Which species can still be germinated even from older seeds?

[palm tree man]

I know many of us have gotten seed whether it was from a broker or a kind and generous friend. Life sometimes happen and we don't get to germinate those seeds. This brings the question to mind, which species are worth attempting to germinate when older and which are simply not. We all know the 24 hour soaking trick in water with a small amount of bleach and to scare some seeds, but which species simply keep there viability longer? Date palms for example have been germinated from seed thousands of years old. Mazari palms are slow to germinate but because of their habitat tend to be viable much longer. Other desert or seasonally dry habitat palms are very similar. I myself have thousands of seeds that are four years old and have asked this very question many times, "am I wasting my time and precious resources trying to germinate these seeds" plain and simple.

[DoomsDave]

Some palms take like 5 years to germinate, such as Acrocomia. Many germinate in the compost pile.

[palm tree man]

I have had that problem with Jubaea and Parajubaea as well. Thanks Dave! I love the profile pic by the way; yaba daba dooooooooooo!

[Alicehunter2000]

I say stick them in community pots and see what pops up.....what do you have to lose?

[palm tree man]

At this point they have been paid for for four years, so absolutely nothing! lol I might ground plant some as well on the floor of the greenhouse; all my plants are moving out of there for the spring and summer anyway. I have a few different Brahea; I think that they will be ok. Dypsis Scottiana and Prestonia, I am doubtful about being as old as they currently are. I have already put 500 each of Syagrus Rom "silver queen", dypsis ambositrae, phonenix loureiroi var loureiroi might be ok if they are like common date palms. Anyway, thanks guys for the input. Should I scar the seeds or crack any shells, etc. ?

Edited February 21, 2014 by palm tree man

[Phoenikakias]

I know many of us have gotten seed whether it was from a broker or a kind and generous friend. Life sometimes happen and we don't get to germinate those seeds. This brings the question to mind, which species are worth attempting to germinate when older and which are simply not. We all know the 24 hour soaking trick in water with a small amount of bleach and to scare some seeds, but which species simply keep there viability longer? Date palms for example have been germinated from seed thousands of years old. Mazari palms are slow to germinate but because of their habitat tend to be viable much longer. Other desert or seasonally dry habitat palms are very similar. I myself have thousands of seeds that are four years old and have asked this very question many times, "am I wasting my time and precious resources trying to germinate these seeds" plain and simple.

I have managed to bring to germinaton seeds in dried up fruits of Hyphaena thebaica, sold for tea making.

[Alicehunter2000]

Hey Daniel, you wouldn't happen to have any Brahea clara "icy blue" would you?

[DoomsDave]

Jubes sprout quickly if you heat them up. I used a heating pad . . .

[palm tree man]

I have Armata, Clara, and Super Silver. I might have Edulis or some others as well. There is still one bag that I have not opened yet. Super Silver has never been damaged at my location do to any cold weather. It appears to be pretty hardy and can also handle our humidity fairly well too which surprised me a little. A heating pad has worked wonders in the past and so has placing the baggies on top of the fridge or dryer. I had eight out of ten jubaeopsis caffra germinate about eight years ago.

Edited February 21, 2014 by palm tree man

[NorthFlpalmguy]

I have old germination beds that I know for sure have butia capitata seeds that germinated 2-3 years after I sowed the seeds. They are known for it but I would try and plant any old seeds I had.

Edited February 24, 2014 by bbrantley

[palm tree man]

I am going to plant them all and use several different methods and see what works best with each species. As far as I know, no real study has been done on this intentionally anyway. It has become a necessity for me because I have many seeds in storage that have a ticking shelf life.

[Bigfish]

This is a great question. I have hundreds of Rhapidophyllum hystrix seeds that I collected about 3 years ago that I never got around to germinating. I've left them outside, in the shade, in the elements. I would assume they would probably mostly be no good anymore, but I'm going to stick them in pots this year anyways and see if I get a few sprouts. I also have thousands of seeds of other species in bags that have been in storage for over 5 years that I probably need to do something with, LOL.

Edited March 2, 2014 by Frank - Knoxville

[palm tree man]

Me too it wasn't by choice but by circumstances. I thought only desert or species that were from harsher environments would keep for a few years but my first to start has been dypsis prestoniana. Float them and soak them and plant them is what I say.