Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Growing Cycads Is Really Easy

By Janet Hayes


These beautiful plants are so old that they probably remember the dinosaurs, but still look amazingly attractive. Lovely and decorative, these evergreens will look great indoor and outdoor, planted directly in the soil, if the climate allows, or in nice large terracotta pots. All they need is a little care and regular cactus mixture or some other similar type of soil. Buy or grow from the seeds, it's up to you.

You don't have to hesitate to grow them from seeds, it's really easy. When it comes to growing cycads, You really do not need too much experience. There are just a few simple rules to follow, and these plants really aren't demanding. Since they normally grow in sand, they need simple cactus mix or something. The only thing they are sensitive to is inadequate drainage.

A few varieties of cycads are ready to germinate right after they come off, and how long it will take depends of the variety. Some will fall off in a month or two, some will take a year or so. Anyway, once they come off, they should be either stored or planted, depending on the embryo development. You should determine the exact variety and plan your growing accordingly.

The safer method for determining the embryo development stage is to cut one seed open. Maybe you will lose one seed this way, but you will probably save the rest of them. Another thing you can do is to simply plant a few seeds first, just to make sure. In the meantime, make sure to keep the rest of your delicate seeds in one appropriate environment.

Although some other seeds may be kept in very dry environmental condition, it's not the case here. Slightly moist environment will make sure that the seeds won't become too dry. If this happens, the seed might die. On the other hand, every seed might have some remaining coat pieces on, and that's another thing you should be careful about.

It's better to remove those coat residues as soon as possible, if not before, then certainly before planting. Keeping the seeds in sterile environment might be of a great help here. When you think the it is the time for planting, find nice pots, sand and appropriate soil mixture, for example Perlite or some other cactus mix, and you are ready to go.

First, clean your seeds thoroughly to remove possible coat remains. Soak them in water for maybe two days, making sure you are providing sterile environment. Place sterile sand on the bottom of the pot, place the seeds on and cover it with selected medium, for example Perlite. Water the seeds two times a week. Check the soil first to see if you have to water them.

Maybe you have heard about bottom heaters. These devices are used for enhancing the growth. On the other hand, they can also cook your seeds, if you aren't really careful. In any case, the point is that your greenhouse is perfectly enough warm for this, and you don't really need the heaters. Your living room south window will be also perfect solution.




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