I have a Sago Palm that I just re-potted, and now the fronds are turning light brown! Help?

Question

I bought a Sago Palm last week from the Home Depot's garden center. It was in a small pot, so I decided to give it more room to stretch it's roots. When I removed the plant from the container, I discovered it had been GLUED into the pot!!! Not glued everywhere, but just around the ornamental gravel on top and in the bottom around the now pot-bound roots!

I put it in a 5-gallon pot, gave it fresh soil and some miracle-gro. I watered it in, and may have flicked some of the miracle-gro onthe fronds by accident. (could that be it?) It is not two days later, and some of the fronds are starting to turn brown. It's strange how it's happening, as it's only happening on one side...see photo below:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/dgriswell/sago.jpg

Can anyone give me some ideas? Am I killing it? I didn't over-water or over-fertilize....it's just turning brown!

Answer 1

Be aware that the natural course of leaves on plants, including palms and cycads, is first green, then turning yellow, and finally brown and dry

The yellow stage is where the frond is losing its chlorophyll as it is being re-absorbed into the plant. The final brown stage is the completion of the nutrients re-absorption process

So... if you cut off sago fronds too soon, you are actually depriving your sago palm of its natural technique to conserve nutrients. Best is to wait until a frond is totally brown and shriveled up small

The exception to not being worried about yellow or brown fronds on your sago palm is if they are occurring in the center "new growth" area

If new fronds soon turn yellow and head for brown, you have a nutrition problem. You are not feeding properly. Sometimes a sago may take a year or two or more to develop the "quick yellowing" symptom. Don't let that fool you. Food is the answer

Bugs may also be the problem, but not nearly as likely as improper feeding. Poor drainage may also be the problem, but not if your sago palm is well established in its location. Newly planted in your soil or a pot, poor drainage is a suspicion. A final suspicion for a newly planted sago is that you planted it too deep

Answer 2

Sago Palm Brown Tips

Answer 3

Usually when you repot, you don't go up in size by the magnitude you did....small pot to a 5 gal. When you water it drains away immediatley and your sago is probably sitting high and dry in the big pot. Your question about M-G burning is no....the benfit to a liquid fertilizer is that in the dilute form it can't burn.

Another problem to look for is on the underside of the foliage look for small white specks. A major problem of sagos is the invasive Asiatic Cycad Scale. The larva is very small and can blow over 1/4 mile. They are decimating sagos all over the state and are prolific reproducers. They can cover the undersides in a few moths sucking the life out of the plant. For treatment, if you find this pest, is to spray the undersides with Organocide after it cools down to day time temperaturesin the low 80's. Or you could try using a systemic, such as Acephate (Ortho Systemic Spray) or Bayer Systemic Rose & Flower Care which has Disyston. I bring this up as there are hardly any sagos in the state that don't have the problem.

Answer 4

Thanks for posting your question. I'm just getting into raising sago palms, too. I've learned over the past 2 1/2 years that they are fairly hardy plants. I've had new sago "pups" sprout out, only to wither before the leaf sprouts reached 2 inches long. Then 2 months later the same sago pup is proudly sprouting 3 new full size leaves in its new permanent location by my streetfront.

Be sure you removed all the glue like stuff from around the plant. I have also read that young sagos prefer being somewhat rootbound in their pots. Since you've repotted it into a large pot, the plant may simply be in shock.

Debby gave some good advice. If the leaves do totally turn brown, trim them off......and wait. You'll probably get a new batch of leaves next spring. Good luck.

Answer 5

can `t add much to advise given ,its natural older `ring of leaves die back as new central leaves grow.
the brown leaves when fully dried are a good `dry flower`