Jurassic Park

Well done Julia,
I have 'surprises' coming up too. They been left out in the snow & are still growing. I just hope they're not weeds (pretty sure from advice on here that they're not).

Don't have anything as interesting as yours though.

cheers

 

It's almost as though my worrying about them plus a cold snap makes them put on a spurt Borrowers!

I'm trying to get a few more unusual plants - half a dozen cycads should do the trick!

 

Julia f you post a picture of the cyad seeds together I will tell you which is which. I was giving away germinated cycad seeds last autumn and nearly took the nick 'Cycadpath' instead of Sarraceniac. I love them. Have about 30. 8 different types. Hope you are younger than me if you want to plant them out. :D

 

Thank you John - I did take a photo of them on my digital camera last night before starting to soak them, so I'll try to get it uploaded tonight (even used a scale bar!). Very grateful in advance for your help.

I gather patience is a virtue with cycad germination...!

 

Patience is a virtue with cycads full stop Julia. They are very slow growing. I'm hoping my grand-kids enjoy most of mine. Wouldn't dream of planting out for about 10 years. Better in pots, out in summer, g.house October-May. Plant the hardier ones out after 10-15 years. Did you say you have a Giz? (the page has changed so can't see). Never plant that out. Very sensitive.

 

All my plants are in pots John - will probably be 10 years before I have a garden I can plant stuff out into! I've got a Dioon, Encephalartos, Lepidozamia, Macrozamia and Zamia. I don't think any of them are as hardy as the Cycas revoluta.

 

I know John wont agree julia but, my revoluta that has been in the garden for three winters now is not exactly thriving, and it has had some winter protection.
There is a lot spoken about hardiness, and low temperatures quoted, but the combination of cold and wet for prolonged periods in the UK is the killer.
You can improve the drainage, but a week of near freezing fog you can do nothing about.
Our climate seems milder of late but not enough for some things yet, I believe. :D

 

Gotcha Pete. I do agree - to a point anyway. I too have a revoluta outside. It isn't exactly dying to flush fronds very often. But it is surviving. Even 5 years ago it probably would where you are (but not 10) but not here. With care the older cycads will survive but you have to know what you are doing. Just like you and me.

 

I think I know what I'm doing John.
Because I dont have enough greenhouse space I am slowly killing a cycad that I have grown for twenty years.
Given the space I would much prefer to grow it in a pot under glass in winter.

 

Okay, one cycad seeds picture (with 10cm scale bar attached!):



Very grateful to you for your ID skills, John (and anyone else with experience with these things!).

 

OK. top right to bottom left. Dioon edule (Mexican cycad) (may be a small Dioon spinulosum but I doubt it) Encephelatos horridus (why horridus? don't ask me).

Bottom row Macrozamia communis (Burrawang). Zamia furfuracea (cardboard palm) it is indoor only in this country. And the large one is Lepidozamia. That's the only one I'm not familiar with but by elimination and a quick look on the web - that is what it is.

 

Julia. I don't want to be pushy but do you want the best way of germinating? Have you got a propagator? If not do you have radiators? If not do you have a hot water tank?

 

Thank you John - I'm really excited about the E. horridus, so hope it germinates. I fell in love with that one when Monty Don saw it in Cape Town on his 80 Gardens trip. It's "horridus" for several very spiky reasons:



I don't have a propagator but we do have radiators, including a couple of double ones. At the moment the pot o' vermiculite is sitting underneath my boiler in the kitchen (we have a combi so no hot water storage), but I want to put them all in separate pots so I can label them and prevent any fungus taking all five.

Now our radiators are quite hot, so I presume I'm not putting the pots directly onto the radiator - will a (non-melting!) tray be okay on top?

 

Not warm enough Julia. For propagation these babies need 30-35 C. And don't use vermiculite. Use damp silver sand. I take it you soaked them for at least 24 hours in luke-warm water?

Put them in a plastic box with lid with 1 inch silver sand dampened with rain water. Seal the box and stand them on the radiators. Don't be afraid, It won't kill them. Then wait. 1 month probably no good unless you are very lucky. More like 3-6 months so check ever week after 1 month for the appearance of a tap root and that the sand is still damp. (I mean just damp not wet.). When the tap-root appears pot them up into any standard compost and only water when fairly dry. Let me know how you get on. And if you want a Cycas revoluta with a frond PM me your address. I just found an extra couple.

 

Thank you for these instructions. I don't have any silver sand (had to google it to find out what it was!) but I hardly need an excuse to go to the garden centre, so I'll get some tomorrow.

They had 2.5 days in luke-warm water - I knew I needed to put them in for at least 48 hours.

I have quite a big Cycas taking over the world, so I'll pass on the offer of the seedling, but thank you for thinking of me.