Agaveville

Here is a picture of some of the dioon I purchased at YuccaDo this past summer. Although they are supposed to be cold tolerant, I thought it best to take a photo in case they don't make it through the winter.
I understand that I will probably lose the leaflets but the woolly trunk is soft and just seems really fragile so in the event of really cold weather, I will cover the base of the plants. If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know.

Pictured below are four of the Yuccado dioon edule, three jacala form and 1 rio verde:

I have a couple of Sago and a Cardboard Palm, but for the most part Cycad-ology has eluded me.

I sure like what you have going on there, nice scores!

If I was worried about them making it through cold, I'd construct a temporary makeshift plastic hoop tunnel down over the lot of them. Wire arches can be placed at intervals poked into the ground, and plastic stretched down over making a tunnel. Something as simple as bricks could hold down the outer edges. If it's a close call with the cold, that would probably be enough to get them through it.

Thanks spiny, will try to be prepared and have something like you suggest handy. According to some websites and at least one buyer feed back over on the yuccado website, this variety should be able to withstand zone 8 winters and some pretty cold temps but I am not holding my breath that this will be the case.

Also, cold tolerance informations is usually for well established plants. Younger plants might need a helping hand in the beginning.

They love the hot Texas summers. Get them through the first two winters and they should be able to take anything.
Hey,Nice Mexican pebbles..nice look.

They are supposed to be more cold hardy than cycas revoluta which loses all its leaves every winter here in SE NC. I got seedlings from select seeds/quality cactus in Donna TX about 15 years ago but lost track of them. Apparently slow growers. Plants can disappear in the weeds at my place.

They made it through their first winter outside and it was a bad one reaching 16F with two lengthy cold snaps that sustained temps below freezing for several days. I did baby them a bit (I wanted to try and keep leaves) by wrapping a string of mini xmas tree lights around the base (about 2 inches away from caudex), covered the bulbs and base with burlap, placed a light freeze cloth over entire plant, and then covered with 95 gal trash bags and secured down entire perimeter with large stones to protect from wind and freezing rain. Perhaps it was a bit of an overkill on protection but they came through the nasty winter with all their leaves in great shape.

Nice job - they look great!

Nice! I'm guessing the Beaucarnea back there got the same treatment?

Melt in the Sun wrote:Nice! I'm guessing the Beaucarnea back there got the same treatment?

No, it had less pampering. I just covered it with a huge cardboard box that was lined with 1" styrofoam that I weighted down with a couple large rocks. I purchased this plant last year at Lowes for $49. It was labeled Beaucarnea recurvata and the tag stated it was cold hardy down to 10F. Although I covered it and didn't really test their marketing claims to 10F, it did well down to 16 with just the box/styro. Here is a current pic:

That's a beauty, and good to know they are so cold hardy. From the apparent size of that caudex, and knowing how slow mine have been growing, I imagine that plant is already pretty old. With that in mind, it seems the price you paid is dirt cheap - a great deal. It probably has little actual relevance, but I often imagine the age of a plant, and it's cost, and feel like paying a couple of bucks in price per year of growing is really, really cheap. I can't imagine how anyone could make a business out of investing a decade or more providing suitable space and proper care to eventually produce something that only generates a few dollars per year. Great for the buyer though!!!

Agave_fan wrote:

Melt in the Sun wrote:Nice! I'm guessing the Beaucarnea back there got the same treatment?

No, it had less pampering. I just covered it with a huge cardboard box that was lined with 1" styrofoam that I weighted down with a couple large rocks. I purchased this plant last year at Lowes for $49. It was labeled Beaucarnea recurvata and the tag stated it was cold hardy down to 10F. Although I covered it and didn't really test their marketing claims to 10F, it did well down to 16 with just the box/styro. Here is a current pic:

Beaucarnea recurvata.jpg

Looks great. In 1998 we had a 28f freeze and mine had burned leaves...not totally or even close to that..but some edges. Never protected. My variegated Pony plant was burned by a 32f in 2013 or 2014. It took 2 years to grow out of that. I know somebody here on A-ville warned me..and he was right. But,since then,no cold has bothered it.

One of my Dioon angustifolium flushing

B. recurvata is not cold hardy, and shows tip burn from sub-freezing temps. But it's a VERY fast grower and recovers quickly.

I've never had a cycad flush in May here in the bay area. Its pretty much a once a year thing and usually late in summer. Still,Dioon do well. D.spinulossum will trunk after many years. Although Dioon edule might skip a year or more while D.spinulossum isn't as hot needy to flush. More reliable.

Gee.S wrote:B. recurvata is not cold hardy, and shows tip burn from sub-freezing temps. But it's a VERY fast grower and recovers quickly.

Good to know, and an erroneous assumption on my part then...

Spination wrote:That's a beauty, and good to know they are so cold hardy.

I guess it shows how off marketing information can be (the 10F as stated), and I am clearly underestimating the protective value of the box/styro on that specimen plant pictured which handled 16F. Mine are in shelter, and only the winter of 2016 when that shelter had no heating at all, endured mid 20s with no problem visible to me.

One online source I looked at states: " Cold Tolerance: Beaucarnea recurvata can tolerate cold down to 15F when mature enough. ..." operative word there apparently "mature"

You know, it's a very thick plant, and the more mature the thicker, right? So I could see the plant surviving cold temps that might decimate foliage. I see a couple planted out around town here, and both have condensed "top-knot" foliage, undoubtedly a result of repeated freezes. So they don't look as good as tropical specimens, but they still look pretty good.

Beaucarnea is not fast growing in the bay area. Its not a slug either. I guess It depends on what you expect as it will never reach the huge sizes in soucal,Tex,or Fl. SO far mine is the largest I've seen in the bay area and even with water and fertilizer never shows that "Huge succulent plant" type growth. You know,ripping through even foggy days with growth,etc.
B. "variegated" is much slower even then that.

My D.edule I see is now going to flush..at least I see a peak building. It took a 2 year rest. It's never flushed 2 years in a row in the 14 years I've had it.. a testament to Hayward hot and humid summers

Not a fast grower here either in terms of attaining height, but crazy fast in terms of adding foliage.

I wonder if I should just remove all the old fronds on the Dioon? They are all yellowish and I doubt they will ever color up. Plus,it might pick up the pace on the new fronds?

Now that all the angustifolium are done adding new leaves, the edule jacala have started. I have been running so much lately that even though I have walked by this plant dozens of times, I just noticed the five new fronds which are more than a foot high already.I love the flush of new color, I wish the leaves would stay this way rather than turn green.

My potted oldie sent out only 4 new fronds. Last year none after a couple of years before that of doing normal amounts of fronds. Still,its not every year since I got it in 2006. Even the size of the fronds has gone up and down. Since I repotted it last year early...maybe its now adjusted. The old plastic pot just split.

Nice on the new fronds!

You do not list your location on your profile Stan so I am not sure where you are but have you thought about planting yours in the ground?

Well look at what I saw yesterday. A cone forming. First coning since I've had it (2006). It has a label that says the seed for it sprouted in 1978. The new foliage isnt much in numbers but looks much nicer and larger then the last flush's. The re-potting is now kicking in. I did that 2 years ago!
I have no room for a prickly cycad that wants hot all day sun. So for now it fronts a fruiting Mango tree.

Oh wow, nice Stan! Please keep us updated with photos as this develops!!

So this plant is 40 years old?