Butia odorata - germination in 19 days!

[John Case]

I tried 2 different methods to germinate B. odorata seeds. Clearly I have too much time on my hands....

Nonetheless, I have some that are in a baggie with cracked shells using a bench vise.....in damp perlite with bottom heat

The others which are completely free of shell material (I cracked a little hard on those) are in a plastic food storage container in perlite. The storage unit has a little grate at the bottom that keeps the seeds from touching the edge of the storage container. I placed the naked (yes, naked!) seeds on the top of the perlits and closed the top.

The early results are in......


It appears my 2nd technique is superior so far......

Has anyone else been able to get germination this quickly with B. odorata? Not competing, just curious.

Thanks,

John

[edric]

Hi John, what a coincidence, on the 20th I cracked 40 open in a bench vise and removed them from their shell, took the bare endosperm and placed it in 60/40 Coco peat - Perlite mix, 1/4 inch down, in four inch pots in trays, average temperature 85 degrees, misting when almost dry, (the only method I've ever used), we shall see, Ed

[John Case]

Hi John, what a coincidence, on the 20th I cracked 40 open in a bench vise and removed them from their shell, took the bare endosperm and placed it in 60/40 Coco peat - Perlite mix, 1/4 inch down, in four inch pots in trays, average temperature 85 degrees, misting when almost dry, (the only method I've ever used), we shall see, Ed

I will certanly be interested in your results....keep in touch!

[John Case]

Put the one that has germinated in 50/50 peat moss/sand......sprayed it with a little antifungal and let it go...

[edric]

Put the one that has germinated in 50/50 peat moss/sand......sprayed it with a little antifungal and let it go...

You're breaking records John, 16 days now on mine, but I'm not digging them up to see if they've germinated, hopefully some will pop up before long, Ed

[John Case]

Ed, I would love to see yours break my tme.......

I am wondering what this little super seed has in it that has caused it outpace all of the others by such an amount. I am treating it with disdain, as I have found that too much attention attracts failure.....

Very curious situation with this one.

Good luck,

John

[TheMadScientist]

John:

You must hold the record. As you know, mine were a little behind your batch. I soaked the embryos for 2 days and put them into a 50/50 mix of peat/perlite within a sealed plastic container inside my incubator at 90 degrees with a 40 watt drop light. I COULDN'T WAIT, I delicately removed some mix and at 38 days....this is what I saw...

Now it's time to start another batch. Thank you John for all your suggestions and help. Scott

[John Case]

Outstanding!

[Eric F]

As a comparison, I have 49 intact Butia odorata seeds collected 3 months ago of which 3 have germinated + one double germination, with the seeds having no special treatment. Seed was collected on the sandy ground and the flesh had been cleaned by ants, so I do not know how long it had been there. There had been no rain in the 2 months prior to collection, and the seeds were in full all day sun. Average ambient germination temperature 25C, no light, moist vermiculite on a base of perlite.

[TheMadScientist]

The family has now grown to 8 with the oldest reaching 4 inches in height.

[Grasswing]

On 22. 10. 2012, John Case said:

I tried 2 different methods to germinate B. odorata seeds. Clearly I have too much time on my hands....

Nonetheless, I have some that are in a baggie with cracked shells using a bench vise.....in damp perlite with bottom heat

The others which are completely free of shell material (I cracked a little hard on those) are in a plastic food storage container in perlite. The storage unit has a little grate at the bottom that keeps the seeds from touching the edge of the storage container. I placed the naked (yes, naked!) seeds on the top of the perlits and closed the top.

The early results are in......


It appears my 2nd technique is superior so far......

Has anyone else been able to get germination this quickly with B. odorata? Not competing, just curious.

Thanks,

John

Hello John,
It is quite an old topic but I wonder, what is the best method to crack the seeds? I tried many tools, but the embryos were mostly lost in the action when I tried to open the shell.

Thanks for help,
Ondrej

[Hamal]

I have used a small vise to crack Butia seeds. As long as you move the lever carefully and stop as soon as you hear shell crack, the seeds should survive. You can then open the shell with a small knife or even your fingernails.

[GottmitAlex]

7 minutes ago, Hamal said:

I have used a small vise to crack Butia seeds. As long as you move the lever carefully and stop as soon as you hear shell crack, the seeds should survive. You can then open the shell with a small knife or even your fingernails.

So, how in.habitat, do they propagate?

 

[MSX]

Hello butia growers, this is my first attempt to germinate butia seeds and I have a couple of questions. I got some butia seeds from garden fair and I'd greatly appreciate if someone could help me with the seeds ID (B. capitata, odorata, eriospatha?). Seeds(nuts) length about 2cm (0.78"), the width is about 1cm (0.4").

This monday I cracked some nuts and extracted the seeds. Following John's method, I put the seeds (which had not been pre-soaked) on top of the well-watered perlite inside a plastic transparent food container and sealed with a lid. During the week it has been kept under the tree in semi shade. The outside temperature has been stable fluctuating in the day/night cycle between 35C/20C (95F/70F). Yesterday, on the 5th day of germination one of the seeds in the container has sprouted. And my question - what to do next with the seeds sprouted this way? Thanks!

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by MSX

[Scott W]

2 hours ago, MSX said:

. And my question - what to do next with the seeds sprouted this way? Thanks!

You plant them in their own container like you would do any other seed.

[TheMadScientist]

More than 8 3/4 years later, I am GRATEFUL for John Case sending me some of his seeds with perfect germination instructions.  I have limited the growth by keeping these in 5 gallon containers.  I have never lost a single one of these.  I wanted to show the different personalities from the same seed batch.  This first photo of 2 B.O., full So. Cal. sun (today should be 115 deg. F),  full winter.  Shorty on the left and Happy on the right.

This B.O. has been inside the house next to a window for at least 5 years....stretching with 2 new frond to 8 feet

Then upstairs under a skylight, this one is stretched to more than 12 feet in frond length.

 

[Fusca]

3 hours ago, TheMadScientist said:

More than 8 3/4 years later, I am GRATEFUL for John Case sending me some of his seeds with perfect germination instructions.  I have limited the growth by keeping these in 5 gallon containers.  I have never lost a single one of these.  I wanted to show the different personalities from the same seed batch.  This first photo of 2 B.O., full So. Cal. sun (today should be 115 deg. F),  full winter.  Shorty on the left and Happy on the right.

This B.O. has been inside the house next to a window for at least 5 years....stretching with 2 new frond to 8 feet

Then upstairs under a skylight, this one is stretched to more than 12 feet in frond length.

 

Nice evidence showing that they are quite variable.  I've not seen one grown inside before - almost looks like a Lytocaryum!  Interesting look! 

[MSX]

On 6/19/2021 at 9:43 PM, TheMadScientist said:

More than 8 3/4 years later, I am GRATEFUL for John Case sending me some of his seeds with perfect germination instructions.  I have limited the growth by keeping these in 5 gallon containers.  I have never lost a single one of these.  I wanted to show the different personalities from the same seed batch.  This first photo of 2 B.O., full So. Cal. sun (today should be 115 deg. F),  full winter.  Shorty on the left and Happy on the right.

This B.O. has been inside the house next to a window for at least 5 years....stretching with 2 new frond to 8 feet

Then upstairs under a skylight, this one is stretched to more than 12 feet in frond length.

 

Scott, your pindos looking great, both outdoors and indoors! Thanks a lot for sharing these photos! I too have never seen bullet-proof subtropical pindos growing indoors, having been kept under continuous low light they now resemble some tender exotic tropical palms! I remember your Chamaerops growing indoors with similar super stretched-etiolated fronds - it's amazing how palms are affected by too little or too much light!

Edited June 22, 2021 by MSX

[MSX]

On 11/14/2012 at 1:45 AM, TheMadScientist said:

John:

 

You must hold the record. As you know, mine were a little behind your batch. I soaked the embryos for 2 days and put them into a 50/50 mix of peat/perlite within a sealed plastic container inside my incubator at 90 degrees with a 40 watt drop light. I COULDN'T WAIT, I delicately removed some mix and at 38 days....this is what I saw...

Now it's time to start another batch. Thank you John for all your suggestions and help. Scott

Well, during the weekend I cracked the nuts using a bench clamp, then I soaked the seeds in the water for 2 days as you did and this research https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322309345_Optimization_of_Butia_odorata_Seeds_Germination confirms that too, but I had two seeds sprouted right in the water by the end of the 2nd day of soaking even before putting them into a coco/perlite medium. By the end of 48H of soaking some seeds were floating, and some already started sprouting in the water!

after spending a night in the medium

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by MSX

[TheMadScientist]

MARAT:  I can sense your excitement just seeing some posted tips turn your participation in PALMS to another success story.  GOOD JOB.