Cycads sometimes appear to stop growing – no new leaves for ages. The temptation is to think the plant is dead – but it’s almost certainly not! They are very hard to kill, even if left in a very sorry state for months! Do not assume they are dead. We had a few that appeared so with no signs of growth at all. The answer was to immerse the whole pot in water, totally covering the compost and leaving the plant totally submerged there for 3 days. Amazingly, once removed and exposed to heat and light, they started to flush within a week and finally became mature and healthy plants again. An ideal time to try this would be in late Spring or early summer. At this point, we would recommend giving them a kick-start with a heavy feed. Seemed almost miraculous but it worked. The latest opinion is that this seemingly harsh treatment simulates the monsoon conditions they are used to in their natural habitat.
This method also works well with a Cycad/Cycas plant showing yellowing or dried leaves. Note that once the leaves have lost their healthy dark green colouring they do not recover and need to be removed if the appearance of the plant is a priority. We have even tested a Cycad by removing all the leaves and this same treatment resulted in a healthy plant with a full flush of green leaves.
If you keep your plant under glass be careful not to over-expose it to harsh sunlight for too long since that can burn the leaves meaning you may need to follow this process to recover the plant.
