Earlier this year my male Zamia furfuracea was looking sorrier and sicker. It is a FL native and I thought it should be an easy grow. It's been fertilized along with the palms and hand watered at least once a week during dry season at its little plot in full sun on our garden lot. Still it looked like the next few photos and I felt like a total failure when I couldn't figure out what ailed it.

Unhappy Zamia furfuracea in Feb. 2013

We decided to dig it up and put a silk floss tree in its spot. I potted my sick cycad in 3g and placed it on the western side of the house where it got late afternoon sun, then hit it with fertilizer with micros. I cut off the yellow leaves and left it alone. In the last 6 months it had a rebirth, put out new green leaves and outgrew its pot. This week I moved it up a pot size.

Happy Zamia furfuracea in Aug 2013

I'd like to plant it again on my garden lot but am almost afraid to. The lot is calcareous sand, shell and rock devoid of nutrients but I'm working to change that with mulch and targeted fertilizations. Anyone have suggestions?

Put de lime in de coconut and plant that baby.

If it looks so nice now, why mess with success? Sorry for such a glib answer, but often the problem that affects a plant in the landscape is not that strait forward, or that global....sometimes sticking to success is the best answer, at least for the time being.:-)

It seems like it has been getting too much sun and not enough water at its spot in the ground. Lack of water is the usual problem with Zamia sp. in the landscape as they seem to be slow to spread their roots deep and wide enough to satisfy their water needs and therefore require frequent irrigation. At least this has been my experience with growing Zamia sp. in the ground(i am growing Zamia standleyi and Zamia hamannii in the ground and of course many more species potted and waiting to be ground planted),they dont grow and even lose their leafs unless watered very well at least every 3 days. Furthermore,Zamia furfuracea and most Zamia sp. look much better in partial shade. My advise would be to plant it in a shaded area with good and well draining soil that is kept moist with regular watering. Such an area could be near the base of a palm or tree,among other water needy understory plantings,where it would only get morning or little afternoon sun. Full shade would also be fine but it would grow slower there and flush more infrequently.

Happy growing it!

Thanks, Rusty and Kostas. My husband suspected just what you guys indicated. I've never seen one of them in the wild so I really don't know what they like. The ones I see in landscapes seem to be in full sun so I made the bad assumption mine wanted the same. For now, I am returning it to its mostly shaded spot on the west side of the house so it can continue to prosper in its larger pot. It should be OK till next spring. I've grown rather fond of it after all the woes I put it through.

I thought Z. furfuracea was native to central America, not Florida?

On 31 de agosto de 2013, 18:22:01, PalmatierMeg said:

Thanks, Rusty and Kostas. My husband suspected just what you guys indicated. I've never seen one of them in the wild so I really don't know what they like. The ones I see in landscapes seem to be in full sun so I made the bad assumption mine wanted the same. For now, I am returning it to its mostly shaded spot on the west side of the house so it can continue to prosper in its larger pot. It should be OK till next spring. I've grown rather fond of it after all the woes I put it through.

Bump 

Any available update Meg, please?

Rafael, I took these photos this morning. My Zamia has been doing well. It gets a bit of morning sun but the Livistona decora in front of it protects it from the merciless afternoon sun. It's flushing some new leaves. They are very common landscape cycads around here but I like it.

Thank you Meg  those are for sure beautifull cycads and i am about to begin growing this sp, after the macrozamia, cycas circinalis and dioon spinulosum! 

20 hours ago, Rafael said:

Thank you Meg  those are for sure beautifull cycads and i am about to begin growing this sp, after the macrozamia, cycas circinalis and dioon spinulosum! 

Glad to hear it. This Zamia is so common in FL that it doesn't get much respect or love - kind of like Sabals.

Not so common here, except in some botanical collections.

they are impressively beautifull cycads 

It is actually native to Mexico. It is also a very aggressive grower here in S. Florida.I pull them up by the hundreds here in S. Florida.

On 4 de maio de 2016, 23:10:56, MAPU 1 said:

It is actually native to Mexico. It is also a very aggressive grower here in S. Florida.I pull them up by the hundreds here in S. Florida.

 wow, almost like a weed.... 

On 5/6/2016, 6:45:08, Rafael said:

 wow, almost like a weed.... 

Definitely like a weed. 

1 hour ago, Mandrew968 said:

Definitely like a weed. 

Well, at least chamaerops humilis are weeds here 

i am paying for a small zamia furfuracea seedling from the Canary Islands 

On 5/13/2016, 7:54:11, Rafael said:

Well, at least chamaerops humilis are weeds here 

i am paying for a small zamia furfuracea seedling from the Canary Islands 

I would gladly trade weeds with you