Attalea maripa

[mike in kurtistown]

Can anyone offer some views or experience on germinating these seeds? Hard or easy? Time required?

[Kai]

It wasn't hard for me to germinate this species. I bought fresh fruits on the market, ate the fruit (quite delicious) and cleaned the seeds thoroughly (no more fibers). After that I soaked them in luke warm water for three days, changing the water every day.

Then I put the seeds on a bed of moist cocopeat in a tupperware box, closed the lid and put it on top of my aquarium (about 30 Celcius in the box). Some sprouted after only 1 or 2 months, while others sprouted after 7 or 8 months about 15 out of 25 seeds sprouted in this time, so I still have about 10 still sleeping.

Also the baggy method worked for me on this species, they just need to be kept warm.

[amazondk]

Mike,

Here is an A. maripa on my lot here.  These trees can get up to 100 feet high in primary forest.   This is one of the most common palm species in our forest around here.  But, I do not know really how they are to germinate.

Kai,  You have some pretty exotic palms for Holland.  My dutch customer who has taken a few road trips with my learned a lot about palms along the way.  Not that I know that much, but what I do he got told.

Here are some babies that sprouted in one place.  I can only think that some animal buried a bunch at one time as they were a ways from the mother tree.

[Kai]

Mike, as I said, the seeds can take a long time to germinate, but eventually they will. You don't have to do anything special to get them to sprout.

DK, yes, a lot of my palms are quite exotic, especially for the Dutch climate. I'm more or less experimenting on which palms can be held as houseplants and/or plants for in the garden in summer. Doing this I have a lot of fun in germinating a lot of different palmspecies and I'm trying to get them from all over the world.

My ultimate goal is to get a livingroom looking like a tropical rainforest (without the rains) and someday moving to somewhere where the climate allows me to grow all these beautifull palms in my garden.

[mike in kurtistown]

Kai and Don,

Thanks for your responses. Kai, you show that germination can occur in a fairly short time. I have been waiting for more than four months and the seeds were fresh collected in Trinidad. But it's winter in Hawaii, with temperatures generally ranging from 62 to 75 deg F., likely not warm enough to stimulate germination of a tropical America species. I am working on setups to increase temperatures for seeds. Stay tuned.

Don, I saw many of these palms during my week on the Rio Negro. A very impressive palm. The temperatures along the river were similar to summer in central Florida, but they were like that all year long. Possibly important in germinating the seeds of local species.

Kai, your situation similar to mine in central Florida. Experimentation with tropical species germination a lot of fun and educational but what do you do with the results? My solution was to sell them to dealers in south Florida.

[amazondk]

Mike,

I think fire is also an element for quick germination.  Although they are quite common in the forest after an area has been deforested and burned they sprout up all over the place.

[Kai]

Mike,

I've been collecting different species of palms for a few years now, but I haven't got enough results to sell to local growers yet. My seedlings are still too small for that. Every now and then I swap some seedlings with some friends who are interested and have something interesting to give back. That way my collection grows even faster. This is such a nice hobby!

[Gunnar Hillert]

@mike in kurtistown Ha! I was looking for some information on Attalea maripa, and this posting popped up. Did yours ever sprout, and if yes, how did they grow over the past 10+ years. I just ordered a few seeds 🙃.

[mike in kurtistown]

Afraid it's not too encouraging. Seeds from a friend's collection in Trinidad in October 2007. First germination 3 years later in Dec 2010, three sprouts, more than one from one seed. Then, in Nov 2012, over 5 years later, another sprout. Three seedlings survived to be planted out. One died, the other two have grown till their leaves reach to about 25 feet. Both have produced inflors, but no sign of seeds yet. Photos below, cloudy early morning shot, sorry.

 

[realarch]

Wow Mike, those are looking good and already producing inflorescence no less. I don’t think I recall ever seeing A. maripa growing in a garden except yours. 

I’ve seen many A. cohune and I’ve got a monster A. phalerata with very cool inflorescence’s and seed. 

Tim