As a member of bus 4 which collected it's fair share of seeds, I am happy to report that my Costa Rican seeds feel right at home in Trinidad and have all been making their valiant efforts to take their rightful places in my rainforest. Areca vestiara, Calyptrocalyx polyphyllus, Geonoma sp., Welfia and others. Cyrtostachys are plump and have been striking. I will be pleased to remember Costa Rica for many years by saying "Oh, I collected those seeds at the IPS biennial in Costa Rica". Pictures will obviously follow as the seedlings grow, and not only for identification assistance......

Robert,

Glad to hear your seeds made it home and are doing well! I just took the plastic lid off one container today because the seeds had germinated last week and the seedlings are now hitting the lid. I believe they are the single stem Areca vestiarias. The seeds were much bigger than the ones I collected from the clumping form. Most of the other seeds I collected from Herrero's are now starting to germinate also. What a treat that was to be able to collect any seeds we wanted from their farms!

Fire up that awesome camera Robert!!!

Hyophorbe indicas have been strong growers. I think that I will pot them up to 1 gal soon.

Areca vestiara. What are the chances of some of these having red leaves?

Geonoma sp.

Calyptrocalyx polyphyllus.

I germinate my seeds in styrofoam trays. Fill them with a peat moss, sharp sand mixture and stick them in the shadehouse. I don't have to do much more in the rainy season.

The first photo gives a clearer look at the seed set up. The tray in the foreground has Cyrtostachys renda seedlings. These are Trinidad collected seeds.

The seeds from Costa Rica have germinated, and are just now clearing soil level. Not much to look at. The should look like these, my older seedlings in 4 to 6 weeks. All told, I think I may have about 10,000 C. renda seedlings. What am I going to do with them all!!!! I tell my wife that they will help me retire early in 5 years.

Two months ago this Welfia regia seedling leaf was completely red. It has just now begun to fade.

Robert,

It looks like your well on your way to becoming the #1 nurseryman in Trinidad.

Jeff

Jeff, definitely for C. renda!

Robert

Robert,

That's very impressive! And 10,000 C. renda seedlings....wow!! About the A. vestiaria - the seedlings that open up with a maroon/reddish leaf (even if it's the first one) will ALWAYS do that, and the ones that open up with a green new frond will ALWAYS do that, so you can separate them into two groups as soon as you pot them up.

Bo-Göran

Wow... nice germinating rates over there... 10.000 C. renda, you can start a whole forest with them later

Edited August 7, 200817 yr by Exotic Life

I'm trying to imagine potting up 10,000 seedlings... Let's see, 10,000 pots, check! Soil for 10,000 pots, check! Presuming you are very efficient, one minute per pot, working 8 hours a day, you'll be done in 3 weeks. I think you need help, Robert!

Aloha Robert - amazing sprouts - you are the SEED KING!

Dan on “the Big Island” of Hawai’i

very nice! jungle of C. renda sounds really cool.

do those styrofoam containers have drainage holes in them?

The drainage holes are on the sides of the containers. The containers are used to transport grapes from the US to Trinidad and are available mainly from September to December. As a matter of fact I picked up about 6 yesterday. The seeds are just tossed into the germinating trays. If, as in the case of C. renda I have a ton of seeds and the germination rate is good I have to take the sprouts out and space them in another container. More work, but ..............

Robert

Robert,

Nice seedlings! What's your soil mix. I think I see rice hulls. What else?

Scott,

I am using a combination of promix and rice hulls for the seedlings. It is a nice light mix and has good moisture and aeration. I use this on orchids also and they have responded really well.

Robert

Here are some seedlings, the id of which I am unsure of. The seeds were collected at the Herrero farm and I have them listed as either Nenga pumila or a Pinanga sp.

great stuff Robert.

You are doing excellent Robert. I popped about 25% of my Areca vestiaria, 10% of the Cyrtostachys Renda and the other 17 species dampened off. I am really pissed off since I ruined such nice fresh seed.

I had a handful of seeds from four or five different species, threw them into a single pot grouped by type, and forgot about them. Today I checked and I have at least 12 palms sprouted, but I don't know which is which.

Some of the seeds are shaped like an olive pit, and the new sprout is reddish -- maybe Areca vestiaria?

Some seeds are like a large black peppercorn -- any idea what that would be?

Some are buried, but the leaves make me think of Pinanga coronata, which I know I collected.

Now that night temperatures are sometimes dropping to 40, I wonder if I should bring the pot inside, or leave them under cover where they've been? It's funny, because I've never been very interested in germinating seeds, but I'm kind of excited!

Here are some seedlings, the id of which I am unsure of. The seeds were collected at the Herrero farm and I have them listed as either Nenga pumila or a Pinanga sp.

Robert,

You couldn't of pick two palms that would look closer as a seedling and even as they get much bigger. If your plants remain as a single trunk palm, their most likely not a Nenga, as I;m pretty sure these are clumping palms. And Pinangas can be solitary or clumping. Jeeeeeez, didn't you read the tag underneath the palm before you stole, excuse me, picked the seed with permission ?

Jeff

Jeff, the problem was there were no tags!

Kim, for me nothing else in this hobby is as satisfying as saying "I grew it from seed!"

Robert

Jeff, the problem was there were no tags!

Kim, for me nothing else in this hobby is as satisfying as saying "I grew it from seed!"

Robert

Robert, your evident enthusiasm is contagious!

Thanks to Ryan's thorough documentation of the trip, I was able to recognize and identify my seeds, yay!

I would love to see the latest (in photo form) on everyone's Costa Rican acquirements.

CAT ?

Wal,

Most of the Costa Rica collected seed are doing well. Here are a couple of updated photos.

Bactris honduranensis - before

Now

Welfia - before

Now

Hyophorbe indica - then

Now

Areca vestiara - then

Now

Calyptrocalyx polyphyllus - then

Now

Cyrtostachys renda - then

After

Now

Did I say I have a lot of C. renda seedlings?

Two of my Pholidostachys pulchra seeds germinated. I'm ecstatic!

Thanks for showing those Robert, that's a wonderful display of growth.

Anyone else ?

Nice, hope ya got a few hundred pots laying around!

it's beautifull....woooowwww.....I can only dream about that!

Robert,

Wow! I'm glad you don't live in my area. You would pose a serious threat to my business, as a grower. Your seedlings really look nice. I'm proud of ya. (no reason not to be) My stuff came up pretty good as well, but I only brought back a fraction of what you did. Way to go......

Jeff

Very great... i like that shot with all the C.renda! You really must show a pic when they al have there own little pot.. if you got enough space for that

Robbin

Robert, how are all the seedlings going another year on ??

Awesome shots of seedlings, they look really healthy. Yes it would be good to see them a year on.

Regards

Wanderanwills

My C. renda seedlings have been undergoing some stress from the water restrictions and our unusually dry season. I have lost about 10% or so. They are still in their community trays for the most part, but I will be undertaking a massive transplant program into one gallon containers next month, just in time for our rainy season. I will take a couple of photos over the weekend to post showing what they look like at the moment.

Robert

Is Robert still around? I'd like a 6 or 7 year update with photos, please  All those seedlings and growth documentation photos...eye candy!!