here's the whole plant. Sorry, no rotate ability

i dont see any scale in your pic

but then i never saw a scale that looked powdery ...

regardless ... what are you thinking??? .. RETURN IT..

whats your alternative.. spend twice the plant cost in remedy???

ken

thats why I posted- to see if this is normal or if I should return the plant. I would prefer to keep it if it doesn't have any problem.
I've searched online and I can't seem to find a closeup photograph of the top of a potted sago palm trunk.
Is this powder, or fur? It looks evenly distributed all round the plant, and nothing is on the leaves.
If its not scales, what is it?

thanks

maybe its just a harmless mold, perhaps they've been misting it at the store?

Or it could be normal. Check out other cycads to verify or not.

Are you SURE that there's nothing on the fronds?

yes except what looks like fur maybe on stalks. Plant looks healthy enough. What in the world is it? I give up.

OK I got an answer from a plant specialist at a nursery.
It is NOT scale. The white powder is mildew from spraying, the brown fuzz is part of the plant.
Scale will be larger and look like little bumps that squirt when you smash them.
Cycads like this also get mealy bugs but those look like little bits of cotton.
Healthy plant.

who-rah ...

knowledge is power ...

i hope.. you see now .. the value of the specialty nursery.. over bigboxstore ... insure you spend some money with them ... in the future .... we are losing too many of them ....

ken

Most of the pests I've gotten have been from specialty nurseries, not big box stores.