The ancient sago palm has a tropical expression that thrives in garden containers or as houseplant .
The sago palm tree may wait like a tiny decoration Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree with its glossy , smashed frond , but it is not a palm tree diagram at all . Sago palm are cycads , some of the most ancient plants , dating back to prehistorical times . They are easygoing to grow indoors as houseplants or alfresco in container in strong field .
Slow-Growing Plant
Do n’t let the mature sizing of these plants fright you off . Sago palms take many years to extend to their final height . able-bodied to go for 200 old age or more , the sago laurel wreath makes arugged houseplant . It is passing slow - growing , sometimes put out just one circle of unexampled farewell per year — and sometimes not that often . When plants do put out novel growth , it is in general borne in one symmetric ring of leaves that emerges from the tip in an attractive bronze color . New leaves are subdued when they go forth , but as they elaborate and years , they take on their signature stiffness .
Prehistoric Propagation
The path these plants reproduce is a relic of their prehistorical past . Unlike many plant life , they do not flower but create large , cone - like social organization . Each industrial plant may be distaff or male , and strobile are carry on each plant . It can take 15 years or more for a plant to create strobile . Both male and female plant are involve for pollination .
Be careful with placement because all parts of the sago palm are toxic to dearie and humans , include seeds and fronds .
Where to Plant Sago Palm
Sago palms are usually maturate as houseplant or container plants in the United States . Indoors , they need a hopeful , indirect clear location . They can support some lineal sun on their foliage in all but the hottest summer ; a southern window or other bright area is idealistic . Sago palm can also be planted inlarge containersand move outside in strong seasons to tot up a cutaneous senses of the tropical zone to a patio or other seats sphere . alfresco , they apprize a little spectre on hot afternoon .
How and When to Plant Sago Palm
The upright time to engraft nursery - container sago palms is late wintertime to other spring when the works is semi - dormant . Select a container slightly larger than the glasshouse container and fill up it part way withwell - drain pot soilor garden soilamended with compost . Transfer the flora to the new container and backfill while conjure down on the soil . water system it well and put it in a burnished — but not full sunlight — localisation to recover .
Create good drainage by mixing potting premix with perlite , vermiculite , or course sand .
Gardeners who develop sago palms from seeds must start the process indoors and hold off months before they have full-bodied houseplants or transplant strong enough to go into a garden container .
Ed Gohlich.
Sago Palm Care Tips
Light
Sago palms appreciate bright , indirect brightness level , which makes them a thoroughgoing plant for a sunny windowsill indoors . They also make greatcontainer plants outdoorsas long as some protection from direct sun is provided . While they can take some shade , too much shade increases the risk of rot and stimulate flora to have sparse foliation .
Soil and Water
Sago palm do well in pots and containers because they likewell - drained soil ; use well - run out potting soil amended with organic matter or add compost to unconstipated garden soil . One of the surest ways to kill a sago palm is to overwater it . Although they do n’t like being overly moist , theyneed logical moistureand humidity . If they are allowed to dry out out too often , the baksheesh of the foliage may become brownish and have some dieback .
Dieback refer to the reform-minded death of twig and offshoot which in the main get down at the lead . Its causes range from environmental to pests and disease .
Temperature and Humidity
Sago palms flourish in humid environments , so if plant struggle indoors , examine placing themover a humidness trayto create a more conformable environment . When farm a sago medal as a houseplant , put it in a south - facing window or another bright area . It support distinctive household temperatures well . When you raise a sago palm in a container outdoors , be quick to move the container indoors if the temperature is expect to flatten to 50 ° F or lower .
Fertilizer
Sago palm should befertilized a yoke of times a yearin spring and fall with a dull - release fertilizer designed especially for employment with palm . For the amount to use , follow product recording label didactics .
Pruning
Sago medallion seldom need pruning . Remove dead , pathological , or badly damage fronds when they come .
Potting and Repotting Sago Palm
Sago palms like to be somewhat potbound and do n’t tolerate soggy stain , so select a terra - cotta or glassless pot that is only 2 - 3 inch larger than the nursery container . ensure it has suited drain holes . part occupy the container withcompost - meliorate garden ground . absent the sago palm from the baby’s room container and set it in the new container . Backfill with more soil , urge softly on the territory as you operate to eliminate air pockets .
Sago palm is so behind - develop that you probably wo n’t need to repot it for several years . When you do , select a batch that is only slightly enceinte and use unused planting medium .
Pests and Problems
Sago decoration are more often than not low - maintenance and pest - free , but a common issue isscale , a problematic worm that feed on the leaves . ordered series insect are blanched or chocolate-brown and in the main do not move . They can be knavish to control because they have a hard , waxy coating that protects them from most insecticide spray . The good way to ascendance scale is with a systemic insect powder .
An alternative to combatting scale is horticultural petroleum spray , which coats the worm and clog its breathing stoma .
The leave-taking of sago medallion are susceptible to fungous rot , which shows up as brown spots on the folio . While this will not kill your flora , it is not exactly a right look . remove affected foliation is the best way to eliminate the fungus .
Credit:BHG / Evgeniya Vlasova
The plant ’s steady leaves can be a problem for gardener . Wear gloves when care sago palm and avoid the discriminating thorny bole and folio tips that can make accidental injury .
How to Propagate Sago Palm
gardener who have both manful and female sago palms can propagate their plant by separating pup or suckers that maturate at the base of the plant life . The parent plant must be mature ( which carry about 15 year ) before they produce pups .
Planting the Pups
fatigue glovesto protect your hands from the sharp leaves , and separate the pup as before long as you notice them ; the smaller they are , the easier the appendage . You may be capable to wiggle off small whelp . Otherwise , use a sharp coon or knife to break up the connectedness of the whelp to the parent . Dig deep beneath the pup so as not to damage its tap etymon . Plant the pups in peat pot a couple of in larger than the puppy and sate with a perlite / peat moss mix .
Growing From Seed
Gardeners with male and female plant can grow sago decoration from seed they buy at the glasshouse or harvest from a plant . When seeds are glean , only the pollenate ones will germinate .
Place all the seed in a bowl of lovesome pee . The ones that pass to the bottom are the pollinated seed . Soak the pollinated seeded player for 24 hours to soften the tissue layer that covers them and remove them .
Fill 4 - column inch pots with a premix of perlite andpeat moss . rate a seed on its side and force the potting mixture around it until only about a third is visible above dirt level . Moisten the soil and add a plastic cup of tea to each great deal . site the great deal in an region that is at least 70 ° F and check regularly that the soil remains moist . When growth depict in one to three month , remove the plastic dish and keep the pot in a warm area . When four leaves can be seen emerging from the soil mix , transplant to a larger container and leave it in a bright , warm location for several months as it make grow its root system of rules .
Credit: Paul Craft
Transplant it to anoutdoor containerin early springtime or enjoy it as a houseplant .
Types of Sago Palm
King Sago Palm
BHG / Evgeniya Vlasova
Cycas revolutais the most common coinage . It is comparatively small , growing 8 feet tall and wide-eyed . Slow - produce sago medallion grows best in well - drained land and is drouth - large-minded . Sago palm arrive at a stately indoor plant in a burnished spot . Zones 8 - 11
Queen Sago Palm
Cycas rumphiiis more Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree - like than king sago palm . It uprise 15 feet tall and 12 animal foot all-encompassing , with a self-conceited trunk 18 column inch in diameter . manful plant may organise side branch on the upper trunk or from the base . It is less hardy than magnate sago , produce in Zones 9 - 11 .
Frequently Asked Questions
A manlike sago palm has a slender cone - determine stucture that should stay on the flora until it afford and issue its pollen . After that , it can be absent at any time . The female sago medallion has a noggin - shaped complex body part that is eventually occupy with red seed wait to be pollinated . These two structures are the " flowers " of the sago palm .
These plants are easygoing to care for if you touch their basic requirement : passion , bright indirect light , and well - draining soil .
Sago thenar are native to the southerly Japanese Kyushu and Ryukyu islands and southerly China . They grow particularly well in semitropical regions of the United States including southerly Florida and southerly California . They also fly high in the territory of Puerto Rico .
Sago Palm . ASPCA
Cycas revoluta ( Sago Cycad ) Exposures . National Library of Medicine
Decline and Dieback of Trees and Shrubs . University of Illinois Extension . 1996 .
Gill , Dan . How to dispense with ordered series insect . LSU AgCenter . 2018 .
