How my Cycad looks Now
in January this year (2019) my beloved Cycad grew the pineapple like seed pod in the centre of the leaves. It has been about 5 years since this last happened. Eventually the pineapple will burst open and scatter all the individual seeds. I will collect these and plant them in pots, because the last time they were not collected (I was overseas) and insects bored into each seed, consuming the contents so they were no longer viable seeds.
In a previous post "My Rainforest Garden" I included a photograph of my 30 year old Cycad, which has grown huge now despite the fact that it has bamboo growing all around its roots. I spent several months last year removing all the bamboo roots from the garden it resides in but I could not remove what was around it's roots for fear of damaging its root system. So I have to painstakingly chip away at the bamboo to prevent it from totally crowding out the beloved Cycad.
Spring Shoots
Every Spring it grows a set of new leaves which are very soft and delicate when the first appear, so I pray we don't get a storm until they have hardened which takes a few weeks. The photo below was taken just after the new shoots appeared, and started to open up to reveal beautiful, bright green sof leaves.
After New Leaves Hardened
The photo below was taken after the new leaves fully oped and firmed up. They are the leaves which are now closest to the pineapple.