Posted by Tom Broome on 4/19/2009, 10:28 pm, in reply to "Cycas panzhihuaensis in Washington, DC"
205.188.117.67
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: I have been pleasantly surprised by
: the hardiness of Cycas
: panzhihuaensis in my garden in
: Washington, DC. My plant has
: already survived two previous
: winters, one with a low of 7
: degrees, with only a light mulch.
: This past winter (its third in the
: ground) we had a low of 8 degrees;
: the leaves fried but they are still
: firm and green at the base so I
: expect it to make it and put out new
: leaves in early May, as it has after
: the previous winters.
:
: What really pleases me is that each
: time it has defoliated it has grown
: back with more leaves than the
: previous year. But I'm still
: getting just one flush a year,
: although I've heard this species
: will flush two (or more) times in a
: growing season. I would love to get
: this plant to bulk up a bit more, so
: any suggestions? The plant is about
: 6 years old from seed, but still on
: the small side.
:
: John B.
: Washington, DC
: DCTropics group:
: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dctropics
:
Even though you have a much shorter growing period than I do, I still think you should be able to get at least 1 more flush. I think hitting it with a good strong fertilizer 3 times a year, starting in the spring would help you get either 1 or 2 more flushes. Check out my fertilizer article in my website and that will give you some ideas on what to look for. I wish I could send you my fertilizer like I used to do for people but a cycad grower in California took care of that for me, so now, I can only send my fertilizer to people in Florida. The article still gives a general idea on what to look for though. You might be able to mix something yourself taking something like a lawn fertilizer and mix something with some minors in it and it might just work for you.
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