Posted by Tom Broome on 8/27/2011, 10:46 pm, in reply to "brown spongey stuff covering apex"
205.188.117.67
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: I have three sagos that were here when
: we bought the house 7 years ago. I
: don't know what variety. They are
: about 3 ft high and very full &
: wide. The bottom fronds have been
: cut off regularly. We have had
: serious scale problems I've been
: trying to manage with vox oil and
: dish detergent. The new flush on
: one came out all curly and brown and
: most of the lower fronds have also
: died. When we were cutting off all
: the dead fronds, we noticed very
: thick, brown spongey
: "stuff" totally covering
: the apex. It has the consistency of
: insulation and looks like it will
: smother any new frond growth. What
: is it? Does it have to do with the
: scale?Is it a fungus? Should I
: remove it? What should I do?
:
That is just part of the plant. A happy plant would usually have more of that than an unhappy plant. That is what is called tomentum. It usually appears more often right before new leaves are produced. People have speculated why some cycads produce this tomentum around the apex, but it usually is on the more cold hardy cycad species. Like you described, it is like insulation for the apex to help keep it from freezing, where the stem is most vulnerable.
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