Bringing a cycad back to life

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I have often heard "never throw a cycad away", and it is more often true than not. If the caudex, that is, the pineapple, the truck, is still firm, the plant has a very good chance of coming back to life, even if the leaves are all droopy and yucky. I had a friend of mine drop off some cycads here yesterday at The Tropical Paradise as they had been doing poorly at his place, where they had been in pots on his patio.

The first thing that you need to do is squeeze the caudex. If it's firm, it's worth trying to rehab it. If it's mushy, go ahead and throw it away. The one thing that is guaranteed to kill cycads is overwatering. If the caudex is firm, give the plant a tug, as if you were trying to pull out a weed. If the root system is strong, then it ain't moving. If it pops right up, chances are the roots are either all gone or they are very weak.

Out in my courtyard is my rehabilitation area. I have several pots filled up with volcanic pumice. Ailing cycads love this stuff, and you can confidently put water on them without fear of rotting the roots. As you can see, the one on the left is trying to grow, and it did have some roots left. The one on the right was virtually without roots. A season or two here in the rehab area, and they will be fine. I'll let you know how they do.

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