Arlons Blog: Propagating Cycas revoluta "aurea" ..SUCCESS !

[fern Rob]

But what good does it do the plant

[pdid]

But what good does it do the plant

It gives the plant fresh soil/ compost to root into each year, it allows more water to the roots, it saves having to repot the plant into ever increasing pot sizes.

The plants are reasonably tolerant of this and it's a similar method of how you would treat a potted brugmansia.

In an ideal world you wouldn't do it as they would be planted in the ground but we live in the UK and it's cold.

[fern Rob]

People should aim to get the roots to come down the trunk of the Tree fern, and tree ferns come from nutrient poor soil why would changing the compost be any good for the plant.

[pdid]

People should aim to get the roots to come down the trunk of the Tree fern, and tree ferns come from nutrient poor soil why would changing the compost be any good for the plant.

You're making yourself look like an idiot now.

Apologies Mark, this shouldn't need to be discussed in your blog.

[Arlon Tishmarsh]

But what good does it do the plant

Well clearly it doesn't do any harm which answers your question . Mine was heavily root pruned , the fronds are as big as they've always been and its filled the pot with roots in no time............again. Many plants are invigorated by root pruning , perhaps thats the case with some cyathea

why would changing the compost be any good for the plant.

I would've thought that was fairly obvious.

Time to move on...........

[Tom2006]

Serious root growth there!....definitely going to prune and repot early spring. Eduard uses fish blood bone so will be trying that as the growth on his is exceptional.

[Arlon Tishmarsh]

Propagating Cycas revoluta "aurea" by seed

I've always had a hankerin' for "aurea" but the silly prices of plants and lack of availability has always put me off. Not to be confused with the "variegate" form ,which to me looks like any sickly revoluta, i quite like the yellow tipped form of "aurea" . So i bought in some seed from Italy, which promptly arrived on saturday. The parent plants were both "aurea" so that should increase the chances of "aurea" offspring but its not guaranteed. Neither is germination for that matter, as i understand they can be fairly hit and miss. They've been soaking in warm water since saturday and today i removed the rest of the fruit with my trusty wire toothbrush............



A quick dip into some hydrogen peroxide just in case there's any nasties lurking................



all nice and clean and ready for sowing tomorrow after another overnight soak in warm water...............



I'm out on a bit of limb as i've never attempted cycad seeds before. I've done some reading up and taken advice from "good fellows" like Mike Kenchington. I have my method fairly well drilled in my mind , ready to implement tomorrow.

[Yorkshire Kris]

Keep us updated, and hopefully you'll be lucky with what sprouts.

[miketropic]

Propagating Cycas revoluta "aurea" by seed

I've always had a hankerin' for "aurea" but the silly prices of plants and lack of availability has always put me off. Not to be confused with the "variegate" form ,which to me looks like any sickly revoluta, i quite like the yellow tipped form of "aurea" . So i bought in some seed from Italy, which promptly arrived on saturday. The parent plants were both "aurea" so that should increase the chances of "aurea" offspring but its not guaranteed. Neither is germination for that matter, as i understand they can be fairly hit and miss. They've been soaking in warm water since saturday and today i removed the rest of the fruit with my trusty wire toothbrush............

[ Image ]

A quick dip into some hydrogen peroxide just in case there's any nasties lurking................

[ Image ]

all nice and clean and ready for sowing tomorrow after another overnight soak in warm water...............

[ Image ]

I'm out on a bit of limb as i've never attempted cycad seeds before. I've done some reading up and taken advice from "good fellows" like Mike Kenchington. I have my method fairly well drilled in my mind , ready to implement tomorrow.

show off

[Arlon Tishmarsh]

Keep us updated, and hopefully you'll be lucky with what sprouts.

If i get just one viable plant , Kris, i'll be a happy chappy.

show off

My prep probably is a bit OCD ........

Last night i put a thermometer in the prop which only gives me 21 deg. Aurea it seems require 25 / 30 deg. So this morning i honed out a bit of old poly packaging and came up with a snug fitting cover for the seed box. Hopefully that'll bump the temp up in the seed box to close to 30deg, a "hotbox" inside a "hot box"



Onto the seed sowing. I'm using 100% perlite. Hopefully that'll keep the seeds moist but with enough drainage to stop any seeds rotting. They don't need light as a stimulus, just heat and humidity, so the poly box won't / shouldn't hinder germination.

Microwaving the seed box to sterlize / warm up the perlite ........



in with the Cycas revoluta "aurea" seeds......

......

poly box cover on and into the heated prop with some aroids for company..........





Early indications look good for the poly box as temps under there are 28deg.

Its now in the lap of the gods.

[kata]

Have the last pic sprouted from those egg looking seed?

[Arlon Tishmarsh]

Only went in the propagator today, Kata. It'll be a while yet before they germinate.

[pdid]

So it's you whose been nicking my Tupperware boxes. I want them back!

Good look with the seeds Mark, I don't think you could give them much more TLC.

[DiCasS]

They look nice and cosy in there Arlon I germinate mine in the same way, lid the container and pop them into my prop. I have the same problem as you, my prop only rises to 27 degrees and have to raise the temperature as best I can during Winter with some seeds, but generally have good results with the Cycads I've tried.

Hope your revs turn out to be the image of their parents

Di

[cordyman]

epic germination, I see you too some tips off my in depth "guide" there Mark