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Florida Gardening

Sago Palm Problem

9 years ago

Hi All:
Anyone have any thoughts on what might be happening to my Sago? It's 5 years or so old, usually produces a good flush of new growth each year. This year it produced a tall "cone" type flower, which eventually dried up, then it produced a big blast of new leaves. After a week or two, the new growth began to wither and turn brown, and it looks like I'm going to lose the new growth. The old growth is still nice and green. I fertilize periodically, and other than a whitefly problem from time to time, it seems to do well.

Scott

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Comments (7)

Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
9 years ago
If your weather is really hot, Sagos can get sunburn. A product like Cloud Cover will prevent that.
scott7876
Original Author
9 years ago
That was a thought of mine, it has been real hot, and the new leaves were delayed due to the flowering, the new guys didn't come out until the cone had dried up, much later in the year than usual. I think they are goners, unfortunately!

Thanks
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You have two totally different types of seeds because one is a palm and one is a cycad. If I had to guess, I'd say it is too late for both types. I can't tell the difference in palm seeds on viability, but I can tell about cycads. Since the seeds have not been kept moist or protected in any way, I'd just give them the float test. Throw them in a bucket of water and see if any float, which most likely, all or most all of them will. You have a chance with any that sink. If you have a lot of the sago seeds, you can cut one in half, along the natural seems of the seed and look to see how bad off they are. If you have lots of them, cutting a couple gives you a real good idea of what you are dealing with.
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Those "worms" are catepillars, the larvae of beetles. There's a possibility they chewed into the plant and started off the rotting. But it's also possible they might have just got in to a damaged/rotted part of the plant and kept burrowing inside. Don't know which way around it was. It's an unusual problem, I haven't heard of it happening before. Maybe someone else here has experienced it.
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This is a very strange description. Growing something like this for a week, no matter what light, or water, or anything will do this. So what are the possibilities? We can only speculate. First, if you have individual leaflets that are bent and turning brown that is the first key to some sort of mechanical damage of some sort. Seeing leaflets that were straight a few days ago and now are bent one way or the other also sounds like something weird along the same lines. You could have done something when you brought it home and now it is showing up. Maybe a bird is landing on your plant when your not looking. Maybe a cat or other small animal is doing something. I know these possibilities sound strange, but over the years, I have had people ask this same basic question and they found out later, it was one of these things. Either way, if this is all the problem you are having with the plant, it is very minor. A new flush of leaves will come out sometime and you can cut these older leaves off if you think they look unsightly.
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I can't believe someone thought those were seeds. Seeds on sagos are orange and are almost 3 inches in diameter. Those are the typical brown, round scales. You don't hear much about those because they aren't such a bad problem. Spray some horticultural oil directly on the scales and it will smother them. If you do, use it first thing in the morning because it will burn if used closer to noon time. You can also use twice brewed coffee as a direct contact spray of you don't like the oil.
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User
9 years ago
"Frizzle Top?".........lack of nutrients.......?
PRO
Yardvaark
9 years ago
Have you checked for Asian Sago Scale which has devastated the Sago population in Fl.? It is common. If it's that, you'll need a systemic insecticide. I have had good luck with Bonide Systemic Granules. Easier to use than a drench. Have linked a Youtube video about Asian Scale which might help you diagnose.

Here is a link that might be useful: Asian Sago Scale
leahrenee1
9 years ago
the brown part looks like palm frizzle but you may have some scale too. Treat the frizzle first as wallisadi suggested, then get the scale. There is a product you can buy at the big box stores for this.
scott7876
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the responses folks. I do fertilize, but I usually throw palm fertilizer on it, which might not be the best I suppose. The growth from previous years is fine though. Will treat it and see how we do. It was a little sprout when we bought it, so sad to see the new growth die off!

Also thanks for the link to the video, it does have a touch of what I guess is scale, but I will have to take a better look at photos to see if it's what I have here. I sent a photo to our extension agent, haven't heard back yet, but I know scale is a big problem here.

Thanks again all!
zzackey
9 years ago
It's not a palm. It's a cycad. I think it's Frizzle top. It needs Manganese.

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