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Caring for Sago Palms

When growing sago palms as houseplants or overwintering them indoors, pay attention to soil moisture, as overwatering is the most common way to kill a sago palm.

• Provide a spot with bright light for at least several hours a day. Leave the dark corner of the room for your snake plant.
• Water when the top inch of soil has dried out. Use your finger to test. During the winter, watering frequency should taper off as the plant is less active.
• Keep sagos away from drafty spots like in front of an entry door.
• Sago palms love humidity. If your house runs dry in the winter, as many do, consider a small, portable humidifier and group your humidity-loving houseplants together near it.
•  During spring and summer months, sago palms can be fertilized monthly or provided a slow-release fertilizer in spring and again in midsummer.

Trimming Sago Palms

• Trim off only the brown fronds. Leave yellow fronds until they’ve browned, and the plant is done with them. It is normal for older cycad leaves to turn yellow, then brown, as the plant will store nutrients to grow newer leaves.
• However, if you see younger leaves turning yellow, this could mean that either your plant is not draining properly or it’s nutrient-deficient and needs fertilizer.
• On the other hand, if sago palm yellowing occurs with new growth, this could signal a nutrient deficiency. Insects can be another factor, as these plants are well known for harboring pests like scale bugs. Newly planted sago palms that suffer from yellowing may be the result of improper planting or poor drainage.

Growing sago palms outdoors in the ground requires little care other than watching the soil moisture and keeping them weeded. They’re a stout plant that knows how to survive.

Propagating Sago Palms

While sago palms can be grown from seed, dividing is the most common and fastest way to propagate a sago palm. These plants will grow miniature versions of themselves, called pups, at their base. Once a pup is properly established, it can be separated from the mother plant and repotted. Unfortunately, you may have to wait a while before pups appear. The plants must be mature, which could take several years or more.

Sago palms have a tap root, even the pups. While the pups may still root if their taproot is severed, you’ll have better and faster results if you manage to keep it intact.

• Identify one or more pups growing near the base of the mother plant. They’ll look like miniature versions and likely have a frond or two coming off them.
• Remove mulch and soil around the pup to make it easier to see.
• Work down between the pup and the mother plant using a sharp garden spade. They’re attached, and you’ll need to cut through to separate them. Try to do it in one swoop for a clean break.
• Cautiously keep working the spade straight down around the pup, prying and loosening. Remember the tap root. When the pup appears loosened, lift and wiggle it free.
• Allow the pup to sit out in a shady spot and let the severed area cure for a few days to reduce the chance of rot later.
• Use a pot with several drain holes and fill it with a rapidly draining soil mixture. Cactus or palm mix is ideal, but you can mix potting soil, sand, perlite, and coco coir—about 3 parts potting mix to 1 part other ingredients.
• Plant the pups, leaving about â…“ of the base out of the soil. Planting too deep can cause rot issues.
• Water well and place in a shady location for the first month, then gradually move it into partial sun. 

Be patient; sago palms can take a year to root and start putting out new growth!