Cycas Thouarsii

[Gary -]

Hi guys, I have a nice C. Thouarsii which is a very strong grower for me. Full sun, lots of water and fertiliser.

It has an amazing spread of coralloid roots which extend from the stem a few metres and pop up everywhere.

It coned late last year and is now flushing through the cone. Really cool plant. Love the dark green.

The fence in the background is seven foot tall for scale...

[Gary -]

One week later...

Inside the cone...

[Gary -]

New leaves emerging...

[Gary -]

Larger shot.

[Ben in Norcal]

Awesome. What size did you get this as, and how long in the ground?

[Kennybenjamin]

I assume you spray that plant for the dreaded blue moth Gary?? What do you use??

[Gary -]

Ben, i removed this cycad from my in-laws house in 2011. It was a very neglected plant, no care at all. It had about two foot of skinny trunk and about 10 leaves.

I transplanted it, and it just took off! The trunk is now fat and nearly 5 foot talland it flushes three times a year and cones once. It really seems to like fertiliser.

I would like to try some other cycas pollen next time it cones.I will have to see what i can get my hands on. I was thinking Debaoensis...

[Gary -]

Kenny, i don't really spray this cycad with much. I do have moths trying to get on just about everything i grow, but they don't seem to affect the Thouarsii ...yet...

[Ben in Norcal]

Ben, i removed this cycad from my in-laws house in 2011. It was a very neglected plant, no care at all. It had about two foot of skinny trunk and about 10 leaves.

I transplanted it, and it just took off! The trunk is now fat and nearly 5 foot talland it flushes three times a year and cones once. It really seems to like fertiliser.

I would like to try some other cycas pollen next time it cones.I will have to see what i can get my hands on. I was thinking Debaoensis...

Cool - I hope mine looks like that some day! I have one coming this weekend. Have to figure out how much sun to give it.

[George Sparkman]

Great looking plant Gary.

C.thouarsii x C.debaoensis would be a real good cross

[Mandrew968]

How do I tell thouarsii from rumphii? Do you guys get the white scale on Cycas like we do in South Florida, or does the cold keep it at bay?

[Gary -]

Ben, mine gets full sun for about 6 hours a day here, but perhaps more importantly, it also gets full sun all through winter.

Hi George. I have heard Thouarsii X Debaoensis is not a cross that will work. But i guess you don't know unless you try.

Andrew, i don't know the difference between those two. You can probably add Circinalis in there too. To me they all fall under the "thouarsii banner".

[Gary -]

As for scale, I have one C.Revoluta left which is covered in scale. It is resisting all treatments and will probably win. I believe there is a product called Crown 224 or something, which is supposed to be the stuff, but it is not available to the public, commercial only, and about $300 per litre.

[Pedro 65]

Beautiful looking Thouarsii Gary , mine need digging up and replanting in "full sun", thanks for the "Spur on" Pete

[Ben in Norcal]

Thanks for the info Gary!

[Kennybenjamin]

Kenny, i don't really spray this cycad with much. I do have moths trying to get on just about everything i grow, but they don't seem to affect the Thouarsii ...yet...

I find thouarsii to be one of the biggest magnets for the blue moth and your not far from me..... I will be very interested to know how it is next spring? I'd am amazed you don't find the moths a problem with it......... How about you Pedro... Moths like yours??

[Pedro 65]

Kenny, i don't really spray this cycad with much. I do have moths trying to get on just about everything i grow, but they don't seem to affect the Thouarsii ...yet...

I find thouarsii to be one of the biggest magnets for the blue moth and your not far from me..... I will be very interested to know how it is next spring? I'd am amazed you don't find the moths a problem with it......... How about you Pedro... Moths like yours??

Ben, the Thoarsii's here dont get attacked by larvae or moths. But, "when" we had C revolutas they got riddled with a larvae and I dont think it was from the blue cycad butterfly as I dont remember seeing them flying around in the gardens, but could have been, I spose it only takes a few to lay 1000s of eggs.

I had to look up the blue moth and the Pacsoa site shows its a native Butterfly that loves cycas sp.

Anyway, we dont have "any larvae" problems since I dug up "all" our revoluta's n burnt them ( and I dont miss them) I personally think the Revolutas are "responsible" for the "explosion" in the Blue Butterfly as they are "so so over planted" in Oz and until a reduction happens the Blue butterfly will keep soldiering on thats my thought anyway. Pete

PACSOA - Cycad Blue Butterfly

[Gary -]

Hi guys, I do get lots of those bloody blue butterflies around my cycads. They lay there eggs on everything, but the larvae seem to only eat the soft new leaves on my cycas.

Dioon, Encephalartos, Macrozamia and Zamia are not tasty enough i guess.

In my observations their preference is Revoluta, as it is so commonly planted, so a perfect food source for the young. But they also go after my C. Bouganvilleana, Debaoensis, and Cairnsiana unless i spray the new flush.

Pete, I know what you mean about Rev's, you don't see ANY nice ones in gardens around here anymore, in fact with the population being totally smashed by bugs and scale, i think in a few years having a healthy Revoluta will be a rare thing. It is an interesting cycle. I have removed all of mine except one, and i sometimes wonder why i keep it...

[Kennybenjamin]

I am in the process of removing my thouarsii after about 4 years in the ground.... I knew it was risky when I planted it but I thought I could make it work. I was wrong!!

Went great for 2 years and I loved it but due to the moths it requires more attention than I was able to give it.

My revoluta was removed 3 years ago for the exact same reason..... As a general rule I avoid cycas these days. Zamia, dioon and enceph are the way to go around these parts!

[Mandrew968]

How do I tell thouarsii from rumphii? Do you guys get the white scale on Cycas like we do in South Florida, or does the cold keep it at bay?

So no answer? How do we know this is a thouarsii and not rumphii? I am truly asking...

[LJG]

How do I tell thouarsii from rumphii? Do you guys get the white scale on Cycas like we do in South Florida, or does the cold keep it at bay?

So no answer? How do we know this is a thouarsii and not rumphii? I am truly asking...

Whole clade is almost impossible to tell difference. Here in SoCal in the drier air Thoursii has a dull colored leaf that can have a gray or bluish tint to the leaflets. Also the midrib and leaflet are flatter. Rumphii (going around as such) is usually shinny green leaflet and has a midrib that sticks up more. This is just what I have seen. Might be different for you.

[Gary -]

Andrew, i don't know the difference between those two. You can probably add Circinalis in there too. To me they all fall under the "thouarsii banner".

I guess mine is Thouarsii simply because Rumphii is a rarer plant in my area. I could be wrong though...

[Gary -]

From today beer can for scale

Edited February 14, 2015 by Gary -

[Gary -]

[Ben in Norcal]

Awesome specimen, Gary

[Geoff]

There is a large cold tolerance variation in my experience between thouarsii and rumphii (aka circinalis) at least in my area… all larger cycads are rumphii/circinalis since they have survived deep freezes while thouarsii, unless planted under substantial canopy, do not make it through such events… or at least get pretty badly damaged. My own thouarsii was defoliated nearly every winter, while my circinalis/rumphii was untouched.

[Kailua_Krish]

Its funny that this (Queen Sago) is such a common landscape species but due to the scale infestation they are difficult to find for purchase anymore. I'd like to get a few to try in North Florida but haven't run across them so far!

[Sim01]

Ben, mine gets full sun for about 6 hours a day here, but perhaps more importantly, it also gets full sun all through winter.

Hi George. I have heard Thouarsii X Debaoensis is not a cross that will work. But i guess you don't know unless you try.

Andrew, i don't know the difference between those two. You can probably add Circinalis in there too. To me they all fall under the "thouarsii banner".

Why wouldn't they cross? There are hybrids of thouarsii with various blue australian species and debaoensis has been crossed with revoluta, so I think a debaoensis and thouarsii cross is possible. That could make a true giant with splitting leaflets, old debaoensis having a huge crown span.

[Tracy]

On 2/13/2015, 5:07:43, LJG said:

Whole clade is almost impossible to tell difference. Here in SoCal in the drier air Thoursii has a dull colored leaf that can have a gray or bluish tint to the leaflets. Also the midrib and leaflet are flatter. Rumphii (going around as such) is usually shinny green leaflet and has a midrib that sticks up more. This is just what I have seen. Might be different for you.

 

On 2/15/2015, 7:56:22, Geoff said:

There is a large cold tolerance variation in my experience between thouarsii and rumphii (aka circinalis) at least in my area… all larger cycads are rumphii/circinalis since they have survived deep freezes while thouarsii, unless planted under substantial canopy, do not make it through such events… or at least get pretty badly damaged. My own thouarsii was defoliated nearly every winter, while my circinalis/rumphii was untouched.

Interesting distinctions, because I often struggle with differentiating these when I see them, even when someone is telling me which is which.  My experience with C thouarsii is they do fine along the coastal areas of Southern California in full exposure, with the only problems being flushes in the dead of winter.  The one below did fine because it decided to push seeds this winter rather than a flush.  This little guy I got as a seedling, and dropped it into my Carlsbad front yard about a year after I had planted it up to a 5 gallon.  I'm guessing I put in the ground around 2009.