zamia floridana

i just got a coontie palm (3g) for 13$ and iv'e never had one before.............................any advise? ................................please help...................................................................thank you:)

Warm and on the dry side.
Make sure your soil drains well.

It is of course not a palm but a cycad. They are prolific here in our area.

Angel,

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>

I'm glad one of the experts chimed in here. :-)

I love Coonties.

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.