If you grow agaves, yuccas or related plants in a warm climate, there is one pest you need to know — and fear. The agave snout weevil (Scyphophorus acupunctatus) is a black beetle, roughly fifteen millimetres long, whose larvae bore into the heart of agaves and related plants, destroying them from the inside. By the time the… Continue reading The Agave Snout Weevil: How to Identify, Prevent and Fight Scyphophorus acupunctatus
Author: Jean-Michel
My Cycas Is Producing New Shoots
You notice a cluster of new growth emerging from the centre of your Cycas revoluta — and you’re not quite sure whether to celebrate or worry. That sudden flush of tightly coiled fronds, or a strange compact structure rising from the crown, can look alarming if you’ve never seen it before. In reality, it is… Continue reading My Cycas Is Producing New Shoots
When and How to Repot a Yucca — The Complete Guide to Containers, Substrates, and Timing
Repotting is one of the few maintenance tasks that a Yucca genuinely needs. The genus Yucca encompasses roughly 50 species, many of which adapt remarkably well to container culture — Yucca elephantipes is one of the most widely sold houseplants in the world, while Yucca rostrata and Yucca linearifolia are increasingly popular as potted architectural specimens on patios and terraces. But a yucca left in… Continue reading When and How to Repot a Yucca — The Complete Guide to Containers, Substrates, and Timing
My Yucca Has Yellow Leaves — Causes, Diagnosis, and Practical Solutions
Yellow leaves on a Yucca are one of the most common complaints among gardeners and indoor growers alike. The genus Yucca includes roughly 50 species, from the compact rosettes of Yucca filamentosa to the towering trunks of Yucca elephantipes, and virtually all of them share the same alarming symptom: leaves that turn from healthy green to sickly yellow, sometimes seemingly overnight. The… Continue reading My Yucca Has Yellow Leaves — Causes, Diagnosis, and Practical Solutions
The Simon Lavaud Method: Grafting Cycads onto Cycas revoluta to Grow Difficult Species
There is a group of cycads that every collector covets but almost no one in Europe or temperate North America can grow well. The Australian blue cycads — Cycas couttsiana, Cycas ophiolitica, Cycas cairnsiana — along with tropical Asian species like Cycas siamensis “Silver”, are among the most beautiful plants in the genus Cycas. On their own roots, in a European… Continue reading The Simon Lavaud Method: Grafting Cycads onto Cycas revoluta to Grow Difficult Species
My Cycas revoluta Has Brown Tips, Why? Causes and Solutions
Brown tips on the fronds of Cycas revoluta are not a disease in themselves — they are a signal. The leaflet tips are the furthest point from the root system and the last tissue to receive water and nutrients, which makes them the first to show stress from a wide range of causes. Understanding the pattern of… Continue reading My Cycas revoluta Has Brown Tips, Why? Causes and Solutions
My Cycas revoluta Has Root Rot, Why? How to Diagnose, Treat, and Prevent It
Root rot is the most lethal disease of Cycas revoluta in cultivation. While yellow leaves, nutrient deficiencies, and pests can usually be corrected, advanced root rot often kills the plant outright — or reduces it to a hollow stump. The tragedy is that root rot is almost always caused by the grower’s own watering habits, which makes… Continue reading My Cycas revoluta Has Root Rot, Why? How to Diagnose, Treat, and Prevent It
My Cycas revoluta Has Cold Damage, Why? Assessment, Recovery, and Winter Protection
Despite its tropical appearance, Cycas revoluta is one of the hardiest cycads in cultivation. Mature, established specimens in well-drained soil can survive brief exposures to temperatures as low as −8 to −10 °C (USDA zone 8a/8b) — a toughness that has made this species a landscape staple from the French Riviera to the American Southeast. Yet frost… Continue reading My Cycas revoluta Has Cold Damage, Why? Assessment, Recovery, and Winter Protection
My Cycas revoluta Has Scale Insects, Why? Identifying and Controlling Cycad Scale
If your Cycas revoluta is covered in a white, crusty coating on the undersides of its fronds — or if the plant looks increasingly pale, stunted, and sickly despite correct watering and feeding — the culprit is almost certainly cycad aulacaspis scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui. This tiny armoured insect has become the single greatest pest threat to cultivated cycads… Continue reading My Cycas revoluta Has Scale Insects, Why? Identifying and Controlling Cycad Scale
My Cycas revoluta Is Turning Yellow, Why? A Diagnostic Guide
Few sights alarm a cycad grower more than golden-yellow fronds appearing on a plant that should be uniformly deep green. Yet yellowing leaves on Cycas revoluta — the sago palm — is one of the most common problems reported by both indoor and outdoor growers worldwide, from southern Japan to Florida, the Mediterranean coast, and well beyond.… Continue reading My Cycas revoluta Is Turning Yellow, Why? A Diagnostic Guide