Q. I have four sago palms and two are turning yellow. The
two which look best were bought from a local nursery and the two which don’t
were bought from a building mass marketer, They are all planted in rock mulch
and watered on drip. They each get about 15 gallons each a week. They are now
pushing new growth. I screened the soil they were going into when planting them
and put in a lot of peat moss to amend it. They get sun all day long. I tried
some local supplements but they don’t seem to be helping.
two which look best were bought from a local nursery and the two which don’t
were bought from a building mass marketer, They are all planted in rock mulch
and watered on drip. They each get about 15 gallons each a week. They are now
pushing new growth. I screened the soil they were going into when planting them
and put in a lot of peat moss to amend it. They get sun all day long. I tried
some local supplements but they don’t seem to be helping.
 |
| Readers sago palm or cycad |
A. On your cycads, or sago palms, it is stress. Looks
like the yellowing is from high light combined with high temperature stress.
The rocks are not helping since it makes the area hotter from radiated heat.
like the yellowing is from high light combined with high temperature stress.
The rocks are not helping since it makes the area hotter from radiated heat.
Put some
shade over it but the damage is done and those fronds cannot repair themselves.
You have to rely on new growth to cover the damaged growth. So it will look bad
until that happens. That is my best shot at it.
shade over it but the damage is done and those fronds cannot repair themselves.
You have to rely on new growth to cover the damaged growth. So it will look bad
until that happens. That is my best shot at it.
They
will not do well with rock mulch. They don’t do well if the soil doesn’t drain
easily either. They really want to have rich, organic soils, mixed with their
roots, to do well. Even though they are somewhat tolerant of dry soils, they
are not drought tolerant.
will not do well with rock mulch. They don’t do well if the soil doesn’t drain
easily either. They really want to have rich, organic soils, mixed with their
roots, to do well. Even though they are somewhat tolerant of dry soils, they
are not drought tolerant.
The
worst exposures for sago palm will be hot south or west facing exposures near
heat reflecting walls with rock mulch at their base. The best exposures are
east or even north exposures with lots of indirect light with wood mulch at
their base and plenty of air movement.
worst exposures for sago palm will be hot south or west facing exposures near
heat reflecting walls with rock mulch at their base. The best exposures are
east or even north exposures with lots of indirect light with wood mulch at
their base and plenty of air movement.
The best
soils have been amended richly with compost and the soil covered in wood mulch
(not bark mulch) that decomposes with time. Be careful of watering too often
since they will get root rot if the roots stay wet for too long. In that type
of environment they can handle full sun but still not the rock mulch.
soils have been amended richly with compost and the soil covered in wood mulch
(not bark mulch) that decomposes with time. Be careful of watering too often
since they will get root rot if the roots stay wet for too long. In that type
of environment they can handle full sun but still not the rock mulch.
There are a lot of causes to yellowing, here are some of them, Poor drainage, manganese deficiencies, iron deficiencies, lack of nitrogen in the soil, and various insect attacks, check the underside of fronds for scale also check the stems for weevil borers. good luck