what to do about oversized sago palm?

[DougL]

OK, I have an oversized sago palm. The "trunk" above the soil is about a foot or two long, with healthy fronds coming out of the top. Getting top-heavy. I'd like to do a major pruning to get rid of most of that trunk. It's getting too big for the container that it's in.  Can I just slice through the trunk and shove the top of the plant in soil with the lower leaves at the soil surface? Will it reroot? That is, how can I knock this thing down to a manageable size? Otherwise, I am forced to just dump the whole thing, and replant pups.

[John2468]

Sago palms will not grow from a trunk cutting, the most you can do is grow from pups or possibly trade it for a smaller one at a nursery if they allow.

[DougL]

Thank you. That's what I was afraid of. I may just remove the plant from the too-small container it is in, and plant it out in the ground, and then just allow pups to reestablish a palm in the container.

[SeanK]

14 hours ago, DougL said:

Thank you. That's what I was afraid of. I may just remove the plant from the too-small container it is in, and plant it out in the ground, and then just allow pups to reestablish a palm in the container.

Good Idea. Just plant it dry enough so there's no trunk rot a couple years down the road.

[meridannight]

Cycas revoluta with 1-2 ft trunk is worth several times more than a trunkless plant. It takes decades for these plants to grow a trunk. If you can't appreciate that then it's best to sell your plant to someone who can. And buy a smaller one with the money.