Posted by rebecca
on 7/11/2008, 9:23 am, in reply to "Re: Dioon Edule turning brown!!"
24.154.33.76
Hi, again,
Tom, I have to thank you for telling me *specifically* how to take care of my cycads. You are the first person who's ever given me a real idea of just how much water they need. Pretty much any website I've found has indicated that they need very little water or attention, which, as you said, is where I'm going wrong. So I can't tell you how much your clear advice is appreciated.
Yesterday I purchased the Dynamite as you suggested (yes; it's the green tube), and will follow your instructions for repotting, feeding and watering my plants.
Again, I can't thank you enough for your patience with my confusion, and your detailed advice. I'm so glad you have this forum, and are willing to answer questions with such clear, specific guidance. I'll keep you posted on how my plants are doing. (I've been watering my Dioon more frequently, and I can already see green, where it's getting ready to put out a new flush of leaves!)
Thanks again for all your help!
Rebecca
--Previous Message--
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: Hi, Tom,
:
: Thanks for your quick response! It
: looks dead all right, but I'm pretty
: sure it's not. I water it about once
: a week, as it's only in a 4-inch
: pot. I try not to over-water it (or
: my other cycads) but maybe I'm being
: too cautious and not watering them
: enough. I have quite a few little
: Sagos (also in 4-inch pots) that are
: nothing but caudexes because the
: fronds all turned brown, just like
: this Dioon. Clearly I'm doing
: something horribly wrong, yet I seem
: to have really bad luck with plants
: that are supposed to "thrive on
: neglect." More water, you
: think? And maybe less sun?
:
: Thanks again for your help. I really
: appreciate it.
:
: Well, you just answered the
: question on why you can't grow these
: things. Someone told you that cycads
: thrive on neglect, or they want to
: be dry between waterings. Whoever
: told you that, or whatever web site
: said that knows nothing about
: growing cycads. For starters, you
: should read my cultivation articles
: on my website, which is linked in
: the header. Start with the soil and
: water articles.
: The thing is that cycads need
: to have good drainage, that is a
: must, but the reason people say to
: let them get dry is because that is
: what you have to do when you use
: soil that doesn't drain. Sure, there
: are certain species, like
: Encephalartos horridus that only
: gets a couple of inches a year in
: habitat, but sagos are grown all
: over the world because they are very
: tolerant of various growing
: conditions. Just to give you an
: example, the wholeslae growers of
: sagos here in Florida water their
: sagos every single day and use about
: 3/4 of an inch each time they water.
: Sometimes, in the summer, they also
: add another 1/4 inch at noon time
: just to cool them off. I water my
: cycads every other day with 3/4 of
: an inch.
: What I would suggest is to get
: them out of those 4 inch pots and at
: least get them into something that
: is at least 6 inches. I would for
: sure pot them up in a well drained
: mix, and water them every other day
: with about 1/2 inch to 3/4 of an
: inch each time you water. I would
: also go to Home Depot and see if
: they have a fertilizer in a little
: plastic tube, called 'Dynamite' I
: would use the 18-6-8, which I think
: is in the green tube. Put a couple
: of tablespoons of that in the 6 or 7
: inch pot and then lightly cover the
: fertilizer with a bit more soil and
: wtaer in good. You should get new
: growth in the next month.
: I hear this same thing all the
: time from people growing cycads
: indoors. If you look through the
: archives, you will see that others
: have asked the same thing. Whoever
: it is that tells people this wrong
: information should be shot because
: people are having trouble growing
: plants that are about as easy to
: grow as can be, BUT, they do not
: thrive on neglect. Have fun with
: your cycads, you can now start a new
: part of your life where you will
: grow your cycads well.
:
:
:
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