Cycas Revoluta - cropping back

[darth vader]

I recently bought a cycas (King Sago palm) and am growing it indoors with good results, except it is not brilliant light in my part of the office, so when a batch of new branches sprouted, they grew like a triffid and are totally disproportionate to the rest of the plant - can i crop these back without fear of killing a) the growing branches b) the plant?

[mikewall01]

These plants like partial shade indoors. They are normally slow growing and only put out one set of new leaves each year. You may have got a multi-headed hybrid which would be better off grown outdoors. You can trim the leaves; cutting as close to the stem (trunk) as possible, and there is unlikely to be any chance of killing the other leaves or the plant itself. You are sure that this is a cycas revoluta ?

[darth vader]

I read the reason for the triffid-like growth was due to the lack of light, and that had they been in direct light they would have had been shorter "branches". Yes it is definitely a cycas, i've even still got the original label planted next to it. At the moment it looks like a top half of a pineapple, with about 8 branches/palms, the 4 new ones sprouted a few weeks back and are over double the size of existing ones - i didn't want to chop them off, but make them about half the size (and more proportianate to the existing ones) so if you say i'm ok to trim then then that's good.

[mikewall01]

I don't think it's a light problem. Might be a genetic disorder. Hack away, but don't spoil the symmetry of the plant.