Me too.

The moderator has split this thread off the 'Bromeliads' one at my request.

Cycad, I didn't know these existed till here. But today I walked past a few of them at a Chinese nursery. So I bought one! The label gives one all the info for planting but only says "Dyckia" as an identification. So it is a noid?

Beautiful with those wide leaves!

That's what people would call an M L hybrid. It could be the actual species, but they vary a lot. Knowing it may be a hybrid in the back of your mind the label I would put on would be Dyckia marnier-lapostollei)

Stunning, Gleni. How lucky for you! It's really educational fun to be introduced to new plants here.

Yes, I am quite pleased with the plant.

Just be sure to put it in a big pot so it won't bite your ankles, Glen.

I'd love to build a rockery for these plants, so they'd be displayed nicely but not be a danger to me. I still can't find the little one I bought last year, but I just know it's lurking out there!

That one stays pretty small. It rarely gets wider than a foot and the spines don't seem extra pointy. They don't hold up as well as some of them. I've rotted a couple of them but once I figured that didn't want it as wet, I've kept mine now for about 6 years.
Even though this is not an extra picky one, like maybe D. delicata, one of the secrets to these is that if you look at how they grow in Brazil, they are on sides of hills and they sit at an angle, which makes excess moisture drain off the plant and not getting caught in the cup.
OK, I am Editing , I just noticed I haven't mentioned trichomes in detail yet in this topic. Usually with silver dyckias, they feel a little fuzzy on the tops of the leaves. This is a three dimensional organ called a trichrome gland that is used to absorb moisture. There are many species that live on cliffs, or on sides of various sized mountains that don't experience actual rain for a good six months. What they do is get fog coming up from the lower elevations, the trichrome glands absorb the fog, and that is how that get watered. At the same time, many of these species don't want to get real wet in cultivation. A term for a mass of these glands is called scurfing. You can see there is some scurfing on that ML hybrid. This is another reason why I call some of these landscape dyckias, because you don't want something picky when you pit them in the landscape. Now in a nice rounded rock garden these would be perfect. I think a nice little dyckia garden could be done with a 10 to 12 foot circle mounded about 3 to 4 feet tall. You can plant them all the way around and they are displayed where you can see every single plant from several feet away.

I might do them into my new rocks. I will try and buy more.

I just saw this thread, wow..I like to try one..it seems very conducive in our area..6 months no rain..lots of sun..cool/wet winters...but will think about those thorny leaves...my hubby might not like it! Thanks cycadjungle!

Hi, I think I have two of this green Dyckias (right side of the pic). I wonder how fast they will grow? (or they ever grow a lot?) They are in 4" pot now. Do I expect to repot them soon? (I hope not cause I just repot them from 3" pot.) Thanks

Those Dyckias might grow wider than those pots, but they can grow in pots that size for at least a couple of years. Most people grow and sell these plants in 4 inch pots and the larger ones you normally buy from a wholesale place will be in 6 inch pots. I think they like to keep them small on purpose, and keeping them in smaller puts will do that. I have found that even the smaller types like Brittle Star will get twice the normal size when you put them in a 10 inch pot. I am not in the norm though. Size and maturity ate two different things. Most the Dyckias I have been growing are maturing (flowering) in 3 to 4 years from seed, but many of these will flower in a 3 to 4 inch pot, and don't have to be a huge plant.

Cycad, Thank you for the info.

tarev said:I just saw this thread, wow..I like to try one..it seems very conducive in our area..6 months no rain..lots of sun..cool/wet winters...but will think about those thorny leaves...my hubby might not like it! Thanks cycadjungle!

I too just saw this post. Thank you I guess, say "I guess" because I really do not need to get another plant obsession.

They look so interesting.

They are at least VERY easy to take care of and don't use up a lot of space. People keep these in 4 to 6 inch pots to keep them small and if you don't kill it in some way, a single plant cash live 100 years. They like being watered but can also handle a more xeric growing situation, so that means they are very tolerant of people who forget to take care of their plants consistently. I have only scratched the surface of what can be found out in the world, yet alone, just the variety that I have available. It is a very good plant for a new obsession. Tom

@cycadjungle Hello Tom, I just saw this thread and would really like to hear more about what you are growing. I have a dyckia that was given to me about seven years ago by a member of a cactus society just labeled red dyckia. It has of course multiplied and been gifted many times over. A friend gave me a bromeliad last year that has the very same spines and colors. They are now completely mixed together in amongst my pots and landscape and the only way I can tell them apart is that the dyckia has the same red bloom non event color as the foliage and the tropical bromeliad that I got last year has a blue and yellow bloom that resembles queens tears. The spines on both are the same. Here is a pic below. I wondered if you had any thoughts? I sure would love to see any new creations you have been up to. Thank you for the thread. I found it looking for more info on silver sheen. @froggardener has given me a few of these beauties and I am trying to find the minimum cold tolerance on them. I found conflicting info on what is silver sheen on the net.
This is the red one in question. It gets severely abused at times and it shows in the older leaves. I have some others that are in much better shape.

This is the silver sheen. She had it in shade before giving them to me and it has been gradually introduced to more sun and is developing a red hue in the center.

Possibly fosteriana?
To


Be honest when. I bought it I thought it was some sort of aloe