Hello everyone!

I received about 10 seeds of Pritchardia pacifica a week ago and they immediately had a bath. I soaked them for about four days. But something strange has been present since then. I believe all the seeds exude something... So far I have lost three seeds... I mean, what I took for embryo growth and development was its expulsion from the cavities of a seed. The three embryos were gradually forced out... Why is it happening? Old seeds? Can I do something to prevent the remaining ones from sharing the same fate? Or is it now completely out of my control and lost forever? Will the embryos germinate in vitro in the soil? Oh dear...

(the same happened with one Trachycarpus fortunei seed - I delidded it and put it in hydrogen peroxide for a moment; it came out of its 'endosperm chamber', too)

I should note, also, that the three seeds were delidded. But still, something that appears to be a bit sticky and whitish is present on the remaining, untouched, 'control' seeds... Suspiciously in the operculum area.

I'm a bit sad, because I'm a new enthusiast and it's quite a tragic happening for me. I have recently had bad luck with palms. I have one remaining Dictyosperma album seed (the rest didn't live much past delidding process) and I'm not doing anything with it. I'll just wait!

Anyway, Pritchardia pacifica, eh...

I have tried and delidded a number of different seeds so far and it is clear to me that there are seeds that we simply cannot perform the process. Whenever i get seeds of a new species i will always sacrifice one for science and to feed my curiocity and wish for fast germination. You need only a couple of days and you already know by then if the seeds can be subjected to delidding.

2 examples are the following

Trachycarpus seeds didnt make it after the process as they developed fungus after 24 hours. Seems that soaking doesnt do good to them especially if they are cut.

Latania seeds have the embryo firmly attached to the lid and any attempt to delid the seed will lead to removal of embryo simultaneously.

The delidding process should be used for hard to germinate species that require very long times such as braheas or some licualas for example. Pritchardia is actually quite easy to germinate in temperatures around 25c and therefore doesnt need to be delidded since is so sensitive.

In your case if the white sticky substance smells a bit like cheese also, then it is definately fungus.

Thank you for your reply! Recently, I've been reading this certain thread of yours about delidding and I've seen you had had a lot of success so I'm quite honoured to have you here, hihi...

I can't sense any foul odour coming off. I might check again tomorrow (well, it's technically today). For now, I isolated a single seed, cleaned it and put it back to the soil. We'll see if some kind of sap comes out.

I'm hoping to find out what is going on with those seeds. Fungal infection seems unlikely, because it looks very clean and healthy in general. No sign of fermentation either. It really IS strange...

I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about with "delidding" a seed, though it sounds like it weakens the embryo and exposes it to bacteria and fungi. I can say that Pritchardia pacifica is a very easy seed to germinate using standard methods, as long as the seed is fresh. This past winter (around January/February 2014) I plucked a seed off a tree, took it home, placed it in a ziploc bag with water and let it soak several days to separate the flesh, then massaged the fruit through the bag and flushed the fruit-remnants out with continued washings until left with the cleaned seed. I then added a little moss and set it aside in the humid, sealed bag. It is a standard technique and I use it on virtually all species of palm that I collect and germinate. This species germinates very quickly and grows very fast. I just yesterday shifted up to a three-gallon container from that seed collected eight or nine short months ago. It is an incredibly strong plant. If you are consistently getting a fungal or bacterial growth on your seeds, you might either have old, unviable seeds, or you may just need to give them a soak in a weak bleach solution first in case they picked up something in transit to you from the collector/seller.

I agree with the above. Pritchardia usually germinates very quickly and easily.

That said, it sounds to me that you have a batch of bad seeds. When they start to ooze from several different places around the seed then I would almost certainly guarantee that this is rot that the soaking in water has set in motion. Seeds soaked in water usually don't smell straight away although you will certainly begin to smell an odour akin to off milk if you pot them up or baggy them for a week or two.

The best way to be sure is to take one of these seeds and carefully cut it in half. If the inside is not solid and feels all soft and yucky then you will have your answer

Hello again!

I thought I could use this very thread since my new problem (?) is closely related... Some time ago, I ordered a batch of Pritchardia pacifica and P. thurstonii seeds, only this time from another person. I got them today and examined them carefully. While I'm not overly suspicious with P. thurstonii seeds, the ones that were labelled as P. pacifica got me worrying. They don't even look like the seeds I tried the first time. Could you, please, help me identify the species?

Alleged P. pacifica (???):

P. thurstonii (?):

I had to get the shells off of these thirteen 'stones', because I noticed that some seeds (which I discarded) were infested by white worms (which, by the way, were far from being vigorous, perhaps even dead - who knows how long they have spent in those cavities?). The remaining ones, featured above, looked fine to me so I'm keeping them. Here's a comparison between a fully coated seed and a decoated one:

Any thoughts? Any ideas? I'm positively convinced that what was sent as "P. pacifica" doesn't even belong to the genus. The seed coat structure looks very different. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

You are right to put the "alleged" in front of P. pacifica. These are not Pritchardia seeds.

They are some kind of coccothrinax seeds, although i have no idea which species it might be.

Another thing I can add about P. pacifica...here in the Lower Florida Keys, on the edge of the tropics in the northern hemisphere, seed right at the moment is almost but not quite ready on the trees in Key West I usually notice, they are about full-size but still apple-green. I believe they usually mature in winter (when my memory tells me I collected the last fresh seed I sprouted). When you buy seed for this species from a northern-hemisphere dealer, I would suggest you wait until December/January/February to order so that you know they are fresh. You are receiving seed at a time that is probably too far from ripening time. I would assume if you order from a very reputable dealer (RPS as an example) you would be getting high-quality seed and would be pretty reliably assured of the species you are growing. Seed from southern hemisphere trees would be almost six months old, which is also too long ago for assured viability. Perhaps someone else can chime in here on the exact time-frame for ripeness, and also southern hemisphere growers?

Thanks for your responses CYPALMS and mnorell.

So those others are off the Coccothrinax genus then? Well, the seeds do look just alike! Oh well, it's no Pritchardia pacifica but I will try the seeds anyway. It's not their fault someone mislabelled them, either on purpose or not...

Dear mnorell, I do realise that such site as RPS exists. But I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to buy anything from them, since I'm only using PayPal and the site wouldn't accept it. And I've seen Medemia argun in there! There's just something captivating about this palm. A loner? A pioneer among the Saharan desert landscapes? The fact that its seeds were found in ancient tombs? And that name... It just works perfectly in my mind. As for what you said with flowering time - is it possible that some palms are flowering and setting fruit all year round? If some of their dicotyledon relatives are capable of it, then maybe Arecaceae specimens are, too. No idea, just my guess; I need to do more research on that.

However, back on topic - I'm trying to germinate Pritchardia thurstonii (which I think it genuinely is) and Coccothrinax sp. seeds. All I did was a quite short, initial soaking. Two or three hours at most... And now they've been lying on the top of soil for two days. I would assume I'm doing it right. I noticed a few, white, tiny microstrands popping out on a seed or two of Coccothrinax, so I'm expecting some nasty guests gatecrashing the germination party, haha. Nothing bad with P. thurstonii so far, though. All that remains is waiting... And careful misting.

Thanks.