Astrocaryum seed germination

[Pedro 65]

The genus Astrocaryum has a seed germination record ( in books) of very very slow and very sporadic and up to 3 yrs to germinate.

Heres a helpful hint to help "speed up" germination and get 100%..

1st Many Thanks to Cindy Adair ( Apaandssa) for the fresh Astrocaryum seed, I have your Ptychosperma waitianum seed near ready to send you as pic shows

2nd Many to Don Kittleson ( AmazonDK) for your 'valuable info"on Astrocaryums I siffed through and remembered the "important stuff"

Without the 2 above mentioned my trial would not have been possible so again many thanks Cindy and Don.

Hint....I got 100% germination from Astrocaryum seed by yes again sowing seed deep in a Large Pot of coarse sand AND by adding "plenty" of Charcoal to the mix below.

The pot was in "direct sunlight so it got "very very warm/hot", germination took only 6 mnths..

Happy to share this info for keen Astrocaryum seed holders.

Pete

[dalmatiansoap]

Bravo Pete!

Im still on 20% and hoping for a few more coming summer.

Thanks Cindy for the seeds

Pete, why Charcoal?

[realarch]

Good luck on you 'spiny' little babies.

Tim

[tjwalters]

Pete,

Is that P. waitianum? It looks quite different from mine - narrower leaflets, bright green inflorescence vs. deep maroon. Normal variation? I'm still waiting for the flowers to open on the first spike (below). How long from spike to open flowers? (Sorry for the thread hi-jack.)

[Everton]

I collected some seeds of Astrocaryum gynacanthum when I was in Manaus. Of 12 seeds, only one germinated.