King Sago Palm

Sago palms are mainly of four kinds. These are:

1) King Sago Palm (Cycas revoluta)

2) True Sago Palm (Metroxylon sagu)

3) Queen Sago Palm (Cycas rumphii)

4) Queen Sago Palm (Cycas circinalis)

When you say the phrase 'sago palm', it is considered that you are talking about the 'king sago palm' or Cycas revoluta. It is the most commonly grown type of sago palm. Lets have a look at some care tips and propagation methods of the king sago palms.

Sunlight

They require bright sunlight to thrive. They can also tolerate partial shades but full sunlight is best for their health. Protect the younger plants from direct sunlight. I have lost a little sago to direct sunlight.

Water

Water them sparingly. Although they are hardy plants, but over-watering can cause damage to your king sagos. Allow the soil around them to dry thoroughly before watering them again. At lower temperatures and with filtered sunlight, you would need to water your palms just twice a month.

Soil

King sagos require a quickly draining soil to thrive.

Drought tolerance

They have a high tolerance for droughts. Once you have watered an established sago palm thoroughly, you can forget to water it for a whole month if the temperature isn't very high and it doesn't receive direct, bright sunlight.

You can propagate king sagos using two main methods:

1) Seed Germination

2) Offset removal.

Seed germination:

You can start the process of germination by first collecting seeds from the cone of mother plant. Remove fruit material from the seeds. Remove every single particle of the soft coating so that the seeds don't catch fungus. Now, sow these seeds in a quickly training potting mix. Prepare a potting mix which is three parts sand and one part compost. Sow the seeds horizontally so that half of the seed is still exposed above the potting mix. So, in other words, you should sow a seed halfway down. Keep the soil moist and place the pots in shade.

Offset removal:

It is easy propagating sago palms using this method. Offsets or little pups that grow beside the mother plant can be developed into separate plants. The process is simple. Remove the offsets rite from the base without damaging the mother plant. You should wait until they are 10 to 15 cm in diameter before removing them. Now, plant these pups in small pots and water them. Make sure you keep the soil moist for most of the time till the pup has established itself. Don't forget to keep them in shade.