Repotting Sago Palms

July 27, 2020

There is always so much work to do on my Bedford, New York farm.

During summer, all my large potted tropical plants are displayed outdoors in various locations around the farm. I also have many smaller potted specimens that I like to put out in groups, such as my collection of sago palms, or cycads, which were cut as pups from a mother sago some time ago. These attractive, slow-growing plants are thriving, but a few grew too big for their pots and needed to be removed and repotted into slightly larger containers. Repotting can be a tedious process, but a very important one that keeps all my plants healthy.

Enjoy these photos. And please tune in to QVC today at 4pm ET when I go LIVE from my home sharing great pieces from my summer apparel collection.

: The sago palm may look like a tiny palm tree with its glossy, stiff fronds, but it is not a palm tree at all. Sago palms are cycads, one of the most ancient plants that have been around since prehistoric times.

: I have many, many cycads – this is one of the larger ones now displayed in the stable courtyard. The sago palm, Cycas revoluta, is a popular houseplant known for its feathery foliage and ease of care.

: This is one of my smaller cycads. I wanted to display a series of them along the wall near my gym building and front gate. This one needed repotting. Brian, the newest member of our gardening team, carefully went around the root ball with a hori-hori knife to loosen it from the pot.

: The plant is then carefully removed from the smaller container. The larger vessel in the trug bucket will be its new home. It is just one size larger. Cycads like “deep pots,” so take depth over diameter when selecting a container size for a sago palm.

: This plant definitely needed some attention – the root mass has grown quite a bit. Repotting is a good time to also check any plant for damaged, unwanted or rotting leaves or pests that may be hiding in the soil. Brian scarifies the root ball, or slices through the roots, in several areas to encourage root growth. It may seem harsh, but the plant will send out new feeder roots and should soon recover.

: A little soil is placed at the bottom of the new pot.

: Cycads like a good draining soil. Be sure the soil medium includes elements such as peat moss, perlite, and a little sand.

: The plant will also get some Osmocote fertilizer – small, round coated prills filled with nutrients.

: And then the plant is backfilled with more soil.

: Here are Brian and Ryan working on the plants, outdoors, so they can still practice safe social distancing.

: This sago palm is root bound – its roots became too tangled in its container.

: Brian carefully untangles the roots before repotting.

: Here it is getting replanted in a slightly larger pot with more room to grow.

: Some of the fronds of the sago may need trimming. The lowest fronds are cut as close to the trunk as possible.

: Everyone at the farm loves my Martha Stewart Multi-Purpose Heavy-Duty Garden Tote Bag – available on Amazon. It’s made from rugged, rip-resistant woven polypropylene fabric – perfect for holding anything and everything. Each bag measures approximately 20-inches wide by 20-inches long by 24-inches tall. We use them every day.

: These bags can hold more than 900-pounds. One bag will be enough to hold all the cut fronds from these sago palms.

: This bucket is filled with small wooden pieces used as shims to raise pots off the flat surface. These are made from scraps of wood right here on the farm – nothing is ever wasted.

: As each pot is placed onto the stone wall, three wooden shims are positioned underneath it.

: I do this with all my pots – even if the drainage holes are on the sides. Keeping these terra cotta containers off the flat wall will prevent them from rotting.

: Here they are on the wall with the Tenant House in the background. This is where my daughter, Alexis, and her children, Jude and Truman, stay when they come to visit.