Encephalartos Crosses

[Sabal Steve]

I’m new to cycads.  
 

Probably won’t have room to plant all of these.  Most of these are hybrids.  Will probably plant the big  E. Arenarus, soon.  
 

Was curious is anyone had tried these crosses, or anything similar?   I’m thinking about planting maybe 3-4 for the time being.  
 

Recommendations?

I think I got the tags right.

E. Arenarus

E. Lehmanii x (blue) E. Longifolious

E. Middelburgiensis x Dyerianus x (back crossed) Dyerianus

E. Munchii 

E. Horrida 

E. Horrida x E Arenarus

Giant Nubimontanus x Spiny Cupidis

[Sabal Steve]

I also have a Dioon Edule to plant.  Not sure which form.  Got a little sunburnt, so I’ll probably acclimate it and plant it next year.  
 

[Tracy]

9 hours ago, Sabal Steve said:

I’m new to cycads.  
 

Probably won’t have room to plant all of these.  Most of these are hybrids.  Will probably plant the big  E. Arenarus, soon.  
 

Was curious is anyone had tried these crosses, or anything similar?   I’m thinking about planting maybe 3-4 for the time being.  
 

Recommendations?

I think I got the tags right.

E. Arenarus

E. Lehmanii x (blue) E. Longifolious

E. Middelburgiensis x Dyerianus x (back crossed) Dyerianus

E. Munchii 

E. Horrida 

E. Horrida x E Arenarus

Giant Nubimontanus x Spiny Cupidis

I have species versions of almost everything you have in these hybrids.   All will be attractive plants and probably will grow a little faster because they are hybrids.   My advice is to give them sufficient setbacks from walkways since many will grow large.  The nubimontanus × cupidus may be a vigorous pupper since both I have as species are heavy puppers. 

Which to select to plant now?  You already are inclined to plant the arenarius so go for it.  Other than that,  just go with the ones that your eye likes best and enjoy. 

[Sabal Steve]

3 hours ago, Tracy said:

I have species versions of almost everything you have in these hybrids.   All will be attractive plants and probably will grow a little faster because they are hybrids.   My advice is to give them sufficient setbacks from walkways since many will grow large.  The nubimontanus × cupidus may be a vigorous pupper since both I have as species are heavy puppers. 

Which to select to plant now?  You already are inclined to plant the arenarius so go for it.  Other than that,  just go with the ones that your eye likes best and enjoy. 

Thank you, Tracy

Your Cycad collection (and garden overall) is quite impressive.

[Merlyn]

@Sabal Steve fortunately all of them will grow fine in a pot, realistically forever.  So don't feel like you *must* plant one asap. 

As @Tracy mentioned, try and pick a spot where there's space for pups...or access to remove the pup in the future.  So don't plant one back in a tight corner if you expect to remove a bunch of pups in the future.  You can...but it'll be a stabby blood-drawing hassle when you have to get back behind it!

As far as the species go, I don't have many of them.  The "South African Blues" detest the swampy weather in Florida, and are prone to root and crown rot.  I do have Munchii and a Nat x Middleburgensis, and a couple of hybrids with Lehmannii and Longifolius.  Hybrids with 1/2 that tolerate a lot of water seem to do well here, like Aemulans x Lehmannii, Altensteinii x Lehmannii, etc.

[Sabal Steve]

19 hours ago, Merlyn said:

@Sabal Steve fortunately all of them will grow fine in a pot, realistically forever.  So don't feel like you *must* plant one asap. 

As @Tracy mentioned, try and pick a spot where there's space for pups...or access to remove the pup in the future.  So don't plant one back in a tight corner if you expect to remove a bunch of pups in the future.  You can...but it'll be a stabby blood-drawing hassle when you have to get back behind it!

As far as the species go, I don't have many of them.  The "South African Blues" detest the swampy weather in Florida, and are prone to root and crown rot.  I do have Munchii and a Nat x Middleburgensis, and a couple of hybrids with Lehmannii and Longifolius.  Hybrids with 1/2 that tolerate a lot of water seem to do well here, like Aemulans x Lehmannii, Altensteinii x Lehmannii, etc.

Thank you, Arthur.

I got a little carried away with the blue cycads.  Nice to know that some of the hybrids may be more tolerant of moisture.   I’ll probably be keeping some in pots.  I had a small Lehmanii in a pot, with straight lava rock for years, and hardly ever watered it.   I was amazed how tough it was - got planted in my yard, last year.  It and the Dypsis Decipiens got the same treatment/sun/medium and both did fine.

 

[Tracy]

3 minutes ago, Sabal Steve said:

Thank you, Arthur.

I got a little carried away with the blue cycads.  Nice to know that some of the hybrids may be more tolerant of moisture.   I’ll probably be keeping some in pots.  I had a small Lehmanii in a pot, with straight lava rock for years, and hardly ever watered it.   I was amazed how tough it was - got planted in my yard, last year.  It and the Dypsis Decipiens got the same treatment/sun/medium and both did fine.

 

A friend growing Encephalartos in his nursery mentioned that the Eugene complex species grow much slower in pots than other Encephalartos.   This would include Encephalartos eugene-maraisii,  nubimontanus,  dyerianus,  cupidus, and middelburgensis .  You may get a bump in growth speed with hybrids, but his experience growing them commercially is that they still are slower.   My specimens are all in the ground for these species except some nubimontanus pups.  The pups I put in pots were all slower to grow than the one I transplanted directly into the ground.   It seems my experience with these pups correlated with his advise. 

[Merlyn]

5 hours ago, Sabal Steve said:

Thank you, Arthur.

I got a little carried away with the blue cycads.  Nice to know that some of the hybrids may be more tolerant of moisture.   I’ll probably be keeping some in pots.  I had a small Lehmanii in a pot, with straight lava rock for years, and hardly ever watered it.   I was amazed how tough it was - got planted in my yard, last year.  It and the Dypsis Decipiens got the same treatment/sun/medium and both did fine.

You should have no problems out there with the blues.  I just live in a tropical sauna with rain in the winter and constantly damp soil all winter...due to a water table that's only about 5 or so feet down.  A lot of the blues come from places with very little rain, not unlike San Diego.  But I frequently get more rain in a day than a habitat Horridus might see in several months.  So like you said, you could just not water one for a couple of months and it probably wouldn't care.    

[Billeb]

On 3/13/2026 at 10:04 AM, Tracy said:

A friend growing Encephalartos in his nursery mentioned that the Eugene complex species grow much slower in pots than other Encephalartos.   This would include Encephalartos eugene-maraisii,  nubimontanus,  dyerianus,  cupidus, and middelburgensis .  You may get a bump in growth speed with hybrids, but his experience growing them commercially is that they still are slower.   My specimens are all in the ground for these species except some nubimontanus pups.  The pups I put in pots were all slower to grow than the one I transplanted directly into the ground.   It seems my experience with these pups correlated with his advise. 

Totally agree @Tracy. I’ve experienced the same. I’d imagine it has something to do with the inconsistent temperature swings of the root system. This is my theory anyway.
 

-dale