Rehabilitating a cycad

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Sometimes a cycad will lose all of its leaves. In the case of the one pictured here, it didn't like being transplanted this past year. In spite of all my tender loving care, it started drooping, then the leaves just dried up. But this doesn't mean that the plant is dead. Don't throw it away! With the correct care, it will be fine.

If you have a cycad whose leaves are drying up, you can test the health of the plant by squeezing the caudex. The caudex is the trunk, or the "pineapple", or if it's really little, the "golf ball" of the plant. If it's firm, your cycad will be OK. If it's mushy, it's a goner, throw it away.

This Encephalartos lehmannii is a worth the trouble of rehabilitation. The first thing that you do is to cut off all of the leaves. Then you lift the caudex, that is, gently remove it from the ground. Chances are it will go pretty easily, as it's probably the root system that has failed. Don't be surprised if there are no roots at all! When I lifted this plant, the root system had completely failed. So, to rehab it, you need to give it a chance to grow good strong roots again and this is how you do it -

Be sure the caudex is clean. If necessary, gently cut away anywhere that there is any "mushyness". Apply rooting hormone powder to the bottom. You can that at any Home Depot or nursery, and it's not expensive. The worst thing that you could do would be to plunge the caudex into some wet potting soil and let it continue to rot.

Find a nice pot with good drainage and fill it with volcanic pumice. Volcanic pumice can be tricky to find, but call around and the high-end nurseries will carry it. Here in Phoenix I have found it at Baker Nursery, a wonderful old nursery in central Phoenix. If it's summertime, you can do this in a spare bathtub. It's cool now, so I am able to do this outdoors. The roots will grow down into the pumice, and when you have new roots (yes, you can pick it up to check), it's time to plant it back in the ground. Add the pumice to the planting area, water a bit but don't over-water, and leaves will grow back again. It's a beautiful thing!

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