Arenga ryukyuensis germination

[BeyondTheGarden]

I ordered these from RPS a couple months ago.  A couple days after they arrived I went out of town so this baggie set on my shelf and I forgot about it.  Today I walked by and saw something surprising.  I guess they're easy to germinate?  

I have no idea what this media is that the seeds are packaged in but RPS uses this for some of their seeds.  

I know it's often advantageous, when using the baggie method, to leave the seeds in until they shoot their first green leaflets, but this baggie is probably too small for that.  How should I proceed with these?  

Edited July 31, 2021 by Jesse PNW

[Fusca]

I think waiting a bit is a good plan - they won't shoot up a long strap leaf like a CIDP assuming they are like A. engleri.  My 2-3 year old A. engleri seedling's oldest leaves are only 2" long.  Congrats on the eager seeds!  Saves you some time and effort.

[BeyondTheGarden]

Well good news and bad news, seems one is shooting, but there was some white powdery looking mold so..

I'm still new to germinating palms, someone help me out here please. 

I pulled the seeds out, some I sprayed lightly with copper fungicide, some I did not, and I put them in some small pots with 100% perlite. They're in the greenhouse where they will get misted every morning when the irrigation kicks on.  

What else can I do?  I'm getting ready to go out of town for awhile so I hope they're not toast. 

[kinzyjr]

If you are leaving, wipe the white stuff off with a light Chlorox solution and be careful not to get any on the roots, then pot them up.  The Arenga engleri seedlings out in my yard were handled this way.

[BeyondTheGarden]

Is straight perlite ok?  I was thinking it would reduce the amount of... "garbage" that can also add more mold.  Versus putting them into potting soil. 

 

[kinzyjr]

13 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

Is straight perlite ok?  I was thinking it would reduce the amount of... "garbage" that can also add more mold.  Versus putting them into potting soil.

If you're going out of town for a while, you'll want something that holds a bit more moisture than pure perlite.  I'd go with 75/25 potting soil/perlite.  Mine didn't need it to be really damp and moist, but they hated if their medium completely dries out.

[RJ]

I got some of these off eBay from a chap in the UK. 3 have sprouted over a period of almost a year . Very sporadic for me not sure why …

[Kailua_Krish]

2 hours ago, RJ said:

I got some of these off eBay from a chap in the UK. 3 have sprouted over a period of almost a year . Very sporadic for me not sure why …

These were super erratic for me too when I germinated them a few years ago. I think its normal for the species if you get older seeds

[BeyondTheGarden]

Little update.  These little guys have been chugging along in the grow box.   Looks like they're both about to push out a new strap leaf. 

I'm down to these 2, not sure what happened to the rest.  One died from fungal something-or-other after it sat in a puddle for a few days.  The other ones never pushed out any aerial growth. 

[Pal Meir]

And the mother of your babies may have looked like this one: 

 

And your babies will look in a couple of years like this (former baby of that palm above) if you keep it as potted plant:

Good luck! 

[BeyondTheGarden]

Gorgeous.  How long have you had that?  

Why is it that, every time I'm interested in growing an obscure and hard-to-find palm, I find that you're already growing it? 

[BeyondTheGarden]

Update, the original two on the right. 2 more seeds sprouted somewhere along the way.  Lots of seeds rotted, I sorted through them all and disposed of rot and mold and cleaned all the intact seeds.  

I love the serrated ends of these leaflets.  

[BeyondTheGarden]

If you look carefully at the middle specimen, the newest frond has distinct leaflets now. 

[BeyondTheGarden]

These seem to languish.  They took sunburn when I moved them outside at the beginning of this summer, and have been slow to push out new growth.  I checked the soil, it's a modified recipe based off Pal Meir's recipe for Lytocaryum.  Lots of orchid bark and hydroton (expanded clay pellets).  The soil drains very fast and stays pretty dry. 

This species seem to grow in damp places in habitat, seems like they're often pictured right by water.  I'm wondering if they would like a slower draining soil?  

I also read that they like mild temperatures.  Does anyone have observations on what temp and humidity levels these do best in?

 

[RJ]

9 hours ago, Jesse PNW said:

These seem to languish.  They took sunburn when I moved them outside at the beginning of this summer, and have been slow to push out new growth.  I checked the soil, it's a modified recipe based off Pal Meir's recipe for Lytocaryum.  Lots of orchid bark and hydroton (expanded clay pellets).  The soil drains very fast and stays pretty dry. 

This species seem to grow in damp places in habitat, seems like they're often pictured right by water.  I'm wondering if they would like a slower draining soil?  

I also read that they like mild temperatures.  Does anyone have observations on what temp and humidity levels these do best in?

 

 

 

 

 

Mine don’t seem to mind the hot humid SE, not-in full,sun either though. They’re apparently some growing in the Orlando FL,area. 

[BeyondTheGarden]

@RJ are you growing yours in-ground?

[Steve in Florida]

I'm growing mine in full sun.  They like  a high degree of moisture in the soil and the leaves will yellow or bleach out if it gets too hot and dry.

[BeyondTheGarden]

Thank you @Steve in Florida.  That may be part of why my leaves are faded and yellowed, I'll try adding some more organic matter to the mix. 

[RJ]

On 10/30/2022 at 9:38 PM, Jesse PNW said:

@RJ are you growing yours in-ground?

Mine are in pots still. They should hit the ground next year .