Well, in the link there is information about a sago planted in an arboretum in 1916 that in 2013 had 41 inches of trunk. The author calculated it grew .41 inches of trunk per year. If the sago you are talking about has a 6' trunk and grew at a similar rate to the one in the link, it could easily be 170 years old (if they can live that long). 72" / .41"per year = 175.6 years. You might have an argument to keep them.

Here is a link that might be useful: sago growth

Thank you j,
The link with the pictures was really helpful, I'll need to bring a tape measure. I think there are some old pictures somewhere in town, we can probably get an idea of how big they were, say in the 1950's. I hope we can save it from the chainsaws!

Thank you j,
The link with the pictures was really helpful, I'll need to bring a tape measure. I think there are some old pictures somewhere in town, we can probably get an idea of how big they were, say in the 1950's. I hope we can save it from the chainsaws!

As a matter of fact, cycads can live hundreds of years, many hundreds. The oldest potted plant in the world is an Encephalartos altensteinii which has been potted around 1775 and can still be visited (like an old gentleman that he is) at Kew Botanical Garden. I couldn't find exactly what age or better how big it was when it was removed form his habitat, but I think it was already a nice specimen, not merely a seedling. Of course, Altensteinii is known to be one of the fast growing cycads, but still, that one you are talking about could be very old too.

Mima

This post was edited by SagoLover on Mon, Feb 10, 14 at 22:48

Cycas revoluta was brought into California in the late 1700s and early 1800s, so they have been here long enough. The tallest one I have seen pictures of, is one in Japan that is 9 meters tall. On your age, is it 6 feet tall over all or 6 feet of stem? I have grown plants from seed that in 10 years had a foot of stem and an over all height of 4 feet. Plants that I installed in landscapes that had a foot of stem in the early 90s now have 3 to 4 foot stems now. This is Florida though and they were using good fertilizer on a regular basis. The age of your plant has a lot to do with how lot was taken care of.

Depends a LOT on your environment and cultivational practices... you can grow a Cycas revoluta from seed to a 6 foot tall plant in just 15 years (my friend has several in his front yard growing over his septic area in southern California about that old he grew from seed and now they have about 6' of trunk)... That seems rather exceptional, but it obviously can be done.... but if cold, or not watered well, or no fertilizer or bad soils etc. you have have a much smaller plant over 50 years old. Without more information, aging one of these plants can be difficult.