The whole reason we are called Newbies
Six lessons that cover most of what goes wrong. None of it is complicated — it is just the opposite of how people instinctively treat a new plant.
Almost every plant we replace was drowned, not starved. A cycad in a pot wants a deep soak and then nothing until the top few centimetres are properly dry — roughly weekly in a Highveld summer, monthly in winter. If the crown smells sour, you have gone too far.
Half coarse river sand or fine stone, half compost-rich soil. No saucer under the pot. A plant sitting in water for a week will rot at the caudex, and there is no coming back from that.
Blue Encephalartos, aloes and dioons colour up and stay compact in hard sun. Move them into shade and they stretch, go green and lose the look you paid for. Forest species — villosus, ceratozamia, bowenia — are the exception.
When a cycad pushes a new set of leaves, they are soft for weeks. Do not move the plant, do not let anything brush past them, and do not cut the old leaves off until the new ones have hardened — the plant is living off them.
Most of what we sell handles Gauteng cold if it goes into winter dry. A dry plant at -3°C is fine. A soaked plant at -3°C is mush. Stop watering in May and start again in September.
A cycad may push one flush a year, sometimes none. That is the plant working, not failing. If you want visible progress in year one, start with a Cycas revoluta, a Zamia furfuracea or a tray of echeveria.
Learn from ours
We have killed these plants so you do not have to.
Watering on a schedule instead of on the soil
Feel the mix. If it is damp 3 cm down, leave it.
Potting into pure compost
It holds water like a sponge. Cut it with at least 40% grit.
Cutting off yellowing leaves immediately
The plant is pulling nutrients back out of them. Wait until they are properly brown.
Buying a plant for a spot it does not suit
Send us a photo of the spot first. We will say if it is wrong.
Repotting a new plant straight away
Give it a season to settle before you disturb the roots.
Send us a photo of the plant and the spot it is going into. We will tell you what it needs — whether or not you bought it from us.
