by Leo Martin

Q: Which palms won't grow here?
A: True wet jungle plants, high-altitude cold plants. Offspring from cultivated tropical palms seem to do better than offspring from wild tropical palms. Perhaps human selection for ease of growth.

Q: How do people sprout seeds? Some can't get anything but rot from the baggie method.
A: People in California, Florida have humid warm greenhouses - 99 degrees, 99%. They set seed on top of flats of pumice and keep moist. Don't even push into the pumice. As soon as the sprout emerges, they pot up the plant. This doesn't work here unless you have a warm very humid greenhouse; they dry up. So, the baggie or box method is used.
     For the baggie method, use the expensive Zip-Lock freezer bags. They are heavier than the regular Zip-Lock. Don't use generic zip baggies; generic and regular Zip-Lock dry out, whereas the freezer Zip-Lock brand retain the moisture. Use a medium that doesn't support mold. Vermiculite, coconut fiber, sphagnum moss work. Get the medium just barely damp. You should not be able to see drops of moisture and it should not feel wet. With dry coconut fiber, small particles stick to the inside of the baggie due to static. If it's barely wet, the particles don't stick. Get a batch wet, then spread out and let dry to the proper dampness. Too wet leads to rotting of seeds. It takes practice to do it right. Keep baggies above 80 degrees. Closet with space heater works in winter; so might old refrigerator with space heater.
    For the box method, use sweater boxes or Glad disposable plastic boxes. Punch a few drain holes. Fill half way with pumice or sterilized soil. Get damp, set seeds on top, then cover. Check frequently to be sure enough moisture remains.
    One member pots up seeds as soon as they sprout. Another lets them stay in the bag until they're much bigger, believing they survive transplanting better. And, it's better to transplant during warm weather, rather than winter. One member thinks it's safer to leave tropical palm plantlets in the baggie until warm weather arrives than to try to nurse tropical plants through a cold winter.
     Jeff Chemnick in Santa Barbara (Plants of Distinction) recommends planting sprouted cycad seeds at least 1"-2" deep. He thinks the only ones surviving in habitat are carried into rodent burrows and kept moister. He also recommends burying crowns of all seedlings to protect the crown. Ceratozamia, many Cycas, Encephalartos, Lepidozamia, Macrozamia, and Zamia seedlings all have buried stems when small.

Q: Online greenhouse sources?
A: Hummert. Or, go to Google and search for Greenhouse company or Greenhouse supply.
One member has sliding doors for half his wall space. He slides doors open in the day, closed at night.
Another member has a patio enclosed with sliding glass doors. He leaves them open in the summer, closed in the winter. The solar gain heats his house.

Q: Structural material?
A: Steel. Plastic won't take monsoon storms. Polycarbonate is better than glass -- lighter, no injuries with breakage. Get 30% shade; 50% or higher too shady for many plants.

Q: Seedling leaves dying off
A: Maybe too hot at soil surface, which kills a small zone of the stalk; maybe critters nibbling. They only do it once; must taste bad. Maybe not enough water. Cycads flushing need to be moist or new leaves turn brown.

Q: Cycad cultivation in general?
A: Most can't take our full sun, but a few can. All love as much heat as possible. Water well in the summer. Don't let dry when pushing new leaves. One member waters an E. horridus in a very large pot three times weekly. 130 degrees in this person's greenhouse doesn't harm his cycads.
     Ceratozamia, Zamia need most to full shade. Don't raise the stems; they grow underground in habitat and aren't equipped to survive in our low humidity.

by Mark Kiah

Although palms can be planted any time of the year, it is important to carefully monitor the amount of heat or cold the site experiences for six months after planting to insure success. Palms slow down or stop growth completely during our cooler months and when planted during this time may take as long as 6 months to establish new roots due to lower soil temperatures.  At this time, they will need less water and fertilizer.
     Watering twice weekly in winter is usually enough although, in soil that drains well, 3 times a week is okay.  Palms establish roots quickly during our warm months (April-October) due to the higher soil temperatures.  Trees planted from early spring through summer usually set new roots in 2-3 months
    Watering three times a week is best during summer months when temperatures exceed 100 degrees.  Daily irrigation is allowed in fast draining soils, however in heavy clay, watering every other day with a longer cycle will allow deeper watering and encourage roots to grow deeper.  This will help them stay cooler in summer and will minimize leaf burn.  Skipping a day between watering also allows good soil drainage so roots can absorb the oxygen they need to stay healthy.

by Leo Martin

It isn't all that difficult to sprout Encephalartos seeds here [in Phoenix] but it does demand almost daily attention and care to conditions of heat and moisture. It is fairly expensive to learn how to do it right, or at least it was for me. If you don't want to go through the steep learning curve of sprouting cycad seeds, you would be better off buying seedlings.
    Easy Encephalartos from seed (in my experience) are:
    • altensteinii - big, green, emergent stem
    • ferox - easy, green, very vigorous, gets big, emergent stem
    • gratus - big, green, emergent stem
    • lebomboensis - big, green, emergent stem
    • natalensis - big, green, buried stem
    • natalensis x woodii - easy, green, very vigorous, gets big, emergent stem. Some people think the lone E. woodii male in existence is just a vigorous E. natalensis.
    •  senticosus - big, green transvenosus - easy, green, very vigorous, gets big, emergent stem.
    • villosus - big, green, buried stem
    Harder are the blue ones, the cold-tolerant ones, and the desert ones:
    • horridus, lanatus, lehmanii, longifolius (blue and green), trispinosus.
    • E. manikensis is a very easy-to-grow species and seedlings in band pots should probably all make it with a small amount of care.
    • E. hildebrandtii is very easy to grow.
    • E. bubalinus is rare in cultivation.
    As for the Zamias... I've had trouble with some of the true rain-forest species since I don't have a humid greenhouse. They dry up even in the shade indoors. Many Zamia also are less cold-tolerant than some other cycads. Non-rainforest Zamia don't give me any problems. And for most people, if you've seen one Zamia, you've seen them almost all. Ceratozamia are easier to grow outside of perfect conditions. If you haven't sprouted Zamia seed before, it would be cheaper to get some common ones like Z. furfuracea ("cardboard palm"). Zamia sprouting and growing on is different from Cycas and Encephalartos. They must be kept more moist and must not dry out. They are also easier to rot in our climate. Zamia fischerii, Z. furfuracea, and Z. pumila do very well here in pots or in the shade and are easy from seed. I haven't grown it but Z. ambliphyllidia is supposed to be the easiest.

Meetings continued from page 1

April 15, 2006, at a private garden in Scottsdale, Arizona. Maurice Levin of A & A Cycads of North Hollywood, California, was our guest speaker and auctioneer. Maurice gave an interactive presentation entitled "Cycad Horticultural Practices", subtitled "How to Really Preserve and Not Kill the Endangered Species We're Growing in Our Backyards, and Why We Should!" He gave specifics on how to grow, resuscitate and propagate cycads.

March 11, 2006, at a private garden in Phoenix, Arizona. Leo Martin gave a presentation of a recent trip to Dioon and Certozamia habitat in Oaxaca Mexico. Great photos by Leo and stories from all of the past growing season.

September 17, 2005, at a private garden in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Cycad expert Maurice Levin of A&A Cycads in California did an excellent presentation on how to save a sick cycad. There was also a sale and auction of plants.

March 6, 2005, at a private garden in Phoenix, Arizona. Bruce and Susan Ironmonger, two of the foremost authorities on Australian cycads, gave a presentation on palms and cycads of the Cape York area. 

January 22, 2005, at a private garden in Apache Junction, Arizona. Palm and cycad expert Dutch Vandervoort from Ventura, California was on hand with palms and cycads for sale and expert advice.

November 21, 2004, at a private garden in Glendale, Arizona. In this garden are: Cycas revoluta, Phoenix roebllinii, P. rupicola, Dioon spinulosum, D. edule, D. edule var. palma sola, Zamia furfuracea, Encephalartos natalensis, E. lehmanni, E. trispinosus, E. longifolius and E. manikensis. Most of these plants are shaded by a Cercidium praecox (Palo Brea tree), which provides dappled sunlight.

June 13, 2004, at a private garden in Phoenix. Arizona.

May 16, 2004, at a private garden in south Phoenix, Arizona. Maurice Levin from A & A Cycads visited from Beverly Hills, California with rare and unusual cycads for sale.

March 28, 2004, at a private garden in Glendale, Arizona.

December 27, 2003, at a private garden in Apache Junction, Arizona. See photo of water feature.

September 21, 2003, at a private garden in Glendale, Arizona. There were a wide variety of desert-suitable cycads and palms.

May 19, 2002, at the State Capitol Palm Garden on Jefferson Street between 17th and 18th Avenues in Phoenix. In this garden are; Acoelorrhaphe wrightii (Paurotis Palms), Roystonea regia, (Cuban Royal Palms), and outstanding specimens of Cycas revoluta (Sago Palms) and Zamias.

July 7, 2002. We met in a courtyard at Desert Samaritan Hospital, 1400 S. Dobson Road in Mesa, Arizona. In the courtyard were Cycas revoluta, Dioon spinulosum, a coning Dioon edule, and many Syagrus romanzoffiana that looked healthy. In other courtyards are two Wodyetia bifurcata looking sad, planted 6 inches from a wall in almost total shade; a very healthy Dypsis decaryi (triangle palm), and a number of Phoenix roebelinii.

June 9, 2002, at a private garden in Phoenix, Arizona.

April 21, 2002, at the Glendale Main Library 5959 West Brown Street, Glendale, Arizona. There is an amazing assortment of unusual palms there as well as an impressive xeriscape display that surrounds the entire library and parking lot.

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