I have just sat my cycad in a tray of warm water again at 32c is this the best way to get a flush?

San from everything i have read you put the hole pot in a bucket of water so all the soil in the pot is covered and leave it there for 3 days and then remove it from the bucket and keep it some where warm 20c+ until it has fully flushed and don't move the pot till the flush has finished or the fronds will become distorted

And what if its planted out.....

Desperately wanting my Cycad to flush this year.

Water it like mad for a few days... You want to trick it into thinking it has been in a monsoon

Simba i believe a watering can of warm water each morning and evening during June should do the trick.

I haven't tried these methods before i am just going on what i have read but i will be trying both methods soon.

Thanks for that brian i will do that, my pot is only stood on a 12 inch plant tray thats full of water, so i will remove it from there and sit it in a bucket of water then.

OK i have done this. but does it matter that now my cycad has a puddle of water on top of the soil constantly or is this how it is meant to be.

Definately worth a try, I will give it a go.....

Hi sanatic

I simply placed pot into a bucket of water at room temp for 3 days and kept water level just above soil level in pot..If you have strong top growth on the caudex..which it looks like you do as far as i can remember from the pic you previously posted some weeks back...this soaking combined with heat will kick of a flush...I have done this with a second revoluta and its a week into it flush and a third is showing signs of movement also...see my recent post on cycad revoluta i had a question on the new fronds pic attached ..GL with it

PS....I am by no means an expert on cycads but its worked for me

All I do to mine is give it plenty of water after coming out of hibernation(and the weather has warmed) and it flushes every June/Julyish time. Never had to dunk and it's never missed a year of flushing. I feed when I remember.

Di

I have now done as micheal0512 suggested and am now hoping to see my first flush. I can't wait to see results, I hate looking at my tortured cycad now.

Fingers crossed sanatic...keep us posted...I would feed also once your finished drowning the poor plant ...I used this technique to try for a flush as early as possible..I'm just experimenting to see can i get a second flush this year..if you have Matt's to apply bottom heat at night it would certainly be a bonus..

I don't have a matt but now have a spare heated prop that im not using at the minute that i could use for bottom heat.

I'm not an expert on these either, but....

Soaking it for three days sounds fine; but after that it will need to be kept well drained. Moist yes, but they are prone to root rot, so once it has been soaked I wouldn't leave it standing in water. If it is in a freely draining potting mix it wouldn't mind daily watering, but the water needs to be able to drain away.

Keeping them well fed [not over fed though] through the spring and summer is supposed to help them to flush the next year. If you are watering every day I would use half strength feed once every week [the traditional orchid growers’ method -'weakly weekly']. They can be forced to flush by cutting off all the leaves, but that weakens the plant, and I have never had the nerve to do it, even though mine have distorted and damaged fronds from not being looked after very well last year.

Chad.