I was looking at the new flushes on my Encephalartos arenarius x woodii as they near there full size and realizing how much this cycad has grown since I planted it.  I searched for photos of when I got the plant as a 15 gallon and found the one below pictured still in the pot.  The photo was February 2011 and I planted it within weeks of the photo being taken.  7 years later one of the pups would dwarf the caudex of the original 15 gallon plant.  The third pup is now flushing 5 leaves, while the larger pup has pushed somewhere in the high teens of new leaves.  I'm optimistic that I'll actually live to see this be a large cycad at this rate.  Chalk one up for hybrid vigor !

Hybrid vigor indeed.

Great cycad!

looking nice

The bigger pup just came off, which gives an opportunity to see how big the caudex is on this big boy.  It's been another year of growth since the photos above.  I put a 5 gallon bucket in the hole where the pup was removed, to provide perspective on size.  It's chunky!

Did you remove the pup and pot it up?

39 minutes ago, Palm Tree Jim said:

Did you remove the pup and pot it up?

I did some arm twisting when buying the plant originally, as it wasn't for sale.  My final closing pitch was that I would be the custodian for the small pup that was on it until it was ready to be removed.  My custodial duties are completed, and the pup went to it's rightful owner.  It has been a win/win.  I got the daddy and enjoyed the pup all these years, and now the pup is big enough to establish and be a beautiful plant of it's own!

46 minutes ago, Palm Tree Jim said:

Did you remove the pup and pot it up?

The pup is substantial.  Here it is a couple of days before removal.

May I have the next pup, pretty please?!?

11 hours ago, branislav said:

May I have the next pup, pretty please?!?

It will be a while before I remove the small pups that are on it today, as in several years.  Maybe I will sell one, or maybe one of my sons will want one.  Time will tell but I'm not adopting anyone

Did you ever sell the pup?  I might buy it.

12 hours ago, Toddccc said:

Did you ever sell the pup?  I might buy it.

 

On 3/2/2019 at 10:12 AM, Tracy said:

I did some arm twisting when buying the plant originally, as it wasn't for sale.  My final closing pitch was that I would be the custodian for the small pup that was on it until it was ready to be removed.  My custodial duties are completed, and the pup went to it's rightful owner.

I have not removed any new pups at this time.  As mentioned above, that first pup went back to the person I bought the plant from originally, my custodial duties completed on that one.