Cycad Suggestions

[ahosey01]

Now that the yard is about three years old, I'm starting get some canopy and areas where there is respite from the ridiculous low desert summer sun.

I think that means I can start growing cycads.  The obvious one here is Cycas revoluta.  What are other hardy cycads?  I know so little about this plant family.  Looking for something that could survive (even if not look good at all) a quick morning desert drop to 15F in the event we hit record-low-territory ever again.  Don't wanna grow something that takes forever and fall in love with it and then have it get killed in a decade after having put so much work into it because some kind of 100-year freeze hits.  Normal winter lows are 27F-35F, normal winter highs are 65F-80F.  Zone 9A.

Thanks!

[Tracy]

4 hours ago, ahosey01 said:

Looking for something that could survive (even if not look good at all) a quick morning desert drop to 15F in the event we hit record-low-territory ever again.  Don't wanna grow something that takes forever and fall in love with it and then have it get killed in a decade after having put so much work into it

Therein lies the dilemma, and you need something that can handle the high desert summer temps on the opposite end of the spectrum.  I think you need to consider what you could do to protect something from a 15F event, and I'm not sure what that time duration is when you say a morning desert drop to 15F.  I think your fellow Arizonan's are the best source of advice.  As far as some of the more cold hardy species of cycads Dioon edule and Cycas panzhihauensis might be additional candidates.  Local advice is the best for extreme temps like that as cold tolerance also depends on whether the plant is dry or wet (generally drier with cold is better).  Hopefully you can get specific advice from those with experience in similar climate zones.

[ahosey01]

34 minutes ago, Tracy said:

Therein lies the dilemma, and you need something that can handle the high desert summer temps on the opposite end of the spectrum.  I think you need to consider what you could do to protect something from a 15F event, and I'm not sure what that time duration is when you say a morning desert drop to 15F.  I think your fellow Arizonan's are the best source of advice.  As far as some of the more cold hardy species of cycads Dioon edule and Cycas panzhihauensis might be additional candidates.  Local advice is the best for extreme temps like that as cold tolerance also depends on whether the plant is dry or wet (generally drier with cold is better).  Hopefully you can get specific advice from those with experience in similar climate zones.

This is a good start.

If we ever hit a low that cold, I imagine it's below freezing for 12 hours and below 20 for 3 or 4.  The lowest daytime high in recorded history at the weather station near me was 44, so it always warms up during the day.  Lowest low in the last 20 years was 18F in 2007.

I find that I'm in a unique spot in the desert at the elevation (2300ft) we're at.  Though temps are almost Phoenix-level during the day (maybe 1-2F cooler), they ALWAYS cool way off at night.  Two days ago, for example, it was 102F.  That night, my wife and I went outside on the back porch to read a book together around 10PM and realized we both needed hoodies.  Things that suffer heat stress in Palm Springs or Phoenix or even Vegas tend to have a better time around here.

[Merlyn]

Some of the hybrid Cycas are probably worth a shot, and they grow pretty quick.  Cycas Panz x Deb, Revoluta x Deb, Taitungensis x Deb, Panz x Tait, and others are all known to be hardy into the upper teens.  Guizhouensis is another sub-20F Cycas.  Ceratozamia Hildae is supposed to be a 10-12F hardy plant, which is really astounding.  Some of the other Ceratozamia are hardy into the mid teens, like Kuesteriana, Mexicana, Microstrobila, Tamasunchale, Latifolia and maybe some others. 

Dioon Edule is supposed to handle ~19F okay, but 15F for any significant length of time might kill the caudex.  Several other Dioon are good to the low 20s, but not into the teens.

Encephalartos is mostly lower 20s, like 22-24F hardiness.  "Freddy G" aka Encephalartos Friderici Guilielmi is supposed to maybe handle 19F? 

I'd do some searches on here for damage reports, especially by TCHP.  He had a whole ton of plants out during the Snowpocalypse or Palmageddon, and had some really interesting survivors and deaths.

[edbrown_III]

in North Florida see above --- many Dioons including D. mejaie ,  Encephalartos ---- you get leaf burn etc but they come back ---- if you are true 9A you will stay above 20 ---- we are 9A but it has gotten down to the teens a few times and maybe 12 F here in 85---- good thing about cycads is you can throw a bucket over en and plastic and keep them warm easilty and they will survive . typically the caudexes are low to the ground so even in low freezes --- the freezes dont penetrate to the ground but are a bit higher .

 

I would say go for it 

 

 

Ed

[Merlyn]

That's a good point @edbrown_III, there is a big difference between "frond damage" and "caudex death."  I've seen several people succeed on the East coast even up to SC with Edule by covering the caudex on cold fronts.  If the caudex doesn't turn to mush then it'll eventually flush out in the spring.  Case in point: I am still waiting for a pair of Cycas Litoralis and an Encephalartos (Altensteinii x Woodii) x Arenarius to flush out.  They got defoliated at 24-26F along with several others like a Natalensis x Woodii, a small Kisambo, two Sclavoi, and an Altensteinii x Trispinosus.  Most of the others have put out one to three small fronds, and will probably follow up with a bigger flush in the summer.  On a "normal" winter they'd be okay, but they got defoliated with the heavy frost and cold. 

[96720]

Just because a cycad might survive the cold our desert sun and heat are hard on them the only one I have had much luck with is the sago !!