Sago Palm problems - yellowing leaves & scale?

7 years ago

We have 4 Sago Palms on our east facing Melbourne balcony which can get a little windy at times. They get a good few hours of sun in the morning before the sun goes up behind the building. We bought 4 palms at the same time, 2 were already at the shop and 2 were sourced from their wholesalers. The palms are about 35 cm tall. We got them in August.

We planted them out into 40 cm pots.W we mixed a well draining mix and definitely do not over water. We only water when the top few inches of soil is totally dry (about every 3 weeks).

2 of our palms have really got a tendency for very yellowing leaves. We'd read that could be due to a deficiency so we got some fertiliser. That didn't seem to help. We cut the worst fronds off (smaller newer ones on the outer edge) but now some fronds seem to have some kind of scale? Please see the photos.

Does anyone know what this is and what could be upsetting the Sago palms? Thanks.

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Comments (3)

User
7 years ago
Cycas revoluta leaves do yellow if the sun is too strong (and hot), especially initially, as the plant has not become acclimated.. A balcony is a difficult environment for a tropical plant; there is a lot of reflected heat and sun bouncing off the concrete, not to mention the drying winds. It also sounds like they are being kept too dry. You are in the middle of your summer and watering once in three weeks sounds completely inadequate.
Brad K
7 years ago
Looks like they need more water, soil should always be moist but not wet. Make sure the pot drains well and water thoroughly at least once a week.
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T T
7 years ago
I used to have some beautiful sago palms outdoors. I was periodically plagued by sago scale (Aulacaspis yasumatsui), which manifests with white spots and yellow fronds. Does yours have white spots, especially on the underside of fronds? (I tried to zoom in, but it just got blurry.). If so, it's best to trim off all fronds, and treat the trunk. There are many products recommended, but the one I used is called "Organocide". Warning: It smells like dead fish, and you need to spray once a week for three weeks (if I remember correctly). Spray the entire surface of the trunk, as well as the surface of the soil. Yes, your plants will just be stumps for a while, but soon they'll unfurl beautiful new fronds.