What to do if your sago palm (cycas revoluta) doesn't look so good

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The weather in the Phoenix area can be hard on tropical plants, on both extremes - heat and cold. If you're looking at a sago palm that looks a little sad, or tense, you may be seeing normal struggling of the plant through extreme temperatures, or you may be seeing the beginning of the end.

The good news is that I've never seen a cycas revoluta here at The Tropical Paradise die from either heat or cold. They can look a little rough when it gets to be over 100 degrees, or below freezing, but hey, wouldn't you? The only way that I've managed to successfully kill a cycas revoluta here at The Tropical Paradise is over-watering, especially in the winter.

If your plant is dying, the sooner you pull it out and get rid of it the better. It's just depressing to see a normally beautiful plant like a sago palm looking so bad. But wait! There are some tests you can take before you go to that awful extreme. Here they are:

• Squeeze the caudex (the trunk on big ones, the "pineapple" on little ones. If it's mushy, it's a goner. Take it out to the trash and throw it away. It probably smells bad, anyway.

• Tug at its heart. With normal finger pressure, pull on the innermost leaves. Cycads, like palm trees, grow only from the center. If the center leaves pull out, it's dead. Then go wash your hands of the smell.

• Pull it up by the roots. A healthy plant will hold on tight. If you have overwatered your cycad, and it's roots have rotted away, it will pull out of the ground easily, a well-rooted plant won't.

And if it passes the caudex test and the heart test, but fails the root test, don't throw it away. Trim all of the rotted roots away, apply some rooting hormone powder, and put it in a pot with only sand, perlite, or volcanic pumice. Even if all its leaves fall off, and they probably will, if you can get some roots growing, the plant will rebound. It may take two seasons. If you don't want to do that, bring it over here.

If the plant is planted somewhere that collects water, wait until spring and then replant it on higher ground. Like cactus, cycads don't like to stand with their feet wet! I learned this the hard way.

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