy]

15 minutes ago, DippyD said:

Took some pics of the LARGER F2s. What’s crazy is i planted some out immediately and some remained in pots until last year. I think i have 1 left in a pot which essentially is just being stunted/bonsai’d. The growth on these things are completely insane! Some of the newer leafs are 5-6’ long 

Are these photos the f2 nat ×  woodii or the f2 trans × woodii?  

[bubba]

[bubba]

[Billeb]

Encephalartos “Cleopatra” pushing 7 leaves. This is a cross between Arenarius x Horridus has about an 4-5” caudex and is a really good grower for me. Very blue, fast grower and no fuss….whats not to like. 
 

-dale 

 

[Urban Rainforest]

We have had a flurry of flushes lately! The kind of thing you would expect to see mid June. Here are just a few. This pue strain Arenarius has a caudex the size of a basketball and I thought it was going to cone this year but it just threw a big flush instead.

[Urban Rainforest]

E.  Lehmannii throwing a good one. Looks like 20 leaves give or take.

[Urban Rainforest]

2 of my big Eugene’s just flushed. They usually dont flush for me until about Aug. or Sept.

[Urban Rainforest]

This is my completely spineless Trispinosus. It has very long needle like leaflets. Sorry for the bad pic but it was buried in a sea of 15 gals. I did’nt feel like moving🤣

[Urban Rainforest]

This one is E. Arenarius x Latifrons. I harvested a pup about 3 years ago you can see behind it and there is another pup on it right now. All 3 flushed at the same time almost like they were talking to each other and said LETS GOOOO!!

[Urban Rainforest]

Last but not least my favorite Cycad Trappes valley Latifrons. This is my second biggest at 5” and has thrown every single year since I bought it as a seedling! This one has very stacked leaves.