Germinating acrocomia aculeata seeds

[Josh-O]

Has anyone successfully germinated acrocomia aculeata seeds by removing the outer shell?

I decided to do an experiment and crack the 1/8 " think outer shell to see if I can germinate the actual  kernel to speed up the process.

It normally can take up to 2 yrs to successfully sprout this seed under normal conditions.

 

What are your thoughts?????????

 

soaking in bleach water to sterilize the kernel

26 seeds are in a container placed in sterilized media on bottom heat

 

 

[Josh-O]

I hope this works?

[richnorm]

Up to 2 years?  I think you missed off a zero!  You can smash them open or file a slot and prise with a screw driver.   I have done this on two seeds and germination was extremely rapid but I also lost one to rot.

[Zeeth]

Neat! I'm trying a bunch of A. crispa seeds. I've heard that the genus takes a while to sprout, so cracking the seeds open is probably a good way to do it. Good luck!

[Beespalms]

I have tried over and over with these and found a few tricks that help.

- cracking the outer shell is a must, but look for seeds that also crack or get smashed as they will begin to grow fungus and rot.

-Keep them on the drier side, since they take 6-8 months to germinate, they will rot before they sprout if they are to wet.

-  If planted outside in community bin, try using shredded mulch instead of soil, and don't cover the seeds much if at all.  The mulch helps with drainage, keeping a drier seed.  This also somewhat matches what would happen in habitat.  This trick also works well with hard to germinate Syagrus and Attalea seeds.

[Josh-O]

2 hours ago, richnorm said:

Up to 2 years?  I think you missed off a zero!  You can smash them open or file a slot and prise with a screw driver.   I have done this on two seeds and germination was extremely rapid but I also lost one to rot.

lol.. 20 yrs silly me I forgot the zero

.

[Josh-O]

2 hours ago, Zeeth said:

Neat! I'm trying a bunch of A. crispa seeds. I've heard that the genus takes a while to sprout, so cracking the seeds open is probably a good way to do it. Good luck!

I drenched the  seed germinating media with fungicide and a low dose of bleach water. I also soaked the seeds in a bleach water solution for 10 min.

I also made sure to make sure the soil was not to wet before I sealed up the container. I'm all to familiar with seed rot.lol

[Josh-O]

1 hour ago, Beespalms said:

I have tried over and over with these and found a few tricks that help.

- cracking the outer shell is a must, but look for seeds that also crack or get smashed as they will begin to grow fungus and rot.

-Keep them on the drier side, since they take 6-8 months to germinate, they will rot before they sprout if they are to wet.

-  If planted outside in community bin, try using shredded mulch instead of soil, and don't cover the seeds much if at all.  The mulch helps with drainage, keeping a drier seed.  This also somewhat matches what would happen in habitat.  This trick also works well with hard to germinate Syagrus and Attalea seeds.

awesome feed back!!!

It looks like I'm on the right track

[Josh-O]

2 hours ago, richnorm said:

Up to 2 years?  I think you missed off a zero!  You can smash them open or file a slot and prise with a screw driver.   I have done this on two seeds and germination was extremely rapid but I also lost one to rot.

how fast did they germinate?

[Josh-O]

does anyone else have any thoughts about this technique

[richnorm]

On 1/16/2017, 3:17:11, Josh-O said:

how fast did they germinate?

I can't remember exactly, just a few days I think. Pretty sure not more than two weeks.

[Sanips]

4 hours ago, richnorm said:

I can't remember exactly, just a few days I think. Pretty sure not more than two weeks.

Wow, lucky you! It's really fast. Mine are in the germinator sine 2 months ago . was your seed fresh?

8 hours ago, Josh-O said:

does anyone else have any thoughts about this technique

I'm trying a similar method using a vice to remove the shell. After 2 months, no sign of germination. In this thread you can see other mates using techniques alike: http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/52322-lets-see-how-this-works-out/

[mike in kurtistown]

I've tried doing that at least twice in the last 20 years, but using a hammer. About 25 seeds each time. The first time, one germinated. The second time, there was no germination. Also, did it to 25 Acrocomia (Gastrocoous) crispa with one germination. I don't know why more didn't germinate. I have also buried whole seeds (with shells) in piles of soil, and had one germinate after two to three years. The best idea is that of a friend of mine who lives in Puerto Rico part of the year. He went to a native stand of Acrocomia aculeata and searched for volunteer seedlings and dug them up. But you might need a plane ticket to do that!

 

[richnorm]

No idea if my seed was fresh but it did look somewhat different to the above. The shell was a light grey not dark brown and the seed was like a hazlenut.  Those look like old seed to me.   I put mine in an open pot. The above looks way too wet for my liking!    I should also say I have very little experience with this species as I just tried a few seed once....

[Josh-O]

20 hours ago, richnorm said:

I can't remember exactly, just a few days I think. Pretty sure not more than two weeks.

wow! that's super fast

[Josh-O]

8 hours ago, richnorm said:

No idea if my seed was fresh but it did look somewhat different to the above. The shell was a light grey not dark brown and the seed was like a hazlenut.  Those look like old seed to me.   I put mine in an open pot. The above looks way too wet for my liking!    I should also say I have very little experience with this species as I just tried a few seed once....

I just cleaned off the fruit from the seed. They are very fresh indeed. They are in a sealed container with sterile media on 89F bottom heat. Don't let the humidity that has collected on the top of the container fool you. its in a moist not to wet of a mix.I also have some in community trays. I'm trying different techniques to see what works better. I hate the thought that these can take up to 2 yrs to sprout if left in the shell.

 

thanks for your input. It makes my experiment that much more interesting

[Josh-O]

9 hours ago, mike in kurtistown said:

I've tried doing that at least twice in the last 20 years, but using a hammer. About 25 seeds each time. The first time, one germinated. The second time, there was no germination. Also, did it to 25 Acrocomia (Gastrocoous) crispa with one germination. I don't know why more didn't germinate. I have also buried whole seeds (with shells) in piles of soil, and had one germinate after two to three years. The best idea is that of a friend of mine who lives in Puerto Rico part of the year. He went to a native stand of Acrocomia aculeata and searched for volunteer seedlings and dug them up. But you might need a plane ticket to do that!

 

I'd rather spend the money on a plane ticket to visit your garden

[Josue Diaz]

On 1/15/2017, 3:31:57, Josh-O said:

Has anyone successfully germinated acrocomia aculeata seeds by removing the outer shell?

I decided to do an experiment and crack the 1/8 " think outer shell to see if I can germinate the actual  kernel to speed up the process.

It normally can take up to 2 yrs to successfully sprout this seed under normal conditions.

 

What are your thoughts?????????

 

soaking in bleach water to sterilize the kernel

26 seeds are in a container placed in sterilized media on bottom heat

 

 

Josh, what ratio of bleach to water was the bleach solution you prepared? 

[Josh-O]

19 hours ago, Josue Diaz said:

Josh, what ratio of bleach to water was the bleach solution you prepared? 

I put around 20 drops in that bowl I used

none sprouted BTY, they all rotted

[Palm Tree Jim]

12 hours ago, Josh-O said:

I put around 20 drops in that bowl I used

none sprouted BTY, they all rotted