Hardy Tropicals UK

I never used all my seeds of these when I first had them and put some away for later on, thinking I would either use them or sell them on. Anyway, forgot all about them and after having a good clearout, o/h found a box with these seeds in, in a plastic bag, and when I looked inside a few had germinated. They looked okay apart from the very tip of the root, which looked black and dry. The last time I looked at the seeds was March 2011. I have no idea when these germinated. I guess there's no harm in potting them up, but should they grow with this amount of damage to the end of the roots???


Some of my germinated Lepidozamia peroffskyana Thanks.

Di

Di, it looks like the growing point on the root is dead, but I hope they are still viable. Give them a go, and let use know how you get on. Good luck.

Edit I have just blown the picture up 400% and I think I may be wrong, I think you may get away with it.

I will Jase, thanks. I've nothing to lose by potting them up. I bought a batch, used about 3/4 and left the rest. I've shaken some of them and some rattle, but some still seem solid in the shell. I have no idea what is going on inside but will soak and try germinating the rest now I've found them again.

Just read your Edit: I hope so, considering they've germinated all by themselves, I want to give them a chance.

Di

Well done Di

As Jas says, pot them up and give them a go. I looked at these a while ago but was put off by the germination period. Some say easy, some say a year or more.

Its a great looking cycad, i'm quite envious now.................

Don't let it put you off Arlon, I know you love your Cycads and they're worth the effort and wait. The germination here was erratic, some were quite quick whilst others just lingered. I think most the ones I sowed were good though.

Another Lepidozamia I'm really keen on and looks a great plant when it's growing well is a hopei. It's run into trouble this year though as I've had no new growth and lost all its leaves. Intended to take it out its pot and have a good look at the roots and change the compost, but with one thing and another, never got round to it this year. I must do it, as its too nice a plant to not take care of. The leaves are quite palm like and have a lovely shine to them, almost look artificial

Never tried Cycad seed, as tend to be quite expensive, particularly the rarer ones. Seems a candidate to sow and set your alarm for once a month to check them

DiCasS wrote:
Another Lepidozamia I'm really keen on and looks a great plant when it's growing well is a hopei.

I remember reading something about hopei being the current tallest cycad in existence , topping of at an impressive 17m plus.

We got a way to go yet , Di...

Seeds have now been potted up and keeping fingers crossed.

Some of these seeds can be terribly expensive Dave, especially the blue Cycads, they seem to command a really high price.As always, freshness of seed is important and try to buy seeds when seeds have come in fresh (newly listed). The least amount of time I've had seed germinate is within two weeks and I thought that was exceptionally quick. To look once a month would be okay, but I check a bit more often, just to make sure the perlite doesn't dry out.

I think the hopei is one of the biggest Arlon, but don't want mine to be get big any time soon due to height room, but a bit bigger than ground level would be good

Di

I took the hopei out of the pot this afternoon and was saddened to see that most of the roots had rot, just showing a couple of good roots. It's been in my conservatory for a number of years and always seemed to enjoy it in there, but this year something must not have been right. I didn't consciously do anything different and temperature has never been cold in there, so have repotted and put it back in the conservatory hoping at some point it might come to life.
I'm keeping my fingers very much crossed.

Here's my poor little Cycad
Di

When I repotted, I put it in a new lighter mix, and decided to give it some gentle bottom heat to try to get some new roots growing. I've know some are better are regenerating roots, but not sure on the hopei. It feels solid enough so this gives me some hope. Time will tell on whether it lives or dies.

Di

Di, i was going to suggest a much, much lighter mix. In fact, i was going to suggest nothing but perlite, which is what i did with my 2ft trunk revoluta when re-rooting it. It wasn't just for the best drainage to avoid rot but if i needed to check any new root growth, i could lift the bare trunk (heavy) out of the pot and the perlite would simply fall gently away. This avoided any damage to the delicate new growth.

Thanks Arlon

I like to use perlite, and always use it in my mix for Cycads. The new mix I probably added 50 - 60 percent. Hopefully this will be enough, but taken on board what you've said Believe it or not the mix in the pic above (though it doesn't show very well) I'd added allsorts to it, including perlite when I moved it from it's original pot, but mix has broken down over time. I wanted to try some lava/pumice, meant to buy some this year, but never got round to it in the end with a potential move etc. Lots of jobs just got left this year.

Di

lesson no1, never give up on a cycad

Wisest words I've heard concerning a Cycad Darren

I never give up until the caudex is soft and falling apart

Di