Q.Cutting sago palm in half
I have a sago palm that had grown to about 12 feet. I guess the weight of the palms started the tree to bend over and the top 6 feet has now broken off. I would like to salvage what’s left. If I cut it down to 2-3 feet, would it be destroyed or would it regrow? Would the new growth start from the center of the trunk or only through the dozens of pups on the side that now are on the trunk?
can you cut a mature sago palm, approximately 6 foot trunk, in two and have it regenerate a new top frawn?
Yes, this sago may be that old. I tried keeping up with all the pups by trimming all the sprouts, but they were popping up a few every day. I'll probably have to remove it. Thanks for the help.
While sagos are not palms of any kind, (they're more closely related to pine trees,) they do have one trait in common, that of the growing area being at the top center tip of the stem, from which rosettes of leaves sprout. If that is broken off, there will be no more growth from the end of the main trunk. However, pups can bud out from the sides of the trunk as well as from the bottom of the plant, and it looks like this has already happened with yours. If you cut yours back, the pups along the sides will continue to grow. If you cut off all but a few of these pups, the ones still left will gradually develop trunks of their own. And you could start the pups separately - cycads for all your friends. BTW, I think it's possible that you don't really have a sago; they grow so slowly, it might take 50 years to get to 12' . You might have a similar looking specie, such as C. circinalis (Queen sago) or C. taitungensis. You might find this article interesting: https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3342/#b
