This is my Sago, the photo was taken today. I have seen a Sago penis before and this is the wrong shape. I am guessing it's a female and this is a seed pod. There are no Sagos close to here so I am assuming it can't produce seeds. I am not worried about having or not having seeds, it's the top that worries me. I've had Sagos for years and I have never experienced this. I tried to read up on this and I was told that the female seed pod with last about 10 months and when it falls off, it will then produce a set of fronds. As you can tell from the photo, the Sago doesn't have any fronds. We had a cold spell and, even though I wrapped the tree. The fronds started turning yellow, so I cut them off. I don't have to do this every year but I'm afraid I've boxed myself into a corner. With no fronds, how can this tree get any energy for photosynthesis? I'm guessing it can't. So, the question is, "Can this Sago last a whole season without fronds or will it die?"
I read that, like the male penis, the female pod can be cut off and the Sago will get fronds. The problem is, "I don't know if that's what I have". See photo. Assuming this is a female pod and it can be cut off, how far down do I make the cut? Looking at the photo, do I cut at the red line or at the blue line? Maybe, someplace else. Maybe, I am totally off. Please I need some help. Thanks!

Yes , it's a girl.

Technically it's a Megasporophyll

Male penis is called a cone.

I don't know know if cutting the Megasporophyll will induce a flush or not. The plant is drawing nutrients via the roots so that may be enough. Does the female flower photosynthesize,IDK? Unless you just don't like looking at it I'd leave it.

Perhaps some of the cycad gurus can give some input @Merlyn @Tracy @GeneAZ

The short answer is yes, you can and should cut off the female seed cone. The plant is using up stored energy to grow seeds. It might kill it, but probably not. I have a big female sago as well, and I cut off the seed pod every spring. I use a sharp pair of shears, but a sharp hand lopper works too. Snip the "hand" shaped fans above the red line. There's no need to cut them super low, just snip below the fan shape at the stem. I snip the horrendously stabby thorns as well.

Cutting the cone is slightly risky for infection, because it's a lot of small cuts. You could sprinkle the top with a fungicide like sulfur powder, or squirt with Daconil or similar.

Cycads have "coralloid roots" around the base, generally just below ground level. As long as the top or trunk hasn't rotted, it is still gaining new energy every day and should flush eventually. But it might not be for a month or so.

I cut the pod just below the rede line, a little at a time. As I got towards the center, there were no more sod pods and some immature fronds. The left the fronds there, cut everything else and now the fronds are sticking up about an inch or so over what I cut off. Now that I did it, I feel confident that this will work. Time will tell. Thanks for your responses.

16 hours ago, Merlyn said:

The short answer is yes, you can and should cut off the female seed cone. The plant is using up stored energy to grow seeds. It might kill it, but probably not. I have a big female sago as well, and I cut off the seed pod every spring. I use a sharp pair of shears, but a sharp hand lopper works too. Snip the "hand" shaped fans above the red line. There's no need to cut them super low, just snip below the fan shape at the stem. I snip the horrendously stabby thorns as well.

Cutting the cone is slightly risky for infection, because it's a lot of small cuts. You could sprinkle the top with a fungicide like sulfur powder, or squirt with Daconil or similar.

Cycads have "coralloid roots" around the base, generally just below ground level. As long as the top or trunk hasn't rotted, it is still gaining new energy every day and should flush eventually. But it might not be for a month or so.

Interesting. I normally wait to remove any Cycas megasporophyls until they ard dead, even if the plant has defoliated completely. Imo the tradeoff for removing the megasporophyls in hopes it willhave more energy versus just leaving them and waiting for the plant to flush and not stressing it by removing growth is minimal. So we have different approaches to the situation. Patience is always my advice, with minimal intervention when it comes to Cycads.

I don't have experience with cold damage in my gardens though, so take my input with a grain or two of salt.

1 hour ago, Tracy said:

Interesting. I normally wait to remove any Cycas megasporophyls until they ard dead, even if the plant has defoliated completely. Imo the tradeoff for removing the megasporophyls in hopes it willhave more energy versus just leaving them and waiting for the plant to flush and not stressing it by removing growth is minimal. So we have different approaches to the situation. Patience is always my advice, with minimal intervention when it comes to Cycads.

I don't have experience with cold damage in my gardens though, so take my input with a grain or two of salt.

If it were anything but a Revoluta / Sago I might say different. I also leave all the cones in place, unless there's serious damage. I had a female E. Ferox that coned after a bad near-defoliation freeze. I cut off the cone and it just sat and sulked for an entire year...and then coned again the next spring! It was fine though, and eventually flushed a nice set of fronds a month or two into summer. My neighbor's gardener has a bad habit of chopping off all the fronds on their Revoluta, even if they are still green and not cold damaged. This leaves them with 5' tall trunks and a female cone on top. They eventually flush a set of fronds, but it takes a couple of months into summer before it happens. If I cut the cone off of my large females I find that I usually get a flush in a few weeks.

Merlyn,
I was told that the seed pod would last about 10 months. If the Sago had fronds, I would have left it alone. As I said earlier, with no fronds I was afraid that the Sago would die. From now on, I will leave the winter damaged fronds on until the first new set of leaves comes. The Sago usually has new fronds by late April. With this being June, I was panicking. This Sagos trunk is almost 5 feet tall so I would hate to lose it. Praying! Thanks for your input!

46 minutes ago, Jim S. said:

Merlyn,
I was told that the seed pod would last about 10 months. If the Sago had fronds, I would have left it alone. As I said earlier, with no fronds I was afraid that the Sago would die. From now on, I will leave the winter damaged fronds on until the first new set of leaves comes. The Sago usually has new fronds by late April. With this being June, I was panicking. This Sagos trunk is almost 5 feet tall so I would hate to lose it. Praying! Thanks for your input!

I didn't mean to suggest that you made a mistake cutting off the old fronds. If they were burnt yellow/brown then the plant had probably "eaten" most of the nutrients already. I generally leave them on until fully brown and dessicated.

Sagos tend to flush in a kind of set sequence, so the cone was probably just the next in line. Mine have all either flushed or coned this year, dsspite the record breaking February 1st cold front.

I'd also give it a dose of fertilizer. I use my regular "palm" type, currently sunniland 8-0-10 tree and shrub. But I also use their 6-1-8 palm. Some people also use "the blue stuff" as a quick nitrogen boost to help kickstart a flush. I have done that once with a Cycas Multipinnata, and it might have helped...or maybe not. It's hard to say for sure.

Thanks, it's a waiting game now!

If you've been following this post, I gave the female seed pod two trims. The file, Sago Cut 1, was done yesterday and the file. Sago Cut 2 was an additional haircut I gave it this morning. I sprayed with a fungicide after cutting. I am happy with what it looks like now. Hopefully, I'll see the fronds growing further out from the middle.