UF/IFAS Okeechobee County Extension Service

458 Highway 98 North

Okeechobee, FL 34972-2578

Phone: (863) 763-6469

E- mail: dfculbert@ifas.ufl.edu

July 30, 2003

See References below for Updates!

Feature Article - for release the week of August 3, 2003

Dan Culbert - Extension Horticulture Agent

USE CARE WITH SAGOS

A recent office caller asked me about how to take care of his Sago palm, an attractive landscape plant that is well suited to our area. However, some of the rules are a bit different with these plants, and my reply can help others to keep these plants healthy in their Florida Yard.

Sagos are sometimes called palms, but they are not. Instead, they are related to an ancient group of plants called cycads. These plants may look a little like palms, but careful observation will show they are not. For example, when new foliage emerges, it uncoils much like a fern. And, cycads lack the true flowers that are found on palms. These living fossils have cone-like structures instead.

Four cycads are common in local landscapes: Queen Sago, which may grow to 20 feet, with feather-like foliage growing from the top of a rough trunk; King Sago, with more compact foliage and more cold tolerance; our native Florida Coontie, which looks like a woody fern, and Mexican Zamia or Cardboard palm, with stiff leaflets.

Fertilizers Are Essential

A common question asked about sagos is, what to do about the browning of the leaves. Here’s where there is a similarity between sagos and palms - they both have a essential need for fertilizer micronutrients that is different from many other landscape plants. Because cycads grow slowly, a lack of nutrients in today’s soil will mean a deficiency symptom will occur in next year’s new growth.

Look for a palm fertilizer to contain equal amounts of nitrogen and potassium (you don’t need the phosphorus), plus magnesium at one-third the rate of the N & K. Magnesium and manganese are included in palm fertilizers which also should be used on the cycad. Check the bag to see that other micronutrients are included. A general recommendation is to apply palm fertilizers two or three times a year. Follow the label instructions, but otherwise, use one-half pound per two feet of trunk. And apply these fertilizers to cycads at least twice a year, or look forward to brown fronds.

Cycads Are Poisonous

A recent office visitor asked about the strange looking structures growing from the top of the trunk that had several oval bumps growing on it. These are the seeds growing from the female plants. Unlike many other plants, an individual Sago will be all male, or all female. The seeds can be used to grow new plants.

A few years ago I had a desperate call from a veterinarian who asked me to identify a “green knob growing on a tree”. A few questions later, a pet owner revealed that his dog had played with a Sago seed, chewed it up and swallowed it. Sago plants and seed contain a poison that will cause kidney and liver damage. Unfortunately, his dog did not make it. If there is a remote chance that your pet or child may find these seeds, remove the seed forming “antlers” or cones before the seeds mature, or consider removing and replacing the plant.

Another New Insect Pest

Since 1994, South Florida Sago palms began turning completely white and beginning to die. The culprit is an accidentally introduced scale insect, the Aulacaspis cycad scale. It is not running rampant in our county yet, but it has killed many Sagos in coastal areas of the state. Be on the lookout, and be cautions of plants purchased at bargain prices from out of area nurseries.

If this insect visits your landscape, the fronds are soon covered with what looks like snow. However, this cycad scale is a lot more persistent. It has no known natural predators, and can live on the Sago’s roots. It can cover a Sago in a matter of days.

Current pest management recommendations are to use a fish oil spray (e.g. Oganocide^TM) or chemical insecticides. UF researcher Catherine Mannion found that four applications of oil sprays at 3 week intervals made significant progress against this insect. Chemical insecticides are being used on this insect - check with our office for the latest research results and recommendations. Systemic insecticides can be used which circulate in the sap that the insects then feed on.

Using a power spray of water on the last insecticide application will help to wash off the dead insects. Another idea is to cut back and remove heavily infested foliage, which helps to keep the leaves dry and discourages insect attack. Keep up a constant spray schedule as new foliage appears to keep the Sago clean of this sucking insect.

If you need additional information on caring for your Sagos, call or stop by our office at 458 Hwy 98 North. Our phone number is 763-6469, ort internet address is http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu and you can email us at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu.

Trade names, where used, are given for the purpose of providing specific information. They do not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of products named, nor does it imply criticism of products not named. The Florida Cooperative Extension Service - Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer authorized to provide research, educational information, and other services to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. Florida Cooperative Extension Service / IFAS /University of Florida. Revised 11/6/2003

Manganese deficiency on King Sago

References

Culbert, Daniel Florida Coonties and Atala Butterflies UF/IFAS Fact Sheet ENH 117. October 1995. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG347

Gilman, Ed Cycas circinalis (Queen Sago) UF/IFAS Fact Sheet FPS-161, 10/1999. http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/shrubs/cycrev.pdf

Gilman, Ed Cycas revoluta (King Sago) UF/IFAS Fact Sheet FPS-162, 10/1999. http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/shrubs/cycrev.pdf

Fruiting structures of Queen sago infested with Aulacaspis cycad scale

Gilman, Ed Zamia furfuracea (Cardboard Plant) UF/IFAS Fact Sheet FPS-618, 10/1999. http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/shrubs/zamfura.pdf

Gilman, Ed Zamia floridana (Coontie) UF/IFAS Fact Sheet FPS- 617, 10/1999. http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/shrubs/zamfloa.pdf

Mannion, Catherine Management of Cycad Aulacaspis Scale (Aulacaspis yasumatsui) UF/IFAS IPM website, August 26, 2003. http://ipm.ifas.ufl.edu/ctgysrch/cycad-aulacaspis-scale-management.htm . A PowerPoint presentation is also available from Florida Extension agents.

Queen Sago frond with Aulacaspis cycad scale

T. J. Weissling, F.W. Howard, & Avas Hamon. Cycad aulacaspis scale UF/IFAS Featured Creatures Fact Sheet EENY-96 http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/orn/palms/cycad_scale.htm

Woods, Chuck. " UF Researchers test natural predators to control sago palm threat." Gainesville: UF/IFAS News, 05.10.2007. http://news.ifas.ufl.edu/story.aspx?id=1225 .

Last update: 05/11/2007 .

This page is maintained by Dan Culbert