Tsikas - Cycas

Cycas (Cycas) is also called, as "sago palm", "cycad" belongs to the family Cycadaceae, namely, it is included in the genus of gymnosperms. This genus includes from ninety to two hundred different varieties. This plant grows wild in Asian territory (from Japanese to Indian latitudes), on islands in the Pacific Ocean (Samoa, Fiji, Mariana), and also on the island of Madagascar. Scientists have found the remains of this culture in the deposition of the earth's crust during the Mesozoic. Although most of the plants of this family can no longer be found growing wild, the culture we are considering occupies a fairly wide growing area, because it is undemanding to the conditions of development. Nowadays, cicas is in demand among gardeners, although its price is too high.

Plant cultivation

Tsikas is cultivated as decorative deciduous vegetation.

The palm tree needs a bright, but diffused illumination or a semi-shaded place.

During the growing season, room temperature conditions are observed, in winter - fifteen degrees, not lower.

Watering in winter is applied in small amounts, in summer - in moderation.

Air humidity should be increased - seventy to eighty percent. Professionals recommend quite frequent spraying of the leaves, and also their outer side must be moistened with a soft sponge, in addition, the trunk is systematically wrapped with wet moss.

Top dressing is applied when the bush is growing intensively, once every four weeks with organic substances, the composition should not contain magnesium and potassium. For example, a solution of manure (horse) or mullein is perfect.

The resting stage is relative, its beginning is late in the fall, and the end is in early spring.

The transplant is carried out to young bushes once every two to three years. It is better not to transplant adult specimens, but the surface soil layer should be changed annually in the container. For this purpose, the surface soil layer is removed (thickness - fifty mm), then fresh soil mixture is poured into the container.

Cycas are propagated by lateral offspring, if any. Only professionals will be able to grow a plant by seed.

Pests. Scabbard, aphid, mealybug, spider mite.

Diseases. Root rot, caudex rot, chlorosis.

Tsikas description and characteristics

In appearance, the plant resembles a palm tree in many ways. Tsikas is represented by a tree growing up to two to fifteen meters, and the trunk is quite thickened. With a height of about three meters, the trunk girth is one meter. The surface of the trunk seemed to be chained into a shell, which consists of the remnants of dead leaves. Leaves of a pinnate or double-pinnate look resemble fern leaves growing from the top of the trunk. Cycas lives in frequent cases for more than a hundred years. An indoor plant grows up to fifty to eighty meters, its annual growth is no more than thirty mm, and it also gives only one row of leaves. Young leaves are painted in a bright green color, soft, slightly pubescent, after some time they become dark, bare, not soft and glossy. When cultivated at home, cicas strongly resembles not a tree, but a bush. Most gardeners claim that this culture is a palm tree, because it is named from the Greek word "kykas", which means "palm", however, the cicas does not refer to palms in any way. But it is related to the fern. The bush grows slowly, which is why it is often grown as a bonsai.

When cultivated at home, the flowering of this plant can be seen in very rare cases. At the top of the trunk of a female cicassus, large orange-colored seeds are formed in cones, they are thirty to fifty mm long. For the germination of grains, the plant must be cultivated in a greenhouse, plus the knowledge and strength of a professional with experience will be needed.

Cicas home care

Illumination level.

Before cultivating this plant in indoor conditions, it is necessary to find the optimal growing room. If you decide to purchase an adult cicas, then do not forget that he needs a lot of space. Indoor culture loves light, but keep in mind that if the direct sun hits the leaves, they will live less, and their decorative effect will also be lost. It is possible to cultivate cicasas in a semi-shaded place, but then the growth of young foliage will be very slow.

Temperature conditions.

The culture feels great in room temperature conditions. But in winter she will need a cool place, and make sure that the temperature does not drop below fifteen degrees.

Watering.

For good growth and proper development, it is required to properly water the bush. In summer, watering is carried out in moderation. In the winter season, watering is reduced, and the amount of water that is poured out at a time depends on the temperature conditions in the room. The warmer it is in the room, the more liquid we water the cicas, and the frequency of watering is also greater. Watering is carried out with soft, settled water at room temperature conditions or one or two degrees higher. It is necessary to ensure that no water gets on the leaves at the time of watering.

Air humidity level.

Tsikas requires a high level of air humidity (seventy to eighty percent). To increase moisture content, the leaves are systematically sprayed with well-settled water, the trunk is wrapped in moist moss, the outer side of the leaves is wiped with a damp soft sponge.

Fertilization.

Top dressing is applied regularly once every four weeks, when the cicas is actively growing, for this purpose organic substances are used, which do not contain potassium and magnesium. The plant likes to be fed with horse manure or mullein. Mineral dressing is not applied.

Transplanting.

Young bushes need to be systematically transplanted, the procedure is carried out once every two to three years. Mature plants are transplanted only when there is little room for them in the old container. The optimum capacity should exceed the diameter of the trunk by twenty to thirty mm, the depth of the container should be two to two and a half times larger than the trunk in diameter. For example, if a container is taken for planting, which is fifteen cm in diameter, then in depth it should be up to thirty to thirty-five cm.

The soil mixture should have a slightly acidic or neutral reaction and be well permeable to water. The water must pass very quickly through the soil substrate and drain into the sump. To quickly pass the liquid through the soil mixture, it should consist of coarse perlite, pumice, coarse peat or coarse sand. The soil mixture should contain: pine bark (large plates, 1 part), crushed charcoal (coarse, 1 part), large perlite (1 part), slag or pumice (1 part), pebbles or crushed stone (1 part) and coarse peat (1 part), one tenth of bone meal is also added. The soil mixture is well mixed, then sterilized. Even when using the correct potting mix for planting, a good drainage layer will still be laid on the bottom of the container.

Plants can be transplanted in any season, if necessary. But the optimal time is spring, before the active growth of the cicassa begins.When young leaves are formed, it is undesirable to transplant, because the leaves can be injured. Before transplanting, one third of the leaves are cut off, pruning begins from the old foliage. When replanting a bush, do not injure its roots, because if thick roots are damaged or deformed, there is an increase in the risk of rot on the bush.

Cicas reproduction

Plant cultivation by seed method.

At home, spreading a cicasa from a seed is quite difficult. Usually, the plant is propagated in this way by professionals with experience in a nursery or greenhouse. This is because at home, the flowering of this fern can rarely be seen, and even if the flowering occurs, there are no pollinators for the flowers. If you have purchased good seeds, then before sowing for a day they are placed in warm water, after which the grains must be equally distributed over the surface layer of perlite and slightly pressed into it. Landings are placed in heat (temperature conditions - twenty-five degrees, no less). The first shoots will appear two to three months after sowing. One to two months after the seedlings appear, they should form one true leaf. After the appearance of the leaf, the seedlings are transplanted into separate pots in a substrate that is intended for adult vegetation.

Reproduction of cicas by offspring.

If the bush is grown in conditions that are not optimal for it, then the formation of offspring occurs on its trunk. A sharpened tool is taken, the offspring is cut off, and you need to try not to harm the trunk. All the leaves are cut off from the offspring, the cuts are treated with a fungicide solution, then with the drug "Kornevin". Then the offspring are planted in coarse sand or coarse perlite, after which watering is carried out. Without fail, the cut is processed on the mother cicas; for this purpose, coal in the form of a powder is used. Plants to take root are placed in the shade and in warmth (about thirty degrees), make sure that the substrate is always slightly damp. Rooting will occur six months or a year later. After that, the offspring is transplanted into a substrate that is intended for adult cycas.

Diseases and harmful insects

Harmful insects.

The most dangerous for the culture is the scale insect, because it has a waxy coating that protects it well from the action of insecticides. Adult pests are removed from the plant by hand, and in order to destroy the larvae, a part of the bush located above the ground is treated with a systemic or contact agent, for example, by means: "Carbaril", "Piriproxifen", "Acefat", "Pyrethrin". Processing is carried out in the morning or in the evening, and the temperature conditions in the room should be less than thirty degrees. If necessary, you can re-spray the bushes after five to ten days.

Cycas can also be attacked by mealybugs. They can be found throughout the plant. After collecting the pests, the bush is manually sprayed with a preparation with cypermethrin, and the soil mixture in the pot is necessarily moistened with this agent. If necessary, the fern is processed again after five days. Spraying is carried out four times, no more.

When settling on an aphid bush, it is treated with a preparation containing phosphorus two or three times every seven days.

To destroy the plant mite that settles on the part of the bush located above the ground, you need to spray it three times with an interval of seven days with a solution of acaricide.

Diseases.

In more frequent cases, cicasus is affected by root rot or caudex (bottom of the trunk). The infected plant is carefully removed from the soil mixture, after which the residues of the substrate are carefully removed from the roots. All soft fragments with darkening and blackening are cut out with a sharpened, disinfected object.Next, the cicas is immersed in a fungicide solution for half an hour, then the sections are treated with coal in the form of a powder, after which the bush remains to dry outside for several hours. Then the bush is planted in a fresh substrate, without fail disinfected, remember that before planting, the roots are dipped in a solution of a stimulant for root formation. If, when rooting from a bush, all the leaves have flown around, then this is considered normal, because this is how it survives. If rot has struck the insides of the trunk, then the palm will simply die.

Yellowing of the plant.

In frequent cases, the leaves on the bush begin to turn yellow. Still, the cicassus can be saved. For treatment, the reason why the leaves turned yellow is first established. There may be more than one reason: lack of micronutrients; lack of nitrogen in the soil mixture; poor lighting; the roots were injured.

Lack of trace elements - feeding was not applied in a timely manner, or the bush is unable to assimilate substances due to the lowered temperature regime, or this is due to a change in the pH of the soil mixture, this situation happens when the plant is regularly watered with non-soft water. As a result, the root system stops developing. If there is a lack of nutrition, additional fertilizing is required, and the newly appeared leaves will be colored as needed. If yellowing occurs due to illiterate agricultural technology, then it is necessary to transplant the bush into fresh soil mixture, and care should be taken correctly. If there is a shortage of nitrogen in the substrate, nitrogen fertilizer is applied to it, but the old leaves will still be yellow in color. If yellowing is due to poor light, then it must be borne in mind that each variety has its own preferences for lighting, therefore, yellowness of the leaves can happen due to excess lighting and due to its lack. Sometimes the leaves begin to turn yellow after moving the bush to the street in the spring without preliminary hardening. The leaves can turn yellow due to a lack or abundance of watering, as well as when the roots are cool or the bush was fed with a very concentrated solution. In these situations, the root system tells about the problem by the fact that the leaves begin to turn yellow, therefore, as such a signal is given, make every effort to save the cicas.

Drying of the plant.

If the leaves, located below, begin to turn yellow and dry, then this is normal and quite natural. If the room has a very low moisture content, then this will cause drying of the ends of the leaves, and this can also happen with illiterate fertilization without observing the dose.

Tsikas: varieties

Tsikas "drooping", or cicas "Wrapped", or cicas "Revoluta" (Cycas revoluta).

Homeland - the south of Japanese territory. The thickened trunk in the form of a column grows up to three meters in height, its diameter is one meter. Leaves of an unpaired appearance grow up to two meters, in their composition they have slightly bent, narrow, linear, leathery leaves, which are densely located. The surface of young leaves is pubescent, but after a while the leaves can become bare, glossy and darken. On male plants, cones in the form of a narrow cylinder grow up to eighty cm in length, in diameter are fifteen cm. On female plants, the surface of not plump cones is pubescent. Orange seeds are quite large in size. This variety is most popular with novice flower growers. In this material, it is written about the care of this particular species.

Cicas "Curled", or cicas "Snail" (Cycas circinalis, Cycas neocaledonica).

The trunk is in the form of a column, it grows up to three meters. The leaves are two meters in length, they are collected in a bunch of two or three pieces. Young leaves grow vertically, over the years they become directed relative to the horizontal plane.The leaves are pinnate, contain fifty to sixty lanceolate leaves, which are densely located on the sides of the central vein, they grow up to twenty-five cm, in breadth - up to fifteen mm.

Tsikas "Medium" (Cycas media).

The palm tree grows up to seven meters. Plumose leaflets reach two meters in length. The leaves make up a rosette, which is located at the top of the trunk. Small male cones grow up to twenty-five cm, female ones resemble bundles of spikelets. In the nineteenth century, in the north of the Australian continent, seeds were eaten, but to begin with, they were processed, as they are poisonous.

Tsikas "Rumph" (Cycas rumphii).

This species comes from Sri Lanka, it is one of the varieties of strong growth, the trunk grows up to eight to fifteen meters. Feathery leaves grow in bunches, stretching up to two meters. Leaves are linear, lanceolate, grow up to thirty cm, and in breadth - up to twenty mm.

Tsikas "Siamese" (Cycas siamensis).

This species is native to the savannahs of the Indo-Chinese territory. The bush grows to about two meters, and the trunk is thickened from the roots to the middle, then it becomes thinner. Leaves are pinnate, grow up to one meter. They consist of sharp, narrow and linear whitish-blue leaves, about ten cm long and five mm wide.