I got some Washingtonia robusta Seeds about 10 months ago and never tried to germinate them, do you fear it is too late or should I try to germinate them? The seeds may be anywhere from 1 year old off the palm. 

Years and years

28 minutes ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Years and years

Awesome! Mine should still be good then. I was thinking of using the baggy method with a wet paper towel, would you recommend this? I use it for Sabal seeds. 

If you add heat and water its hard to not have them germinate.  

21 minutes ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

If you add heat and water its hard to not have them germinate.  

Heat mat, check.

Water, check.

 

Thank you.

I am soaking them now, I will probably get them in the bag tonight. 

You can probably skip the baggie and start them in a community pot. Saves work. Washies are almost unstoppable germinators.

15 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

You can probably skip the baggie and start them in a community pot. Saves work. Washies are almost unstoppable germinators.

I'm going to start them out with a paper towel and a baggie because I don't have any pots at the moment, they are all being used and I'll have to get more. Also I want to see the roots to ensure I'm not growing nothing. How wet should I make the paper towel? For my Sabal palmettos I soaked the towel and they never grow mold (it is on the heat pad) and I am assuming it is because it is TOO hot for the mold?  Should I just put around 10 mL of water in the baggie with the towel? 

Edited November 24, 20169 yr by PalmTreeDude

1 minute ago, PalmTreeDude said:

I'm going to start them out with a paper towel and a baggie because It don't have any pots at them moment, they are all being used and I'll have to get more. Also I want to see the roots to ensure I'm not growing nothing. How wet should I make the paper towel? For my Sabal palmettos I soaked the towel and they never grow mold (it is on the heat pad) and I am assuming it is because it is TOO hot for the mold?  Should I just put around 10 mL of water in the baggie with the towel? 

Not sure because I don't use paper towels. For my baggies I soak orchid moss for an hour to hydrate it, squeeze out as much water as possible, then put in baggie and add seeds. I don't use a heat mat here but it probably would work. Washies are easy and forgiving.

I think you should save and will them to your great grandchildren and I bet those little buggers would still pop.

When you say "years & years", How many years would you say is the cutoff; 5 years, 10 years more? Is there some kind of trick to get older seeds to sprout? According to some of yous they seem to sprout as readily and as easily as vegetable seeds, but I've had a batch going for a while now using 2 different methods, yet nothing is sprouting. Could I be doing something wrong or are the seeds just not any good? I was hopeful that I could get something out of them, but so far, out of 800 seeds, not a single one has plumped, softened or shown any signs of germinating whatsoever. Any advice?