Dioon Species, Chestnut Dioon, Cycad, Edible-Seed Cycas

Your posting says," Seeds poisonous if ingested.", but this is Dioon EDULE. EDULE means EDIBLE. I checked other sources that say the se...Read Moreeds are edible.

Central Phoenix -- I am impressed with the versatility of Dioon edule. For about 20 years I had a plant in a medium-size pot in partial ...Read Moreshade that got water every other week in summer and none in winter. It stayed outside in winter with no freeze damage. It got quite potbound, so I pulled it out and used a hatchet to separate the dense woody root mass. I thought I had killed it, but one of the 2 divisions regrew and is now in the same pot, but with less water and more shade. It seems happy. I also have a two-year old plant in dense shade with water once a month in summer and none in winter. It is doing very well. Another two-year old plant, in a large pot in partial shade with every-other-week summer water is doing poorly.

My dioon was 4' when purchased and spent a year in it's nursery pot before I planted it in a semi-sheltered spot. I live in the coastal R...Read Moreio Grande Valley, the soil in my yard is poor and sandy. Harsh, salty winds are nearly constant. Temperatures in the summer were between 90 to 100 degrees for months. Other specimens that I've noticed around town, planted in full sun, look bleached and exhausted. Given part shade, enough but not too much water, a little fertilizer and it's been doing well.

Experimenting with this cycad in the ground in Portland Oregon. It has survived 2 hard freezes each lasting a week or more. I have a smal...Read Morel and larger one both on the south facing side of the house. Smaller one has taken leaf damage each time but the larger one has taken no cold damage, only snow load damage. I would not say it takes snow load well when its leafs are large but I am impressed with how cold hardy it is.