The eggshells we're talking about are not crushed...cracked in half and left like that.

Went back for the 6 $ Majesty and it was gone. Just like the Fire Bush. That will teach me.

I like the Sago and that Cardboard is fascinating. I did get the Windmill and it is hearty here. I am expanding my tropical bed into what was a tomato bed this year. With my layout, I only have room for 1 palm. I might rethink it and make room for a second palm.

What I really need is about another 100 square feet.

Is that all?

Well - my tropical area now is about 8 x 10. I will retain that and the new added area will be about 9 x 25. So yeah - another 100 sq ft would be great. Of course, 200 would be even better.

I like the Sago Palm. I picked up 2 this summer because they were a dollar. My plants are small as slow as everyone is saying they will probably not be big enough to look tropical before I am six feet under I guess.

They do stay modest in size as long as they are in a container. They grow much faster in the ground so I wonder what would happen if you re-potted it in progressively larger pots more often than one would normally do. Try potting up in early spring and as soon as the roots fill the pot do it again and so on.
I've never tried this myself but I had one in a container for 20 years and as soon as I moved to an area where it could be in the ground I planted it and it really took off.

Cinta said:I like the Sago Palm. I picked up 2 this summer because they were a dollar.

Nice job. 1 $ eh? I really like the look of the Sago. If I could get it to grow real fast to ~ 5 feet and then hold - that would be swell.

I agree with Ardesia. BTW, keeping things in smaller pots is a big part of Bonsai. I have a 2 + YO Black Cherry in a 2" x 2" container that is ~ 10 " tall. This is a 60 foot tree in the ground.

I keep my sago palm as you all have seen in a container, have no area here to plant it in ground anyways and I really want to control its growth. I got several babies from it a couple of years ago, but I think I have removed it too early from mommy, have set them in their own containers, and nothing going. I wonder how I can check if the babies are still alive, short of pulling them out again. Thankfully mommy plant is still okay, and has another baby Just remember to raise part or most of the caudex above the soil line and use very well draining soil. To be able to repot this mommy plant before, I had to bundle up the leaves and tie it up, those leaf tips are so prickly painful!

I have one other sago that I almost killed too, then I repotted to a slightly bigger container and raised the caudex a bit, and growth improved, a true survivor..it is still alive, but it keeps getting attacked by scale. I am just lazy right now to help it battle it, just letting it be. It is one tough plant, and still alive, but I really have to help it one of these days, maybe I should just remove the badly suffering leaf, and just wait for it to grow a new batch in late Spring to Summer.

The scale is a significant problem on the east coast. I would certainly remove the infested leaves and use a horticultural oil on any remaining leaves and the caudex several times over the winter to smother any remaining scale. As long as the caudex is firm your plant should be OK. Organicide is usually an effective oil for cycad scale.

[quote="tarev"]

I have one other sago ... but it keeps getting attacked by scale. I am just lazy right now to help it battle it, just letting it be. /quote]

Takes less than 60 seconds to spray with Insecticidal soap or Neem oil. Scales is one of the worst maladies and should be dealt with quickly. I let it get ahead of me 3 times and learned my lesson ... hard. All 3 plants died. This was over the course of about 18 months. Since scale bite, chew and open the surface, it allows other nasties to get in as well.

IMHO scale is 10 times worse than mealy bugs, white flies, spider mites, etc.

These scales are nastier than most, mommy plant had it before, and after all treatments, have done all of that, and they persisted, so I just removed the leaves then, and that helped better. Will wait it out a bit though for the smaller one, maybe in mid Spring, not now, winter is coming. One thing for sure this plant is a true fighter and makes a good comeback given time.

Once you get rid of the scale you need to prevent future attacks on the Cycad. Place your used coffee grounds on the soil around the Cycad and in the growing point of the plant.






The Asian scale breeds in the soil around the Cycad.

That is so good to know Scott! I got lots of coffee grounds, our local coffee shop gave me a lot! I have put the coffee grounds on most of my plants this year...except the cycad!

I use coffee grounds as a preventative measure. The research based info is inconclusive but the anecdotal evidence supports using them.

Please explain anecdotal evidence.

I believe in the use of the coffee grounds and my Cycads show the proof to me. After years of fighting the scale, removing all leaves using heavy poisons only to have the scale return on the new growth the following year. The Tampa area was full of the King Sago in landscapes. The scale wiped them out here and it is very rare to find them in landscapes or nurseries these days. I have seven total and all are still alive and scale free and all they receive is the coffee grounds.

Rainbow said:Please explain anecdotal evidence.

ScotTi just gave an example.

Got it! Ardesia had a contextual clue in her sentence, but I did not pick up on it. Scot Ti's example helped a lot. Thanks!

ScptTi. Do you use coffee grinds that have not been brewed?

I ask because I use fresh coffee grind on my hostas because it is the caffeine that kill the slugs. Used coffee grinds will not work