Plant Doctor Archive

Yellow leaves on cycad

Question I HAVE a large cycad (probably over 15 years old). It started going yellow (very yellow) so I was told to cut off the fronds. Now it looks like a huge pineapple (with a few babies growing at the bottom of it). I’ve sprayed it for spider mite, etc, and fertilised. Should I repot it into a bigger pot? The truck is only about 10–15 cm from the inside of the pot, but I was told this is good?

Answer CYCADS are usually quite hardy, but can occasionally get leaf yellowing. This is sometimes due to scale or spider mites sucking the goodness out of the leaves, and you do say that you had to spray for spider mite. Yellowing can also occur for no apparent reason and when you cut off the leaves the new foliage is usually green and healthy.

Don’t worry too much about there being no leaves. Cycads usually only produce one or two sets of leaves each year, so you will just have to be patient. If the worst comes to the worst and the main trunk dies, then you should be able to grow one or more of the “babies”.

I wouldn’t bother repotting your cycad. Cycads like good drainage and I don’t repot mine until the roots actually emerge from the bottom of the pot, and even then don’t go up more than one or two pot sizes.