Germinated my first seed ever!!

[chad2468emr]

I’m so excited! My first seed ever successfully germinated overnight. (Ironically during a cold snap in Florida haha) 

I usually have all my seeds succumb to fungal issues when attempting this, (washys, k. oliviformis, sabals, dypsis, you name it.) so I soaked this bismarckia seed and his siblings in a copper fungicide solution the night before placing them into the container on top of a heating pad I’d used for my lizard in the past.

I’d gotten this seed and several others from Bok Tower when I saw that their fine looking specimen had dropped a ton and I couldn’t resist. I forgot about them and they sat in a baggy for several months, but in just over two weeks I was able to get this dude to sprout! 

Given the size of the tap root he’ll be putting out, he’s now in a 10 inch quart container so he can get established. Can’t wait for that first strap leaf! See him below plus the parent plant:

Edited December 2, 2020 by chad2468emr

[Reyes Vargas]

Congratulations.  That has to be one of the best looking bismarkia I have seen.  Make sure to keep that sprout indoors right now since bismarkia need and love heat as long as it's cold outside.  Also they need deep pots 14 inch or deeper.  Good luck.

[PalmatierMeg]

Good work. I agree with @Reyes Vargas. Use as deep a pot as you can. Bizzies put out long radicles and are quite sensitive to root disturbances.

[Jan Jo]

Congratulations! It's a great feeling when that happens when you first start experimenting with seed germination 

Be careful, it can become addictive! 

[chad2468emr]

Thanks everyone! I am very excited that I was finally able to accomplish this after many failed attempts, haha. Now I'm just waiting for that first leaf to pop up.... how long does that take? I'm eager to see it sprout!

I ended up have 2 / 4 seeds germinate, and honestly I discarded the other two even though they likely would have come through because these suckers need large pots even at a seedling stage, and to be frank, I don't have the room for more than two.

I put one them both in 8 inch deep nursery quart containers, and the tap roots are already trying to sneak out of the bottom of the pots! I didn't want to plant them in anything much larger than that because the soil would likely dry out too slowly and as much as they need a deep pot, I didn't want to give them too much width for fear of them developing root rot / damping off. I'm sure the roots will wrap around and stay inside the container but I might find myself potting these guys up sooner than I had anticipated once there are enough roots to fill the containers and prevent me from accidentally inflicting damage since I know they're sensitive to root disturbances. 

I did notice that there were springtails happily crawling around the seeds as I had them germinating, and not a bit of fungus to be seen. I know springtails chow down on fungus, so I'm hoping they have stuck around since planting and they help out there. 

[PalmTreeDude]

Congrats! 

[chad2468emr]

Sooooo I still don’t have a strap leaf... is that normal? I can see through the holes in the nursery quarts that there’s a lot of new root growth every week, but no leaves. Making me nervous haha. 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

If your still noticing growth your good to go. I personally wouldn't have gotten rid of the other seeds that had popped. Getting seeds to pop is the easy part. Keeping them alive to the 3or4 leaf seedlings is much harder haha. Either way keep doing what your doing this hobby is literally trial and error. Bizzies are best in tall 14" slender pots in my short experience =) Happy germinating 

T J 

[JLM]

Doesnt it take a 1-3 months before the first leaf pops up above the soil? I imagine that once it does come up it will take off if given the right conditions.

[Palms Brisbane]

31 minutes ago, JLM said:

Doesnt it take a 1-3 months before the first leaf pops up above the soil? I imagine that once it does come up it will take off if given the right conditions.

Yes, inconsistent germination too. Some of mine popped root out 1-9months after planting seed and the leaf took months later to appear above soil. 
@chad2468emr could dig them up to check progress but thats risky, but sometimes helps with understanding the process.

[Tyrone]

Most deep rooted palms that bury the growing point take an extended time to put a leaf above the soil surface purely due to the distance the leaf has to travel to get there. It may take a few months to see above ground activity, especially with bismarckia as they are busy putting an extensive root system down. Coming from seasonally dry savannah land in Madagascar the seed would germinate during the wet season then very quickly follow the soil moisture down through the soil so that by the time the dry season comes they’ve tapped in to permanent soil moisture.

What I’ve learned with germinating many palms including bismarckia is to get the growing medium just moist and not too wet but keep the humidity high inside the container. That’s a balancing act but if you can see some condensation on the walls of the container and the medium is a little dry looking on top that’s probably spot on. It will slow down any rogue rotting issues that may arise. Along that thought, in the wild Bismarckia will have the seed sitting on the soil surface where the sun dries it out a bit , whereas it’s burrowed down to the moisture below. If you can keep the soil surface a bit drier it will prevent the radicle from the seed (which is like an umbilical cord feeding the new plant below) from rotting off. I’ve done it many times with Bismarckia.

You learn from your mistakes.

Happy growing.

[palmfriend]

Hi,

Congratulations, Bismarckias are an exciting species!

I agree with all the others, it can take quite a while - up to a few weeks - until the first leave will break through the soil' s surface. Be patient, you will be rewarded!

Best regards from Okinawa -

Lars

 

[DoomsDave]

@chad2468emr you Go!

Deep pot for each sprouting seed 12” maybe 18” deep 

[chad2468emr]

Thanks everyone! Been palm-wild for a decade or so, but just recently decided I’m patient enough to actually give germinating seeds a serious go, so I had no idea what was a normal amount of time to wait on that first leaf popping up. 

[chad2468emr]

Wanted to give an update here. The little guy is doing well and his first leaf is looking good! I had to repot him a few weeks ago since the quart container he was in was already getting crowded and I knew he’d appreciate more room. Given their proclivity for distress after root disturbances I felt like I was performing open heart surgery with how precise I had to be haha. 

His little leaf nub has really taken off since and we’re in full on strap leaf mode now. 

[chad2468emr]

Another update: We’ve got three little leaves! A fourth is popping out now as well.