Encephalartos Laurentianus

[Gtlevine]

I am considering purchasing this Cycad. Has anyone tried one of these in So Cal? I'm wondering how well these will do in our cooler climate.

Gary

[Jeff Searle]

Gary,

    I don't live at in Cali. so I don't have first hand experiences. But I do have one growing here in South Florida and it has taken low 30's before. I think your safe.

Jeff

[Fouquieria]

Give it a try Gary.  The seedlings are quite pricey though.  If you like the huge, palm-like jungle cycads you might also want to consider Encephalartos ituriensis.

-Ron-

[Carlo Morici]

My feeling is that E.laurentianus likes cool days (22-25 C) more than hot (30-32 C). There is an old large specimen (>100 years old) in the Jardín Botánico de Aclimatación de La Orotava, on the Northern coast of Tenerife. It is quite cool there and even there it rests in hot weather and wait for late fall to produce new leaves.

Here is its crown, flushing in early December. It is taller and larger than it looks in the picture.

The seedlings don't "flush", they produce new leaves one by one. They are fast, compared to the "average" Encephalartos. Here their growth is almost continuous throughot the year, with a stop in the peak of winter and a stop in summer. Be careful: the wind can take the leaflets off and leave the bare rachis!

Carlo, Tenerife

[Gtlevine]

Carlo, can you tell me what the hi and low temperatures are where the cycad is growing?

Gary

[Carlo Morici]

Possibly the yearly/historical minimum is 7 or 8 C. But it is cool anyway, with just 18 C of average annual temperature, surely less than So. California. Some friends grew a lot of seedlings in La Laguna, which is even colder, at 600 m asl, and there it can go down to 2 or 4 C. There are a few old plants outdoors in Malaga (So.Spain), which is frostless but... cold too.

[tropicalb]

Go for it Gary...

[Cycadcenter]

Gary,

I only have smaller plants here in Fallbrook and they toasted at 30 last week.

As someone else mentioned due to their very upright nature they are VERY susceptible to wind damage.  What happens is the leaf bases become weak and then the rot sets in and the next thing you know the leaves are flat on the ground and the plant is dead.

I think that whitelockii is the hardiest of the Central African large cycads.

Hope this helps or hinders....

[jdapalms]

I have planted several of these in Fallbrook and I may have one left alive and it is not growing how it should. Encephalartos laurentianus prefers a warmer climate. There are microclimates that this plant will tolerate in Southrn Calif. I have seen a few that do look good but for the money why take a chance. Plant  E whitelockii instead.

Jerry

[Gtlevine]

Thanks everyone, I think I will pass.

Gary