You can definitely cut them off. If it has no fronds to make photosynthesis with, it has no choice but to regrow them. Make sure to give them fertilizer and warmth once you get to your new home and repot them. The new flush might be smaller and not as lush as previous flushes but eventually it will get settled and look good again.

Good luck!
-Alex

I read on here a while back that someone gave their Dioon 18-6-8 ferts (slow release). I did the same in beginning of April and nothing yet til these days :((
Any good experience with other ferts.
Thanks

jeepboy - you are quite the impatient one!

Fertilizer alone is not enough. Cycads need warmth. If by July there is nothing, then I would be concerned just slightly, but definitely no cause for alarm yet.

As for the transplant: why take them out of their pots? The best thing you can do is to not disturb the roots. Cutting back the foliage won't harm the plant, it may just slow down or reduce the next set of leaves.

If you must unpot, place the rootball into a platic bag filled with moistened perlite. Tie or tape the bag at the base of the caudex. Be very careful not to snap any of the thick, brittle roots. When you pot them up again, plant them in pure perlite and don't water for a few weeks so that any wounds can dry out and callous. Slowly acclimate the plant back to sun and watering. If you're lucky you may get a flush this year. In my experience, a severe transplanting in the spring almost guarantees that no new growth will occur in the current growing season. By "severe" I mean completely separating the root ball for an extended time.

However, Dioons and some more tropical Cycas are vigorous and can recover more quickly than an Encephalartos.

x

You definitely need patience with cycads because they can grow so slow. Unlike palms, cycads get all there new leaves at once. Keep fertilizing it and when the warm weather really kicks in it will flush for you. As long as its not sick or something its not like it will never flush again, but you might have to wait. Good news is that you are moving so you wouldnt want to cut off a new flush anyway (which you would have to do if you needed all the leaves cut off).

Good luck!
-Alex

Mine had just flushed last month,after 2 years of nothing.
This flush, the stems were almost 5 ft long,there huge!
New flush was very rubbery feeling,and they are now just getting stiff.
Don

Thank you for your kick on my patience :) Now i know sorta what to expect, or not expect :)
xerophyte: I have to take them out of the pot due to the size. Plus I need to empty those pots so I can move them, otherwise they are more than 500lbs a piece with dirt :((
Thanks tropicalzone for your inputs :)
Don: now I can say " Look at Don's. They were sitting quiet for 2 years !"

Here is a pic of one of my Dioons

Here is a link that might be useful:

Jeepboy

Thanks for the photos: here is my message to you or anyone else reading this thread - NEVER EVER, AND I MEAN NEVER plant anything valuable directly into a pot that has its widest part somewhere other than the top.

A pot like that one in the photo will force the rootball to grow out into that space. When the time comes to repot, you will not be able to remove the rootball intact without destroying the pot or potentially serious damage to the roots.

If you want to use a decorative pot, YOU MUST plant into a plain plastic pot, submerge it into the decorative pot, and fill in the space with whatever you wish: more mix, mulch, etc. Then you can pull out the pot where the plant is located without resorting to hardcore hacking of the roots.

x