I truly thought that Bastard the Cycad had carked it over the winter. All his fronds were yellow and crispy, and he looked very sorry for himself. But you should never write off a cycad, so he was moved to the ICU and put in a bucket of water. A few weeks ago, there were signs of life:
Two weeks later, we are well and truly in a flush!
That's probably a good 3cm in 15 days. He's in a pretty sunny spot now, and he's still sitting in a bucket of water. I'm not moving him until the fronds have fully formed, as movement would result in some twisting of the fronds. I really must investigate the physiology of this more. Angiosperms grow to the light, but conifers don't seem to have much of a phototropic response - I didn't need to turn my Sequoia seedlings on the windowsill. I don't know whether conifers aetiolate either (I've seen it in cycads, ferns and of course angiosperms).
It looks like I might get as many as half a dozen fronds off Bastard, so I will try to post regular updates on his progress.
Two weeks later, we are well and truly in a flush!
That's probably a good 3cm in 15 days. He's in a pretty sunny spot now, and he's still sitting in a bucket of water. I'm not moving him until the fronds have fully formed, as movement would result in some twisting of the fronds. I really must investigate the physiology of this more. Angiosperms grow to the light, but conifers don't seem to have much of a phototropic response - I didn't need to turn my Sequoia seedlings on the windowsill. I don't know whether conifers aetiolate either (I've seen it in cycads, ferns and of course angiosperms).
It looks like I might get as many as half a dozen fronds off Bastard, so I will try to post regular updates on his progress.
Our Bastard lives in the conservatory, which would probably have dropped to -10C on several occasions over the winter.
ReplyDeleteI had thought this had killed him, although the fronds remained they can take a long time to realise they are dead, but he's just put out a new flush of 8 fronds. As I said before, this is a personal best for him!
I'm awaiting the final frond count - the wet weather seems to be doing him the world of good, so maybe we'll get a few more!
ReplyDeleteWe got a new one from Olive grove, big bugger for £50 :)
ReplyDelete