I have germinated all sorts of species including some tricky ones such as Atttale dubia and Jubaeopsis but one situation still confounds me. Some seed vendors supply Trachycarpus uncleaned with the fruit pulp still on them. I thought there was a previous post specifically about this but couldn't find it. From what I remember the supplier commented they get better germination this way. More so, with some species the thin fruit doesn't separate well from the endocarp and the cleaning machines damage the softer endocarp/shell. I have noticed this too as T. 'Manipur', T. Martianus, and T. oreophilus seeds can all be scratched with a fingernail. I can get 80%+ germination with seeds I have collected and cleaned from local trees or from purchased pre-cleaned seeds. These are T. fortunei however and the seeds coats are hard, maybe because I can harvest them when I'm sure they are fully ripe. I can even put two fortunei seeds into a 1 gallon and just cull any extras out late as the seeds are free and it save later transplanting steps. With the purchased-seed, "pulp on" sowings, I have tried baggie method with peat and coir. I also tried community pots as well as individual containers, in 60/40 peat/perlite sterile mixes and in custom soil mix with quality compost. Have been careful not to overheat too as I know Trachy's don't like it real hot. None of these attempts have yielded better than 10%, most less. Lot's of rotting. I have also tried hand cleaning the pulp , it gets tedious with 1000s, but I think too many seedscoats got damaged. I have read that many forest plant seeds germinate better in the presence of elevated levels of humic acid. Could compost or compost tea supply the beneficial soil critters to hold off the anaerobic friut rotting creatures until the proper time elapses for the seeds to hatch? Maybe a sterile soil-less mix isn't the best? What about pre-sprouting them in a mist unit? Are there not germination inhibiting chemicals in the fruit? Anyhow, anybody's input, anecdotes, methods, or comments would be appreciated. Thank you all.

I've never had too much luck with Trachycarpus seeds. I usually do the community pot method. The best way I got some martianus seeds to sprout was to dump out the pot in my yard and forget about them- wrongfully assuming that they were never going to sprout. They went through the winter and I think the cold (stratification) may have helped them to sprout. Are you doing any sort of cold stratification at this point?

Pat

In my experience the fruit remaining on Trachycarpus seeds is not an issue and I have germinated many tens of thousands.

If the fruit layer is loose and falling away from some seeds it is a good seed. Sown at room temperature they will sprout ,heat will inhibit them. Seed substrate needs to be barely moist after 2 days soaking of seeds.

The biggest problem is that stupid seed collectors dont have patience to wait for the seed to ripen on the tree and harvest green seeds. If your seed has a fruit layer that is solidly attached to the seed it was harvested green, germination will be lower, and anything up to 100% will rot depending on degree of lack of patience of collector.

This is one of the most annoying things for me, there really is no excuse for it.

Edited August 19, 200916 yr by Nigel

I have had the most problems with Trachycarpus seeds. They rott very easy even after germination. Ive tried to clean them and it will just mess the seed shell up. I let them get as big as i can in the bag before i plant them. I ussally only order 100 seeds because I dont want to kill so many lol. Id say Im at about 10% also. Maybe i need to get them off the heat matt? Ive never had luck in community pots.

I dont want to kill so many lol. Id say Im at about 10% also. Maybe i need to get them off the heat matt?

Fastest way to destroy Trachy seeds is put them on a heat mat. They DONT NEED HEAT.

Soak 2 days. Leave to semidry for an hour or so. Place in barely moist compost in baggy. Put baggy somewhere in house where temp likely stays around 20C for most of the day.

Patrick, no I haven't tried an intentional cool/cold stratification with the purchased seeds but locally harvested T fortunei seeds probably get some cold on the tree while awaiting harvest. I also find them hatching in the compost pile after dumping out. Nigel, I'm glad (sort of) that you feel the collectors are rushing green seeds to harvest. I suspected this too as they often look very fresh as opposed to looking the old and dried out like other poor germination experiences. I wish they would stop this and just be a little more patient. I think this could be a big factor. I have not used any additional heat and have been very careful to assure a free-draining mix, not too moist. Also observed is that community sowings make a few rotten seeds much worse as the rot spreads to neighboring seeds Thank you again.

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I agree with Nigel, keep them "cool". Trachycarpus don't need heat to germinate. I sow them a lot, last year I take them from my own tree and trow them in a pot and they are germinating very easly.

Robbin

The Trachycarpus seeds I tried were destroyed by a burrowing worm or something. They left a little hole in the seed and ate the insides.

How about soil mixes? Soilless (coir, peat, perlite etc.)? Soil with compost? A new product called "Not Coir" (I start a new thread for feedback on this one)? Just trying to survey Trachy germ. methods and experiences and put all in one tidy thread for future confounded palm growers to reference.

Hi,

I'm relatively new to growing palms, and have had nothing but trouble with Trachy seeds in the past, mainly because I tried to germinate them in high heat like other palms. I also suspect my seeds last year either weren't fresh - or possibly harvested while green as someone else here suggested. (I didn't receive the seeds until six months after my order, so I tend to favor the theory they weren't fresh.)

This year, I ordered seeds in early spring so they would be fresh, sowed them in bags of vermiculite, and tried to keep them at temps between 60F and 68F (15C to 20C) and have had much better luck. Around 20 of the 100 T. takil ("True Form," or should I say "True Form part III") seeds left over from last year that didn't germinate at high temps even sprouted this spring when I changed the temps I was using, much to my surprise. I've had the best luck with Naini Tal, geminisectus, latisectus, and wagnerianus using this method, though I think the lats liked temps a little warmer as they seemed to respond when the temps climbed to closer to 80F (~27C). I also have had oreophilus respond fairly well to this treatment, though the germination has been more erratic, with a few at a time sprouting instead of many at once as the other species. I also had good luck with some other trachy seeds such as T. fortunei 'Winsan' and T. fortunei 'Tesan' using this method.

T. nanus and T princeps have not responded to this, though I'm unsure if it's the seeds or the method. I have princeps seeds from two separate sources, both of which I was assured were harvested fresh, but one batch may not have been ripe I think. None of the princeps have sprouted. T. nanus has resulted in only two sprouts using this method. As for cleaning the seeds, I only did that with the princeps, and if memory serves correct both batches had the flesh firmly attached, but I'm not certain of my memory on that. One of the suppliers even emailed me photos and asked if I wanted to wait for the seeds to ripen more, to which I said yes, so I do not feel there was an intention of rushing things on their part. On the other hand, I've heard that most failures with Trachy seeds were due to the seeds not being fresh. Perhaps there is a narrow window for the seeds which is optimum for germination, with bad results both from unripe seeds and seeds that aren't fresh? Most of my Trachy seeds this year were ordered as soon as they became available, which I think may have been another reason I had better luck this year, but again, perhaps the princeps and nanus weren't fully ripe.

As for cold stratification, the seeds I sprouted this spring received none, except for the left over takils which sprouted. There also was one geminisectus that sprouted from last year's seeds as well, but the results weren't spectacular, though I did have those seeds on a heat mat last fall and this may have been the cause.

I wonder if the cold stratification itself isn't a trigger for germination, but instead cool early spring temps the seeds see?

I also have heard that Trachy seeds prefer day/night temp fluctuations instead of constant temps as well. Germination did slow down this summer when I brought the seeds indoor and kept them at a constant 70F (21C) temp. I did a little experiment where I took ziploc freezer bags, filled them with water, and froze them during the day. In the evening, I set my tray of seeds on top of another tray with the ice in them which brought the temps down overnight a few degrees, and I started seeing seeds sprouting again, so I think there may be something to this. I didn't keep any scientific records, but I did see enough of a change that I remember thinking that perhaps fluctuating day/night temps within a certain range improves germination results.

Take care,

Neo

I´ve tried em twice. First I ordered from jungleseeds from the uk. The seeds were fine but I messed it up with too much moisture and only 1 survived which is growing steadily and has 3 leaves for now. The second time I receved 50 seeds from belgium from a guy who had harvested himself. I suspect that the seeds were immature and none germinated Both times they were on room temp. Luckily he sent my 50 fillies too and now I have ton of them growing already.. They germinated within 5 days on my aquarium lamp. Too bad that they dont sell trachies here in the supermarkets instead of robustas other roomplants.

I don't have much experience germinating Trachycarpus as I am only growing Trachycarpus oreophilus from seed but I must say that I didn't have much problem germinating them! I got them somewhen in early Spring from RPS and soaked them in water for 1-3days and sowed them on top of very moist coco bedding but only slightly pushed into the material(about only 1/3 in) in a container that has ventilation gaps where it closes so humidity never reaches liquidizes in it. I don't know if these had a fruit attached or not as I never tried to clean them and appeared firm. They were kept at room temprature and at early summer, I got about 50% germination. I continued to get germnators through the summer and still get more germinators now and I am currently at 72% germination with them Even seeds with fungus on them germinated and gave healthy seedlings! And still, all the seeds left sen healthy and they will probably germinate at some point! I haven't lost a single seedling from these yet so I consider them a very easy grow