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jeremy1908
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 10:49 am Posts: 15 Location: Hampshire, UK
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Cycas cairnsiana and platyphylla - seeking advice
Hi folks,
I'm planning to grow some of the above blue cycas from seed, and would be interested to know if anyone in Britain has managed to grow them to a good standard, or at all. I'm thinking they may be so dependent on high temperature that they will only grow incredibly slowly in our conditions, although I do have a conservatory that gets very hot in summer. Or, will they grow ok but be largely non-blue due to shortage of sun ?
Any comments appreciated.
Jeremy
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Fri May 26, 2017 9:47 am |
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bucko
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:00 am Posts: 208 Location: Czeh rep
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Re: Cycas cairnsiana and platyphylla - seeking advice
Hi Jeremy. I think no problem growing in Britain,I have my mind in the container, but blue color do not make the sun !! Blue gets when it grows in dry air. You must know that they grow very slowly. My platyphylla
Regards Josef
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Fri May 26, 2017 8:43 pm |
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BenC
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:23 pm Posts: 298 Location: East Devon, UK
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Re: Cycas cairnsiana and platyphylla - seeking advice
I've got a thing about 'blue' cycads, fantastic plants!
Jeremy, it is perfectly possible to grow these in the UK. I grew a batch of Cycas cairnsiana seeds back in 2011. They germinated well and I passed all the plants on apart from one which I still grow. I'll post a photo of it when I get the chance over the next few days.
Currently my cairnsiana has three leaves, and has lost some of the very early ones. It grew only a single leaf a year for the first few years. It shows a nice blue / grey-green colour. But after 6 years or so it is still very small -patience is certainly required!
I grow it in my front porch where it gets pretty warm with bright indirect light. A conservatory sounds ideal.
Josef - wonderful as always!
_________________ http://www.adventurousplants.co.uk
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Fri May 26, 2017 9:30 pm |
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BenC
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:23 pm Posts: 298 Location: East Devon, UK
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Re: Cycas cairnsiana and platyphylla - seeking advice
Hi Jeremy, I finally had a chance to grab a snap of the Cycas cairnsiana seedling. As you can see, considering it germinated in 2011, you're going to be in for a long wait... Lovely plants though and well worth it if you have the patience. The colour is a much more striking glaucus blue than the photo suggests. And as a note to myself, I must stop recycling old potting mix - a fine crop of Typhoniun roxburghii and Amorphophallus ongsakulii are threatening to take over the pot
_________________ http://www.adventurousplants.co.uk
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Fri Jun 02, 2017 9:38 pm |
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jeremy1908
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 10:49 am Posts: 15 Location: Hampshire, UK
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Re: Cycas cairnsiana and platyphylla - seeking advice
Thank you both, those are very nice plants and I will certainly try them out. I'm 50 next year, so now is definitely the time to acquire seedlings of slow growing cycads !
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Thu Jun 08, 2017 3:09 pm |
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Re: Cycas cairnsiana and platyphylla - seeking advice
Well,then you might be too late Try these fast(er) growers. E.lemaniii isn't listed- but I hear its up there near the faster Encephalartos. http://www.cycadpalm.com/fastgrowers.html
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Sat Jun 10, 2017 6:41 pm |
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jeremy1908
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 10:49 am Posts: 15 Location: Hampshire, UK
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Re: Cycas cairnsiana and platyphylla - seeking advice
Thank you for the link Stan. That E. laurentianus is something else ! I have previously grown E. gratus and ituriensis from seed and indeed they are fast compared with many cycas. Another one I love is Lepidozamia perroffskyana - quick growing and tolerant with stunning olive green foliage. I don't know why LP is not a commonly available house plant.
While on the subject, I have 2 cycas sp. "silver" grown from seed in 2012. They have 1.5m caudex, are still producing only 1 or 2 leaves per year, and have no silvery/white sheen as yet. Has anyone got this to grow a bit faster ?
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Fri Jun 16, 2017 8:44 pm |
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Re: Cycas cairnsiana and platyphylla - seeking advice
Jeremy- do you have a greenhouse? I ask,because some cycads too,do better then others indoors. Dioon edule is one I've seen thriving by a bank of windows- not exactly a typical home set up though. Outdoors it needs hot summer sun to overcome our cool winter months and typical bay area weather. Indoors,I guess the always moderate temps are fine. Ever since I discovered systemics,indoor exotic plant keeping got possible. A Plumeria cutting for example grows indoors very fast until mites find it. Problem now solved and I can put it outdoors next summer much larger.
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Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:17 pm |
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jeremy1908
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 10:49 am Posts: 15 Location: Hampshire, UK
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Re: Cycas cairnsiana and platyphylla - seeking advice
I have a south west facing conservatory. Only the front face is glass as the back and both sides are house walls. This is an advantage as cycads and succulents can stand at the front in strong light, while the middle is in part shade and the back is dark enough for real shade lovers. My tree ferns over winter in here and the roof space is full of my wife's vanda orchids. Took 9 years to finish due to money drying up all the time, but worth the wait.
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Sun Jun 18, 2017 8:36 pm |
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