Dioon spinulosum cycad beginning to grow

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Unlike palm trees, which grow continuously, cycads, like this dioon spinulosum, grow in short spurts, usually only once a year, called "flushes". It's May 20th and this is the first one showing this new growth here at The Tropical Paradise this season.

I trimmed off some the leaves because of severe frost damage, but normally you should leave them on as they protect the young leaves, which are soft and easily damaged. Any damage to a leaf is permanent, so be careful. This is no place for soccer practice!

During this stage it's typical for cycad collectors to go out and look at the plant obsessively. It grows pretty fast, so you will see a lot of change in just a few days! It's a good time to give it some fertilizer, too. I push in some of those plant food spikes that you get at the dollar store, then water in well.

Your cycads will flush according to how much sunlight they get. The ones in deeper shade flush in mid-summer. Still, it's a good idea to go out there often and take a peek to see if there is any new growth!

Once this flush is complete I will trim off the old damaged leaves all the way around. If you have no damage to the leaves, of course, you just can leave them on. It's a matter of taste as to how you want the plant to look. I prefer seeing the trunk a bit, so I do a fair amount of trimming. You really only have to do this once a year, or maybe twice a year if the plant is very robust. It's not a lot of work!

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