You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
The experts say that Coontie will grow for you, but, I suspect that it will lose it's leaves in many winters since you are on the northern edge of it's range.
It is deeply rooted, with the trunk mostly underground - protect it in winter with a deep mulch. It won't need much water once you get it established, but, if you need to water during periods of drought your will need to water it deeply. You should water it for at least a couple hours if you are using a sprinkler system.
Fertilizer is a waste of money. When you first plant it a handful of starter fertilizer mixed in at the bottom of the hole is helpful.
It grows best with some direct sunlight.
This 'palm' doesn't have many pests, but, soft scale can be a problem sometimes - especially during doughts. Consult with the local extension if you have problems.
If you are going to use it as a container/house plant it grows best when watered mostly from the botton and fertilized about once a month with Miracle Grow (or generic)during the summer months.
As a container plant it will need to be flushed (removing built up salts in the soil) once a year - saved rain water works well, water it several times with saved rain water.
Here are some Coontie growing at Bok Tower in central Florida>
Thank you everyone! there isn't much info in the internet i could find ,so thank you so much!!! how big do they usually get? do they get as big as a sago? how many leaves do they get per year? now it has about 20 leaves ...does it get a trunk? thnxx
The Florida Cycad is placed under Zamia integrifolia. It has a subterranean stem, so you won't see much of a trunk. Rather than growing up as it matures, it will become multiheaded. It will not get as large as Sago, Cycas revoluta.
As Zamia produces female and male cones on separate plants, one plant won't make viable seeds.
Zamia integrifolia is in decline in wild populations, so it is a good plant to grow.
You can grow a specimen to maturity in a large pot, and that may be good for it's survival during cold weather, as you can move the plant indoors.
