Transplanting cycads

[frankcar1965]

Is it always necessary to remove all the leaves when transplanting even small cycads?  I have several small cycads that I need to take with me when I move.  They have caudexes about 12 in in circumference which is about 4 to 5 in diameter roughly. They have a good number of leaves.  I know big ones have to have the leaves completely removed. But what about the small ones? Thanks

[Scott W]

If anything I'd thin it down to one set.  However, if you can get the majority of the roots when digging it there probably wonts be a need to remove any on one that size.

[Palm Tree Jim]

No need at all if you get a large rootball and not damage the taproot, which should be very easy to do with a cycad this small.

[Merlyn]

Generally I remove old leaves down to the most recent flush, like Scott said.  On small ones you might not need to do anything, assuming you can get a big chunk of roots.  As an example, I moved a Cycas Rev x Deb from the backyard to the front yard last fall.  I just took my shovel and sliced down in about a 3g pot-sized cylinder around it, scooped it out of the ground, and carried it to the front.  It kept growing like nothing had happened, and flushed about a month later.  If you can do that with your plants, then I'd probably keep the leaves.  The oldest leaves might die off during the first month after potting them up.  Just avoid damaging the caudex-to-tap root area by hitting it or bending it too much.

[Tracy]

19 hours ago, frankcar1965 said:

Is it always necessary to remove all the leaves when transplanting even small cycads?  I have several small cycads that I need to take with me when I move.  They have caudexes about 12 in in circumference which is about 4 to 5 in diameter roughly.

12" circumference = 2 * pi * radius implies radius = 12/(2 * pi) or 1.91 radius = 3.82" diameter.  Just out of curiosity, which genus/species are you going to be transplanting?  Advice above from others makes sense about not needing to remove much if any foliage at this size before removing as long as you get the entire main root system.  If the main leaves are very long, and might cause difficulty in handling the plant and rootball, the advice changes.  That is a primary reason for removing leaves on larger specimens, is that they are just unwieldy with long leaves on and bending them at the caudex just causes additional stress.  With pup removal it is that you want the focus to be on developing roots after they are removed, not focused on pumping energy into supporting foliage.  With pup removal, you are doing some damage to the root system, unlike when you are just digging a plant if you can get the entire rootball.  Good luck with the project.