Aggressive flush of Cycas revoluta on March 2012

[Matcycas7]

During flush period from 24th March 2012 to 8th April 2012 the temperature was constant around 38*C just like todays temperature graph. Google this "Hyderabad-10-day Extended Weather Forecasts - in.weather.com"

According to NDTV news report on 17th January 2012 the worst minimum temperature ever recorded was 11*C in our Hyderabad city and it happened probably on 13th,14th,15th January 2012 as shown in the last 3rd paragraph in this link
http://www.ndtv.com/article/andhra-prad ... ter-167865

It usually gets 2 hours of direct morning sunlight if there is no trace of a cloud as it is close to the bright white
wall. I observed the direction of sunrise has tilted towards north-east since this month May 2012 shedding 1 more hour of sunlight on my Cycas.

In just 14 days it has grown 31 inchs long with 37 fronds.

[Nigel Fear]

That must be the optimum range for growing your Cycas, do you also get monsoon rains during flushing?

With our miserable summer months, and cool winters, one flush every two years is about all I usually achieve, though it is thought that emulating monsoon type conditions here can help promote a flush during the warmer months.

[call]

nice cycad
i am not a real real big fan but they are cool and i am going to get one or two...or three...or four

[Matcycas7]

Nigel, we do get rains even at 40*C but it may not be more than 4 or few minutes. We had a slight rain this month of May. During the flush period there was no rain on my Cycas. Hot summer days could be anywhere from March to May.Temperatures may go as high as 44*C. Usually heavy rains occur between June and August but also rarely occurs on any given month even in March or May.

If we wait for the small one to grow our hairs will turn white. It will be better if we buy the big one that will not only promise big flush of fronds but it may also produce pups on the trunk or seeds at the crown.

Even the big Cycas can be grown in small pots, even smaller than mine. So it is portable and easy to keep it indoors during snowy winters.

Call, get the big one here or anywhere http://www.haheiplants.co.nz/cycas6.php

Make sure it is the big one that you can hardly lift it.

[Nigel Fear]

Mat.
Here is the largest one of mine a few weeks after it flushed last year, I'm not expecting another one for at least a year, so overwintering these here becomes a bit of a cause for concern when they are too big to put away safely in sub-zero temps.

[Matcycas7]

Nigel,its like keeping myself in your shoes contrary to keeping my Cycas in your climate.
If I grow your Cycas here you won't even recognize that it is yours when it flushes. The 2 reasons why
your Cycas takes 2 years to flush are
1.Inevitable harsh winters
2.Rock hard sand that won't let the roots to penetrate through the sand.(Perlite is the solution)

Perlite has the ability to eliminate surface cracks of sand as shown in this link
http://www.perlitecanada.com/en/1-perli ... icole.html

Keep 2 inchs of perlite on top layer of pot and drill 4 extra holes at the bottom and see the results.
Don't worry about sand coming out of the holes as you can add it from top or burry the pot in the ground like mine
so that sand level in the pot won't decrease. If possible add 5 inchs of perlite in bottom layer and fill all the empty space
around the new pot with perlite if you are willing to transplant it in slightly 1 or 2 inchs bigger pot. When you pour water
as much as 60% of your pot's volume on every Sunday the white liquid from perlite mixes with hard sand to make it not only
fragile but moist till next Sunday if it is around 32*C. Perlite is very cheap here in acquarium shops. Its price is Rs 10/kg.
Don't buy polished perlite instead buy raw and dry perlite as it forms a white liquid. I can't remember how often I replaced
perlite. Replace it whenever you like. Pour coffee water all over/under fronds and sand.


caution: While transplanting to new pot take care not to hurt the roots otherwise most of the fronds turn yellow. It happened to me.

If you find hell lot of snow outside you can make heaven inside like this one.

[Nigel Fear]

Thanks Mat.

I'm planning on a re-pot soon, and will certainly be adding some extra perlite to the mix.
I prefer to use John INNES NO.3 as a growing medium though, as it contains a good amount of nutrients.
It is very friable too, with a sand-like texture, so doesn't become too hard like Clay soil does.

In the UK climate actual sand when used in pots, can become very soggy in winter, and can cause roots to rot easily as a result, plus it can also freeze hard, damaging the root structure [Remember we can get several weeks at sub-zero temps.].
In summer, 32c. is also a pretty rare event, so you see we have to be content with a two year cycle flush, and be grateful if we can keep a Cycas alive at all.

Those indoor Cycads look great by the way, is that where you work?

[kata]

I love those pots for Cycads

[Natfx7]

Since many years I suffered to login to this website as it always showed SQL error. Today I created a new account and it was successful but when I forgot my password then I suffered to change the password as it always gave some kind of errors.

Anyway I changed my user name from Matcycas7 to Natfx7. I also noticed that this website also deleted many posts from 2014 to 2017 as I can't find my topics of my Cycas flush in 2015.

My cycas pup from the above mother plant has grown into adult stage and it looks terrific as shown below.



While the mother plant has recovered from devastation from ant attacks and butterfly attacks as butterfly laid eggs on the crown of the flush and the caterpillars ate the flush. Later I kept a fence to avoid butterflies and it survived. I have seen many other Cycas plants in our city destroyed by butterflies and their owners never cared about their own plants.