Sago Palm help

19 years ago

Hi.

Last summer, someone gave me a small Sago Palm as a gift. It's tiny, the bulb being no more than 2 or 3 inches in diameter, and the stalks maybe 6 inches in height.

Over the winter, the stalks turned pale green/light yellow one by one. I was told to cut them off if they got like that, and that I could cut them all off if needed.

So I cut them all off eventually.

How long will it take them to come back? Will they in fact come back during the summer?

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Comments (10)

grice
19 years ago
Hi Pancakes(great name btw) from what I've read,the leaves should come back.
Anything yellow or brown should be removed to reduce stress on the sago. As long as the trunk and leaf crown is hard wood then it should recover and send out new leaves although it may take awhile. Sagos produce leaves all at once.
There is an article by Lynn McKamey (owner Of Rhapis Gardens) that will be of interest and great help to you. Google for it and take a look.
Hope this is some help.
Grice
Pancakes
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks. :) I found the Rhapis Gardens site and read the article I think you are referring to. It was very helpful.

Thanks very much. :)
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I don't think that damage is from getting watered with cold water. Most plants are not so sensitive that one brief contact with cold water will harm them. My suspicion is that it might have spider mites. See below link for more info on how to figure out if that's the problem. Here is a link that might be useful: Some info about spider mites with pictures
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A few points to consider: With any plant in a small or shallow pot, it is very difficult to control the conditions in the root zone - among other things, the soil is typically too hot in the sun (roots are cooking) and unless watering is very consistent, the substrate dries out very quickly as well. The end result is dead roots. Some plants can overcome this and recover, others cannot. Slow growing plants (like Cycads) have a more difficult time with unfavorable root conditions. A healthy "Sago" potted appropriately can easily be watered daily during the warm months. I water almost all my Cycads in pots daily. But I have them in large deep pots with a very coarse substrate so the oxygenation is excellent. My recommendation is to repot your cycad into a larger container, preferably deep. Use a high % of coarse substrate like perlite. Inspect the roots. If they are healthy they will be a light color. Water once and keep the plant in the warm shade without water for about 2 weeks. Then bring it back out into the sun, and fertilize with a high Nitrogen fertilizer. NEVER LET THE SOIL DRY OUT COMPLETELY! This will kill the roots. Depending on the size of pot, soil mix and exposure, watering every few days from the spring to the fall should be adequate. In the winter, depending on where you keep the plant, watering may be reduced significantly, but never to the point of desiccation. I can't give you any more specifics without additional info on your end. Good luck! Cycads are survivors and can put up with lots of abuse. Hopefully with some coddling, your plant will flush a new set of leaves later this summer. Read up on the care of cycads on the internet. x
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I agree 100%. A bonsai sago is just a name they give sago palms when small and they have a decorative pot and some nice rocks or maybe mulch. It probably sells better when you say its a bonsai. They say its a bonsai but in my opinion, unless you really love the challenge of making and maintaining bonsai, its better off in a real pot with real soil. I have had "bonsai" sago palms before and the rocks are sometimes glued all around the entire plant which isnt very healthy, but you can keep it in that pot until it outgrows it in a year or so. It should be watered well and kept outside in warmer months. It will make a "flush" which are just a new set of leaves usually 2 times a year, but sometimes only once. A larger plant can have 10-20 leaves in a flush but smaller plants have less. When its making a flush it must be in full sun or else you get streched out leaves which sometimes looks nice, but it isnt very proportional to the other leaves and makes the plant very easy to fall in the wind. If you are looking for a houseplant and only a houseplant I think peace lilies and parlor palms are great. They are always growing and both bloom pretty often also. They love a sunny window. African violets are also very nice. They stay small, but there flowers dont go unnoticed. I just keep mine by a sunny window and water it every time it looks dry at it is almost always in flower (right now its full of them). They are easy. Corn plants (not the one you get corn from) also make great houseplants and can flower when older (mine have yet to do that though). They grow slow making them perfect for the home and can be bought at nice sizes. Dont get me wrong, sagos have no problem being indoors and mine did great until that new flush of leaves came and the leaves got too long from the lack of sun. They probably wont even flush out very often indoors because its not warm and sunny enough. I wouldnt expect a flush indoors more than every year and a half unless you take it out for the summer. And with any plant, if you want it to get big and healthy, fertilize it every once in a while, most plants really love it! Good luck! -Alex
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First of all, putting the plant right out into sun is risky, most likely the newest leaves will burn, they are not used to it since they matured while indoors, your best bet is to take the plant out a little longer each day for about 10 days, but even then the new leaves may still burn. If you get a new flush this year, the leaves will be normal. Second, Sagos will do perfectly fine indoors in the winter with minimal light, just make sure you water much less. Healthy plants will tolerate temps into the teens, but plants in pots are not as cold hardy as in the ground. Digging it out each fall is not practical and would become more and more difficult as the plant grows, you should keep it in its container. Thirs, and most importantly, based on your questions, you really should do a lot more reading about how to properly take care of cycads. Here are some links to get you started, in no particular order: Jungle Music Cycad Jungle Jurassic Gardens
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grice
19 years ago
You're welcome for the response.
Please let us know how the sago does okay?
Grice
Pancakes
Original Author
18 years ago
Still nothing. It's been about 3 months since the last stalk was cut off now, and there's no sign of anything.

It's just sitting in a small pot outside now, so it's not like it's requiring a lot of work, but how long should I wait before I give up on it?
cjm13
18 years ago
I just signed up for this site and noticed your post. I had a slightly larger sago loose all it's leaves after a rare snow event here in central texas. I think it was about six months before it put on new leaves. I know that some sagos only sprout one set of leaves per year, so hang in there.
AuntieMame
18 years ago
Pancakes, I agree with cj in Austin. Sometimes it's at least a year. Good Luck - don't give up.
beachsandra
18 years ago
I had the same type problem because I placed my sago outside too early in the season - all the leaves got sunburned. Following the advice of the good people in this formum, I cut off all but three in April and placed it in a a slightly shadier spot on my south facing deck. I trimmed all the brown/white from the three remaing leaves (they look funny and stubby) .....and waited.....and waited. This weekend, TEN new leaves sprouted!!!! So hang in there .
Pancakes
Original Author
18 years ago
I was looking around and came across my old thread.

I think it's dead. :( No new leaves after all this time, and it doesn't look like there's anything going on with the plant.

With trees and plants I know how to tell if there's any life left, but how do I know with a Sago? I'm not very hopeful, but I would hate to think I killed a nearly indestructible Sago Palm. *sigh*
Maxie1
18 years ago
Hello Pancake - I'm a lurker from the hypertufa site - My sago is in a very small bonsai pot at a north window as I'm zone 6 here in WA. The leaves started turning yellow, then brown about 6 mo after I bought it. I let it sit for about another 3 months then finally pulled the leaves off but couldn't bear to throw it out. After a little over a year, lo! it showed signs of little growths on top and now it is beautiful with healty dark green leaves. I just read that the bulbous top absorbs the chlorophyl in the leaves so not to remove until they are completely brown - strange. In all my good plant books NONE mentioned this habit - read it on the net somewhere about three weeks before mine sprouted. :) In your warmer climes it would be O.K. to be outside in summer without sun so a pot would be best (can keep as a medium or so "bonsai" size) because best kept not below 50 degrees. Keep the faith! Maxine
automax
17 years ago
I have Sago palms planted in my yard and each one from the tip to the base measures about 1 1/2ft to 2ft. The leaves are brown in some areas of the plant and green in others and I live in a cold hardiness zone of 8A. If I do not cut the leaves but instead fertilize it properly and treat it with either Iron Plus or Liquid Copper Fungicide, will the leaves that are brown turn green again in the warm months ahead? And if they must be cut, should they be cut at the stem?

Sago Palm help

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