Advice for germinating Hyphaene coriacea and then seeds in general

[stingray]

I picked up 3 of the big seeds from texascoldhardypalms.com, cleaned all of the skin and fiber from them, soaked for a few days then placed in moist perlite. About how long do these take to germinate?

Next, I was wondering how to tell the difference between pollinated and unpollinated seeds on palms around the neighborhood. If a palm is producing seeds does that mean they have been pollinated and will germinate when conditions are right? How does one know when the seeds are ripe enough to remove from the bunch? Wait until they fall to the ground?

I have quite a few med fan palms that frequently make seeds, when are they ripe? They never fall to the ground. 

Thanks

Edited August 8, 2020 by stingray

[WaianaeCrider]

24 minutes ago, stingray said:

I picked up 3 of the big seeds from texascoldhardypalms.com, cleaned all of the skin and fiber from them, soaked for a few days then placed in moist perlite. About how long do these take to germinate?

Went to their web site.  Didn't see seeds for sale.  Did I miss something?

 

[stingray]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Three-HUGE-Hyphaene-Coriacea-Seeds-Lala-Palm-FREE-SHIPPING-very-silver/324080080112?hash=item4b74ad94f0:g:L-oAAOSw--1WrYe6

[Silas_Sancona]

28 minutes ago, stingray said:

I picked up 3 of the big seeds from texascoldhardypalms.com, cleaned all of the skin and fiber from them, soaked for a few days then placed in moist perlite. About how long do these take to germinate?

Next, I was wondering how to tell the difference between pollinated and unpollinated seeds on palms around the neighborhood. If a palm is producing seeds does that mean they have been pollinated and will germinate when conditions are right? How does one know when the seeds are ripe enough to remove from the bunch? Wait until they fall to the ground?

I have quite a few med fan palms that frequently make seeds, when are they ripe? They never fall to the ground. 

Thanks

This time of year, Hyphaene seed should start germinating within 4-6 weeks, at least that is about how long they took wen i germinated some i had.. Curious how you potted them since they will produce a long sinker before the first leaf emerges. I used 6" wide PVC drain pipe cut into 14" lengths. Used hard wire cloth and some shadecloth ( cut to fit the opening, placed inside the Hard wire cloth ) for the bottom to keep the soil in.

As far as Med fans.. Not sure on how long they take to ripen but fruit on one i collected seed off in the past were a dark orange color if i remember correctly..  Seed on other stuff, like Washingtonia ( Mex. / CA. Fan Palms ) will turn black when ripe. Never seen Queens produce seed here so no idea on those.

[Fusca]

1 hour ago, stingray said:

I was wondering how to tell the difference between pollinated and unpollinated seeds on palms around the neighborhood. If a palm is producing seeds does that mean they have been pollinated and will germinate when conditions are right? How does one know when the seeds are ripe enough to remove from the bunch? Wait until they fall to the ground?

I have quite a few med fan palms that frequently make seeds, when are they ripe? They never fall to the ground.

Welcome to Palmtalk!  In general palm fruits that are still green are not ripe and seeds will not germinate.  The fruits usually turn red, orange, purplish black, white or some other color when ripe - varies by species.  Supposedly queen palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana) seeds can be germinated with green fruit but a safe bet is to notice the color of fruit when it drops from the tree or easily pulls off to know when it's ripe.

With the med fan palms (Chamaerops humilis) you've noticed that the fruits usually don't drop for a long time if at all.  The problem with these palms is that they are dioecious (male and female flowers are on separate plants) so unless there is a male nearby the female may very well produce ripe fruit (usually red or reddish orange) but not viable seed.  Same with date palms (Phoenix spp.) but these palms hybridize very easily so a lot of times viable seed will be created even though a male is not visible.  Hope this is helpful.

Jon

[kinzyjr]

The best results I've had with Hyphaene coriacea was using a 6" deep plastic tub on top of a heat mat.  I kept the medium moist and loose by picking the seeds out and setting them aside and using another tub to empty the germinating medium and mix it up every 2 weeks.  If it needed moisture, I'd spray it as I was mixing it to keep it from getting too damp.  I kept at least 2" of growing medium between the seeds and the bottom of the tub when I sowed and re-sowed them.  Temperatures were in the 100F range at this dept (measured with a thermometer).  You'll get about a 1/4" to 3/8" thick root coming out the flat side when they germinate.  By checking every 2 weeks, you'll ensure that the root doesn't get any longer than 4".  When you repot them, the taller the better, but keep in mind you will likely have to cut the pot if you plant on transplanting them into the ground.

Seeds in general, this takes a combination of research and experience.  There are lots of photos of palms in flower and in fruit.  In my case, I've made a spreadsheet of the best grown palms of each species in my area, when they flower/fruit and whether I've been able to verify they produce viable offspring.

Some of the seeds will germinate even if the fruit isn't ripe, and others you have to wait.  Another good example of a seed that doesn't need to come from ripe fruit in addition to @Fusca's Syagrus romanzoffiana above is Dypsis decaryi.  You'll get seeds that will germinate even when the fruit is quite green.  With others, it's best to monitor the palms in your area to find when their fruit typically ripens.  On the east coast of Central Florida, their Ptychosperma elegans were ripe in December.  Here, they weren't ripe until April.  Could be influenced by genes, climate, soil type, etc.

[NatureGirl]

You can also take two - 1 gal pots, cut bottom out of one and stack them to make 1 tall pot. Seeds germinate quickly this time of year. Then when ready, dump pots and plant up into one of them. You can see in photo, where top pot is removed.

[aztropic]

13 hours ago, stingray said:

 

I have quite a few med fan palms that frequently make seeds, when are they ripe? They never fall to the ground. 

Thanks

Med fan palm seeds go from shiny green,to shiny yellow,to a dull orange brown when they are ripe. About half of these in my picture could be picked and planted right now,although I wait for the entire bunch to turn brown before harvesting.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona