Macrozamia Macdonnellii seedling, dig it out?

[Cycadsavy]

Team,

Please see below, very young MacD seedling, leaf appears healthy, base dried up to some degree.  Do you think I should leave it be, repot, or do you think it’s a lost cause.  It’s currently potted in a 75/25 inorganic/organic mix.  

Thank you,

Nick

[Tom in Tucson]

If this was mine, I would do 6 things:

Remove it from the soil. Spray, or dust it with a fungicide. Let it lie dormant in the shade for a few days. Re-pot it in a soil composed of half to 3/4 pumice, and the rest shredded (and rinsed) coir. Drench it with distilled water, and keep it warm in half shade. Finally wait and see what happens in a few weeks to months.

I hope you get even better advice than mine. Good luck with this valuable species.

Hi 93°, Lo 62°

[GeneAZ]

Could you expose an inch more of soil so we can see the growth point?  It may be fine as is.  I suspect that leaf got bent or kinked in shipping or wind or something.  In any event, the upper leaf doesn't appear to have any scary symptoms from what I can see.  Just gently pull some soil away from the stem so we can see the meristem condition.

[Cycadsavy]

25 minutes ago, GeneAZ said:

Could you expose an inch more of soil so we can see the growth point?  It may be fine as is.  I suspect that leaf got bent or kinked in shipping or wind or something.  In any event, the upper leaf doesn't appear to have any scary symptoms from what I can see.  Just gently pull some soil away from the stem so we can see the meristem condition.

I ended up pulling the entire seedling.  The bottom quarter had rotted, so I cut away 100% of the rotted tissue.  The top 2/3rds of the seedling was healthy.  I soaked in some Captan fungicide, let dry, dipped in growth hormone, and potted it in an airpot in 100% pumice.

We’ll see how it goes…..

[tropicbreeze]

You need to keep in mind Macrozamia macdonnellii is a desert plant. Treated as an ordinary garden plant it's going to rot.

I've posted photos of it in habitat, it'll give you an idea of the environment it likes.

www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/81352-macrozamia-macdonnellii-in-habitat/

[Cycadsavy]

8 hours ago, tropicbreeze said:

You need to keep in mind Macrozamia macdonnellii is a desert plant. Treated as an ordinary garden plant it's going to rot.

I've posted photos of it in habitat, it'll give you an idea of the environment it likes.

www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/81352-macrozamia-macdonnellii-in-habitat/

Thank you Zig,

Gorgeous photos and they really put in perspective as far as how dry the environment needs to be for this species.  I’ll reference these whenever I have the urge to water prematurely!

Thank you,

Nick 

[Tom in Tucson]

21 hours ago, tropicbreeze said:

You need to keep in mind Macrozamia macdonnellii is a desert plant. Treated as an ordinary garden plant it's going to rot.

I've posted photos of it in habitat, it'll give you an idea of the environment it likes.

www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/81352-macrozamia-macdonnellii-in-habitat/

I'm not a cycad expert.

Here are some of the locations where this species has done well:

New Zealand 25-400 cm rainfall/year

Hilo Hawaii 156 in rainfall/year

Nong Nooch Tropical Garden 54 in rainfall/year

When I was researching the cultural requirements of this species, I found that aridity was not a requirement. It seems that this species is a relict from a time when the continent had more rainfall in the central region. If you look at many of the photos of it in it's natural habitat, a couple of conditions are clear:

It normally does best with some shade

It is rarely found far from seasonal stream beds

Temperatures it is known to survive:

USDA zone 9b and higher

Like many Australian species the leaves can withstand periodic wild fires. This has led some growers to assume that even after severe freezes, the leaves can regrow, but I can't confirm this.

Hi 91°, Lo 54°

 

[Tom in Tucson]

Addendum to my last post:

I'll report back with the results of my postulation above.

Here are 2 from Ice Blue Cycads Nursery that I just received Wednesday;

 

Larger image: https://pbase.com/mamman/image/174126493

Select original for full resolution

Hi 75°, Lo 43° Nov 10

Edited November 11, 2023 by Tom in Tucson

[Cycadsavy]

Wow! Those look like some super healthy MacD’s!  The one on the right is a little beast.  I’ve purchased several seedlings and plants from Joel at Ice Blue Cycads, he seems to sell solid, healthy, strong Cycads with high chances of survival….  Some other online retailers, not so much sometimes.  My thoughts are that some retailers sell them a bit too quickly after germination, not letting them mature enough to deal with bare rooting, air shipping, repotting, etc.

Good luck Tom, thank you for sharing,

Nick,

[Tom in Tucson]

6 hours ago, Cycadsavy said:

Wow! Those look like some super healthy MacD’s!  The one on the right is a little beast.  I’ve purchased several seedlings and plants from Joel at Ice Blue Cycads, he seems to sell solid, healthy, strong Cycads with high chances of survival….  Some other online retailers, not so much sometimes.  My thoughts are that some retailers sell them a bit too quickly after germination, not letting them mature enough to deal with bare rooting, air shipping, repotting, etc.

Good luck Tom, thank you for sharing,

Nick,

In the last few months I've purchased a total of 6 cycads from this dealer. All of them have had root systems that were so large, they were difficult to pot up. His packing technique is unique and so far successful.

Although he obviously caters to the local SoCal market by selling primarily species of Encephalartos, he has a few other genera (also some interesting hybrids) to choose from.

As I'm just starting to get "my feet wet" collecting these palm look-a-likes, I feel as if I'm starting to get hopelessly hooked. 🌴

Hi 82°, Lo 46°

[Brian]

On 11/11/2023 at 9:52 PM, Tom in Tucson said:

As I'm just starting to get "my feet wet" collecting these palm look-a-likes, I feel as if I'm starting to get hopelessly hooked. 🌴

 

Happened to me too. Im sure its happened to lots of other on this forum also. 

[Cycadsavy]

Four months later…..

Rotted root cut away, planted in 80% perlite/pumice and 20% chunk coco coir, watered once every two weeks, under heavy grow light, it lives…