inkcube

you will only be able tell if your plant is a male or female when the plant is or has shown its reproductive cones - male cones protrude and are shaped like a cone or torpedo, the females are "cabbage" shaped and are gold or tan-yellow in color and the female cone is usually larger than the male. female cones emerge from the central area of the crown and look somewhat like a round mass of twisted and compacted tiny leaves. typically a sago will not produce cones until they are over 10 years, often it is much longer. a happy sago can put on a foot of trunk in 8 to 10 years, at about 10 years they can be about 1 - 2 ft tall and typically 3 - 4 ft tall when 20.

i have a sago in a pot that is well over 10 years old and has never put out a cone.