Cycads and Sago Palms

How to choose a cycad

The Sago Palm Cycad is the classic: a tidy crown of dark, glossy, feather shaped leaves on a trunk that thickens slowly over decades. It suits pots and formal entrances and is the most cold tolerant of the common cycads. The Cardboard Plant is lower and wider, a mound of thick, felted, oval leaflets about a metre high and up to two metres across, and it copes well with coastal conditions.

The Chestnut Dioon has stiff, narrow, blue green leaves and is tough in sun, drought and cold. The Giant Dioon is a much larger plant in time, with long arching leaves, and prefers a warmer, more sheltered position. For bold texture the Tongaland Cycad carries broad, holly like leaflets with spiny tips and is suited to subtropical gardens with part shade.

Where cycads grow

Most cycads want sharp drainage above all else. They grow well in sun or light shade through tropical, subtropical and warm temperate Australia, and the sago palm and chestnut dioon extend into cooler districts with frost. The cardboard plant, giant dioon and the encephalartos are better kept to frost free or nearly frost free gardens. In hot inland sun, light afternoon shade keeps the leaves from bleaching.

Cycads sit well with palms, succulents and bold foliage. See our palm trees, tropical plants and plants for pots for companions.

Planting and spacing

Plant into free draining soil, raising the bed or adding coarse sand and gravel where the ground is heavy clay. Set the plant at the level it grew in the pot, with the base of the trunk above the soil, never buried. Allow room for the mature spread of the crown: a sago palm needs about two metres, a cardboard plant a little more. Many cycads have sharp leaflet tips or spines on the leaf stalks, so keep them back from paths, gates and play areas. In pots, use a gritty, open mix and a container with large drainage holes.

Care basics

Water regularly through the first summer, then deeply but not often. Established cycads tolerate dry spells far better than wet feet, and overwatering is the usual cause of rot. Feed in spring with a slow release fertiliser. New leaves arrive in a single flush, usually once a year, and are soft until they harden, so avoid moving or brushing the plant while they unfurl. Caterpillars of the cycad blue butterfly can chew this soft growth in eastern Australia: check new flushes and treat early. Remove old leaves cleanly at the trunk, wearing gloves. Our cycad care guide covers feeding, pests and repotting.

Common questions

Are cycads and sago palms poisonous?

Yes. All parts of cycads and sago palms, especially the seeds, are highly poisonous to dogs, cats and people if eaten. Plant them where pets and small children cannot chew them, and remove any seeds that form.

How fast do cycads grow?

Slowly. A sago palm may add only a few centimetres of trunk in a year, which is why larger plants are valued and why a cycad rarely outgrows its position.

Is a sago palm a palm?

No. It is a cycad, a cone bearing plant more closely related to conifers than to palms. Male and female cones are carried on separate plants.

Can cycads grow in pots?

Very well. Their slow growth and tolerance of dry spells make them long term container plants, provided the mix drains freely and the pot is not left standing in water.