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picture of the palm tree in question

I have this palm, not sure what its name is but it's rather big and I want to know how to trim it a bit.

Should I cut off a whole leaflet? Would that kill it? How big will it grow to be?

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    Colin answered your question, but I wanted to give a little plant care advice. It likes very bright light, the brighter the better, but can sometimes burn in bright windows if that is the only direct sun they get. Best to put it outside in summer if you can. The biggest concern is root rot from over-watering it. They need well drained soil that is allowed to dry out between watering. Rinse off the leaves every now & then to prevent spider mites. Depending on where you live you may not get new leaves very often. Warm & sunny is the trick.
    – GardenGems
    Feb 10, 2020 at 0:24
  • Is this a photo of your own plant?
    – Stephie
    Feb 12, 2020 at 6:49

5 Answers 5

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It is not a palm of the family Palmae of Class Monocotyledons.It is a gymnosperm CYCAS REVOLUTA having their seeds open and out unlike angiosperms to which Palms belong to. These plants love sun light so better so better to be moved out side. It naturally grow as a medium sized tree so can be plantedin soil with a basin around so as to help irrigating and fertilizer application.

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It's a Japanese Sago Palm, Cycas revoluta. It looks to be in fine condition so I would not prune it at all if you can avoid that. You will not kill it by removing a leaf but you should only remove the lower leaves; but that won't affect the overall size at all so it is rather unnecessary. See if you can find an alternate solution to the space issue.

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Its a Sago Palm, I have 2 beautiful ones in my yard. If you just feel you have to trim, trim only bottom leaves. If you live in South or Southeast plant it outside in a sunny location. Make sure you wear gloves

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Yes. It is a Sago. Trimming is fine as long as you do Not bother the central stem. All palms are related to grasses. Some confusion as Sago's are coniferous, ( think pine trees) Very susceptible to scale(white spots) and magnesium Deficiency. More sun the better. Have been growing Sago's for 30 years plus. They have been around for many a millennium.

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There are some in my neighborhood where each frond is over 2m / 7ft long.

You can trim the tip of each frond, but the general rule is to only cut off a frond once it is completely brown. Green means photosynthesis, which is how the plant gets its energy to live. Reducing that weakens the plant. Also, the plant will absorb nutrients from the dying frond. Plus, that is a beautiful Sago and any trimming will only take away from that.

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