Another cycad makes a comeback..

Thats brilliant Stan I hope it continues .

Flushing? What's that?

A new growth of leaves. It was disheartening to say the least that when I dug it up expecting a rootball- there was none.
Soon,after these two leaves expand and harden..I can pot it up to a more spacious pot. At the time,this little pot was more then enough.

So does it spend a lot of time with no leaves at all?

No. Sometimes when they go very long times without a flush of new growth..the old fronds are worn down to near shreds. Cutting them off many times pushes the plant to send out new leaves. Some say they think fire has removed the leaves..and its like a trigger.
Never give up on a cycad.

Tough cookies eh?

Incredible how they can cling to life. Everyone I have has faced a tough time or two...none have died. Not a single one.
Its why they are so popular in soucal where its warmer and they grow faster..still rare and expensive like a collector would want...yet they don't die on that collector. A great combo.

Sometimes it takes a while for them to flush new growth. That's cycads for you. lol!

I'm betting this is Dioon spinulosum,Andy. It used to flush every year...then right about gopher invasion time,it became slow..then stopped all together.
I just dug up a Chameodorea costa ricana. It had been growing partly on plastic sheeting with gravel over that. Its what saved it,because when I dug it up..all the roots facing the open ground had been eaten to the same exact point where the gravel and plastic began.
I now avoid palms. It says something about Howea's,King palms and Trachycarpus. Gophers avoid them.
I bet Mex fan palms and Queens have also never fallen over from Gophers.
btw- The cats catch them..I've seen at least three dead ones eaten the last two years. Who knows how many others the cats left hidden someplace. Always more.

Yes, Howea, King and Queen palm roots most likely don't taste good to gophers. I know they absolutely love Dypsis decaryi roots. When I lived in Mission San Jose, Fremont the gophers loved eating their roots. I had three nice ones in the ground. The smallest tree, a gopher ate the roots to the stem!

I saw a Triangle palm in Inga Hoffman's yard. That would look killer right in front of my house. Fit in too with the C&S.

Triangle palms are pretty easy to grow there. They grow like crazy here in the ground. I've seen so many large ones here. They do get some kind of bud rot sometimes here, though. This is especially true of ones grown in too much shade as mature trees.

I forgot that I have a small one planted next to the banana's. It was a seedling I got off ebay for $3 going into its third summer now. Fronds just this year are looking more like a real frond.
Its avoided gophers up to now.
I've been planting more of my potted plants..the Pereskia 'gold'..I put in the ground. It was doing well..then slowed in a pot. Does that every year on me. I put it in the front yard. I planted out the variegated Poinsettia and the Philippine Firecracker Clerodendron. Better crowded in the ground then the endless watering in a pot and never really take off.
What a difference once they get rooted...no wilting on hot days..ma earth beats my pots.

Dypsis decaryi grows very quickly here. I have four in a pot. I had several which I sold a few years back. They got so big, so quickly!

Yes, the ground is usually better for most plants. Typically, plants, trees can tolerate more dryness in the ground than in a pot.

I think the Pereskia gold..is not a full sun plant. Likes warm,but when it gets to mid summer..the leaves get smaller..it slows down. My front yard is half day sun in summer..more in winter. Not really much if anything on the net about growing them.

I've read it's a little more difficult to grow than species.