Palm styling

Can anyone share advice on styling/maintaining a palm (sago or others) in a tree form? In the late 19th century, it appears that some Japanese enthusiasts took advantage of low suckering, inhibited apical dominance & encouraged coarse ramification through suckers atop suckers in pots favoring Chinese-style appreciation...

Hello Chris –

You pose a very interesting question; but first a clarification is needed. The images you posted are of the sago palm (Cycas revoluta) which is not a palm at all but a cycad. The cycads are a group of plants that arose very early in evolutionary terms and are actually sort of intermediate between ferns and conifers. The true palms came along much much later.

Cycad branching arises in two ways: from a division of the growing tip into two separate ones (dichotomous branching), or from the initiation of new adventitious buds in the cortex of the stem. Cycads don’t have the axillary buds that give rise to the branching patterns in most vascular plants. Interestingly, Cycas revoluta has a penchant for producing these adventitious buds. A classic article was published on the subject by Marie Stopes in 1910 after she visited Japan and subsequently studies and described the phenomenon. If you are interested, here is a link to the article in the journal New Phytologist: http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/pdfs/dws/Stopes2.pdf

David Brunner

A topic of interest to me Chris and a great reference David. I've grown C revoluta from seed and also have one that is more than 20 years old. I've tried planting it at an angle as recommended in Yoshimura's text (I think) to get it to change growth direction. I find them very slow growing and frustrating to attempt to create any style. None of mine has produced a secondary growth point, yet. So they remain fairly boring elongated pineapple like trunks with a large rosette of prickly leaves around the top.

I noted with great interest that the older ones dotted around theme parks gardens in Florida frequently have many "babies" growing attached, around the base.

<...Chuckle...> That is an amazing article, David. Thanks.

I looked at John Naka's Techniques II at Kevin's recommendation. John's description of the sago (cycad) seems far different-- describing Kevin's plant with few base suckers.

My sago is loaded with base suckers, and I wonder about chasing back the top growth or allowing it free rein.

Sago Palms in Florida are being killed by an Asian scale. Although it is possible to fight the scale with strong systemics we may soon have no Sagos here. Many people are replacing Sagos with other Cycads that are not yet being attacked. However, most of the Sago alternatives don't have the other qualities of the Sago, such as moderate hardiness to cold and a lack of thorns.

On the subject of branching, when Sagos are damaged by cold they will frequently branch.

Also, Sagos are only one sex per plant, (can't trember the term, to early in the AM to look it up) and when they are stressed they will sometimes change sex. There are reports of different "heads" also having different sex.

Hi Billy... Thanks for the considerable information!

You note, "... when Sagos are damaged by cold they will frequently branch." By branching, do you mean:
1. suckering (perhaps that is not accurate as it is appears on the trunk rather than roots) near the base,
2. dividing at an apical tip,
3. sprouting adventitious buds somewhere other than near the plant's base or
4. other (please explain... & thanks!).

After very severe drought (many weeks of no water), the plant above eventually sprouted near-base growth. Its former caretaker had been hospitalized & no one had cared for the "office plant." It looked dying for weeks after watering resumed. Eventually, it appeared absolutely dead and remained so for days. Then, ... resurrection!

1. suckering (perhaps that is not accurate as it is appears on the trunk rather than roots) near the base,
2. dividing at an apical tip,
3. sprouting adventitious buds somewhere other than near the plant's base or
4. other (please explain... & thanks!).

All of the above. There was a nursery in Rockledge, FL that had some very large specimens with all of the above true. They had probably been Urban Yamidori. (Landscape specimens that became too large for their location. That happens a lot in Florida. My favorite is cute little Italian Cypress plant so close to a house that they are under the overhang, or aborvite planted close to the sidewalk on both sides of the front door.)

Here's a nice palm bonsai exemple for you all. It's from the Crespi bonsai center in Milano, Italy:

The plant above is also a Cycad rather than a palm.

I found this thread interesting and timely because I just put together a little trio of segos with space to grow and was not aware that "kids" pop up. This is one of my latest fun projects of insti-bonsai for under $15, in under an hour, no wiring that I have done recently. I have about five of these fun little cheapies of various kinds, pre-bonsai if you will, with the future in mind. I take odd directions on a whim sometimes...hey can't beat the price!

Is that a stone planted with the 3 sago cycads, Mo Acha?

My considerable surprise in repotting a sago was the absence of fine roots. Do they not establish fine roots?

If they are growing healthily they develop white, fleshy, quite thick roots with a few finer ones. They also have unusual surface roots that have colonies of blue-green algae synthesising nitrogen for the plant. This allows it to grow on poor soils. Encourage these surface roots with a mulch and the cycad often grows more rapidly and appears healthier.

"Is that a stone planted with the 3 sago cycads, Mo Acha? "

Chris, It is a stone I found in Hawaii in 09 as is. Depending on the light, it can look like a sitting elephant, a monkey holding his mouth, a lucky cat, or?

Kev, the roots are as you said which surprised me but it shouldn't, I had a 45 ft royal palm removed from my front yard and it had similar type white earth worm roots (but thicker).

Mo Acha

It looks like three sagos and their ancient petrified grandad.

Hi Kev... Are you using mulch (organic, such as pine bark soil conditioner) on top of bonsai soil to encourage the algae or using a less free-draining soil?

My local box store sells sago in a variety of sizes. The smallest appears to be in an organic nursery soil mix, a variety of mid-size sago are buried in pebbles above the soil in clay containers (some plain, others decorative). The largest (selling for $149.00 US) are in deep plastic nursery containers with nursery soil. None have pups. The largest have new fronds (so tight as to look like green sticks) beginning to form at their center-top with substantial foliage distributed slightly below. None had foliage distant from the plants' tops.

Oh, Mo! Haven't you heard of the curse visited upon those removing stones from Hawaii. This one looks extremely virulent-- an ancient expansive lava god who could easily erupt. Perhaps, the cycads will appease him... :-)