Read a commented profile of the sago palm here with information on growth, leaves, flowers and winter hardiness. Tried-and-tested tips explain how to properly plant and care for cycads.
What are the special features and care instructions for a sago palm?
The sago palm (Cycas revoluta) is an evergreen, easy-care plant that originally comes from Japan. It has pinnate, fern-like leaves and grows tree-like up to 250 cm in height. Cycas revoluta prefers constantly moist substrate without waterlogging, bright, sunny locations and should be fertilized with organic liquid fertilizer. Note that it is poisonous and sensitive to frost.
Profile
- Scientific name: Cycas revoluta
- Genus: Sago Palm Ferns (Cycas)
- Family: Cycadaceae
- Synonyms: Japanese sago palm fern, Japanese cycad
- Growth type: tree-like seed plant
- Growth height: 200 cm to 250 cm
- Leaf: pinnate, evergreen
- Flower: cones or fertile leaves
- Roots: taproot with fine roots
- Toxicity: poisonous
- Winter hardiness: sensitive to frost
- Use: houseplant, potted plant
Growth
The sago palm is a very popular ornamental plant species within the genus sago palm ferns (Cycas). Cycas revoluta is native to Japan. For this reason, the green beauty is known under the names Japanese cycad and Japanese sago palm fern. In the Mediterranean region, the sago palm is a familiar sight in parks and gardens. In this country, the exotic relic of prehistoric plant worlds delights as an impressive potted plant. Interesting detail for hobby gardeners: Japanese cycad is neither a palm tree nor a fern. The following key growth data explain these important details:
- Growth type: evergreen flowering and seed plant with feathery, fern-like fronds as a crown on a woody trunk.
- Growth habit: single-stemmed, palm-like with an upright trunk and dense tuft of leaves.
- Growth height: up to 2.50 m (as a container plant) 3 m to 8 m (in Japan and the Mediterranean).
- Trunk: short, thick, cylindrical.
- Stem bark: barky, black-gray, covered with leaf scars when old.
- Roots: Taproot with a dense network of lateral fine roots
- Annual growth: one new wreath of leaves per year.
- Gardenically interesting properties: site-tolerant, easy to care for, undemanding, poisonous, not hardy, slow growing, decorative houseplant all year round.
Video: Overwintering a sago palm
Leaf
At a young age, a decorative rosette of leaves with a fern look characterizes the growth of a Cycas revoluta. Only later does the distinctively grained trunk form, on which the leaves now sit enthroned as a majestic crown. The leaf of a sago palm can be recognized by these features:
- Leaf shape: thorny-stalked, pinnate, elongated-lanceolate, arched-overhanging,
- Sheet size: 50 cm to 200 cm
- pinnate leaves: linear, leaf edge rolled back, becoming narrower towards the leaf base.
- Leaf color: leathery-dark green, evergreen.
- Arrangement: rosette-shaped, later screw-shaped as a wreath of leaves around the trunk.
- Special feature: initially rolled leaves unfold like real fern fronds.
Bloom
The sago palm is a dioecious, separate-sex plant. Male and female flowers differ significantly:
- Male inflorescence: cone-shaped, pale yellow, 30 cm to 60 cm long.
- Female inflorescence: crest-like wreath of tomentose, hairy, yellowish-brown leaves with ovules on the edge of the leaf, similar to the spores on real ferns.
- Position: in the top of the plant in the middle of the upper leaf wreath.
- Flowering time: May to July.
If male and female sago palms are in close proximity, after pollination the ovules turn into orange-red, spherical seeds without carpels. Only very old Cycas revoluta bloom in natural Asian locations or when planted in the Mediterranean. For this reason, Central European hobby gardeners are usually not granted the experience of a sago palm flowering period.
Toxicity
The sago palm is poisonous in all parts. Significant toxins include the glycoside cycasin, which is found in all cycads, and a toxic amino acid. The latter has been proven to be the cause of ataxia, a paralytic condition in cattle and sheep that eat the leaves. It is advisable to avoid using Japanese cycad in the family household or to place the potted plant out of the reach of children and pets.
Winter hardiness
A sago palm is not hardy. The minimum temperature is between 12° and 15° Celsius. Short-term frost down to -5° Celsius does not cause any damage to cycads.
Plant sago palm
The easiest way is to plant a young to middle-aged sago palm from a specialist retailer. A 60 cm tall, ready-to-plant cycad with a 15 cm high trunk costs from 69.90 euros. Propagation by sowing is more demanding and time-consuming. The quality of the substrate is of crucial importance. Japanese sago palm fern is not picky when choosing a location. Worth knowing planting tips to read:
Propagation
These are all the important criteria for sowing cycad seeds:
- Time slot: all year round
- Seed soil: unfertilized coconut soil or growing soil with sand and expanded clay.
- Germination temperature: 25° to 30° Celsius.
- Sowing location: bright and without direct sunlight, high humidity from 50 percent.
- Germination time: 6 to 24 weeks.
Substrate
For the slow-growing sago palm, use a structurally stable substrate that does not collapse even after years. This mixture has proven itself excellently in practice:
- 3 parts cactus soil without peat
- 3 parts coconut fiber substrate as a peat substitute
- 2 parts normal garden soil
- 1 part quartz sand
- 1 part expanded clay or lava granules
Please pay attention to a slightly acidic pH value of 5.8 to 6.8, which you can determine with a test strip.
Planting
How to properly plant a sago palm in a pot:
- Cover the bottom of the bucket with drainage made of expanded clay or lava granules.
- Place root balls in rainwater for 20 to 30 minutes before planting.
- Pour the recommended substrate above the drainage up to half the height of the pot.
- Place the water-soaked, potted plant in the middle of the substrate.
- Stabilize the cycad with one hand and fill in the remaining substrate with the other, leaving a pouring edge free.
- Press down the soil, water thoroughly, spray the leaves with lime-free water.
Location
Basically, the sago palm grows wherever you put the pot. These general conditions are advantageous for he althy, lush green growth:
- Bright, sunny to partially shaded location without direct sun.
- All year round in light-flooded living and working rooms or winter gardens.
- On the balcony from April to September/October.
- Also in the light shade of trees, bushes or hedges.
A sunny location is possible provided that the Japanese sago palm fern has previously completed a three-week acclimatization phase in partial shade.
Excursus
Living room design with sago palm fern – tips
With its elegant silhouette and calm serenity, the sago palm has wagged its way into the hearts of creative indoor gardeners. As a decorative eye-catcher, a young cycad appears as a kokedama plant in the fluffy moss ball. Feng Shui followers revere Japanese cycad as a primeval messenger with a particularly intense chi radiation. If you place the sago palm fern in front of the living room window, the positive chi energy flow will be directed directly towards the couch for the benefit of good conversations in a relaxed atmosphere.
Care for sago palm
The sago palm is very easy to care for. However, you should not leave the living fossil completely to its own devices. A look at these care tips will be rewarded with a magnificent, long-lasting cycad:
Pouring
- Keep the sago palm constantly slightly moist without causing waterlogging.
- Let the substrate dry to the touch between waterings.
- Spray feathered fronds occasionally throughout the year.
- Suitable irrigation water quality: low in lime, e.g. B. collected rainwater or stale tap water.
Fertilize
- April to September: add an organic liquid fertilizer in half concentration to the irrigation water every month.
- October to March: do not fertilize.
Wintering
- Cydoma fern overwinter bright and cool-tempered at 12° to 17° Celsius.
- Compensate the lack of light in winter with an LED plant lamp.
- Water more sparingly, spray regularly, do not fertilize.
Cutting
Cycas revoluta does not require pruning. You only cut off a wilted leaf if the leaf has completely died. Please protect yourself from the thorns and the poisonous plant sap with thorn-proof gloves. Leave a few centimeters from the base of the leaf to create an even trunk.
Repotting
The sago palm is repotted when the trunk covers at least two thirds of the substrate surface. Given the slow growth, repotting should be noted in the care plan every three to four years. The best time is in the second half of February. Shake the leached substrate from the roots. Cut off dead roots. Following the stressful procedure, Japanese cycad should regenerate in a warm, shady location for a week. Fertilization is carried out for the first time after six to eight weeks, when the nutrient reserves in the fresh soil have been used up.
Diseases, pests, care errors
You will rarely have to complain about diseases and pests on a sago palm. Care errors, on the other hand, often cause gardening headaches. After looking at the following table, you will be familiar with typical damage patterns and their causes and you will know effective antidotes without poison.
| malicious image | Cause | Countermeasure |
|---|---|---|
| Scattered yellow leaves | irrigation water that is too hard | water with rainwater |
| Many yellow leaves, foul smell | Waterlogging | repotting, watering more sparingly |
| Cobwebs, white webs | Spider mites | shower off, combat with soft soap solution |
| Dark, bumpy leaf spots | Scale insects | wipe with an alcohol-soaked cloth |
| Brown leaf tips | Collision Damage | move away from the window glass or the wall |
| Brown leaf tips | too dry air | spray the fronds on the top and bottom every day |
| Brown leaves | Drought stress | dip, water more often from now on |
Rolled, downwardly curved edges along the leaflets are no cause for concern. This is a natural growth characteristic to which the botanical part of the name revoluta (rolled back, curled up) refers.
Popular varieties
There are no varieties of sago palm available beyond the original species Cycas revoluta.
FAQ
Is the Cycas palm hardy?
No, a Cycas palm is not hardy in the sense of being able to overwinter permanently outside. Cycads can cope with short-term frost as long as the thermometer does not fall below -5° Celsius. As a houseplant, the winter temperature minimum is around 15° Celsius.
My sago palm isn't blooming. What to do?
It is devastating for hobby gardeners when a sago palm keeps its flowers under wraps. In fact, even under the ideal conditions of its Japanese homeland, Japanese cycads only bloom at an advanced age. In this country, a blooming cycad is considered a botanical and horticultural sensation. Cultivated as a pot plant all year round, you will look in vain for the furious flowers. By placing your sago palm fern on the balcony from spring to fall, you maximize the chances of experiencing a blooming season.
Why is the sago palm called a living fossil?
When the dinosaurs still colonized our earth, the forests were full of sago palm ferns and other cycad species. While the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago as a result of an asteroid impact, cycads survived the catastrophe. Of the 320 cycads that still exist today, Japanese sago palm fern (Cycas revoluta) is considered one of the most beautiful species.
