Starting a Butia from seed

[MSX]

Hello everyone! I've been into palms for quite some time but this is my first experience of watching a palm grow from seed, and it happened that this is a Butia. I've been following these recommendations Germinating Butia Seed By Nigel Kembrey. Chamaerops No. 51 - published online 22-04-2005. According to the recommendations, a seed starting soilless medium contains 75% perlite and 25% vermiculite. The medium was watered only once in the beginning before placing the nuts on the top of it, now it's almost bone dry to touch. Having spent nearly a month in a container (7 days of soaking + 21 days on the top of the medium) one of the seeds(nuts) have sprouted

Two more days and it pulls the nut up burying deeper into the perlite/vermiculite medium

The article mentioned above suggests the following: "I tend to allow the seedling to develop in the perlite until the leaf is visible, and then lift it out and pot it up. This gives the best survival ratio." So, my question - should I leave the nut like this until it develops the first small green leaf before transplanting it from the soilless medium to a separate container with a regular soil based medium? Or is it okay to move it in to the soil based medium right away? Thanks!

[aztropic]

I would just pot it up right now.You can bury the seed under the soil but the most important thing to do is be very careful not to snap the root.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Scott W]

Just an FYI....Butia seed can germinate in as little as a few weeks and as long as a couple years.  I still have some popping up in recycled soil of which I don't know what species they are....as I was germinating five types a couple years ago....

[MSX]

After almost two months my first palm from scratch has broken through the surface of the soil!

 

[MSX]

A week after

[ZPalms]

Is it better to bury the seed or just place it exposed on the soil? I'm not familiar with just placing the seed on it and not bury it

Edited August 18, 2021 by ZPalms

[TheMadScientist]

Marat:  I share the same pride and excitement being reminded of each previous species I have tried.....Thank You for sharing with us.

[MSX]

11 minutes ago, ZPalms said:

Is it better to bury the seed or just place it exposed on the soil? I'm not familiar with just placing the seed on it and not bury it

Thank you for this interesting question. I don't have an answer for that and I too would love to hear our experienced palmtalkers! From what we know Butia belongs to Cocoseae tribe of cocosoid palms of the family Arecacae. The most obvious trait of the species of this tribe is the presence, in the endocarp, of three or more "eyes" or pores of germination. So I think it wouldn't be wrong if we take technically Butia's seed as a mini coconut, at least in the question of germination. Leaving the top of the nut half exposed above the soil is a common practice from what I know, not sure this is relevant to other tribes though.

[ZPalms]

1 minute ago, MSX said:

Thank you for this interesting question. I don't have an answer for that and I too would love to hear our experienced palmtalkers! From what we know Butia belongs to Cocoseae tribe of cocosoid palms of the family Arecacae. The most obvious trait of the species of this tribe is the presence, in the endocarp, of three or more "eyes" or pores of germination. So I think it wouldn't be wrong if we take technically Butia's seed as a mini coconut, at least in the question of germination. Leaving the top of the nut half exposed above the soil is a common practice from what I know, not sure this is relevant to other tribes though.

I was actually gonna compare it to a coconut but decided not too because it really looks like a very tiny coconut sprouting, Thanks! Same would love to hear if theirs a difference but I can imagine laying them on top of the mix mimics how they would fall and just sprout in the wild?

[MSX]

28 minutes ago, TheMadScientist said:

Marat:  I share the same pride and excitement being reminded of each previous species I have tried.....Thank You for sharing with us.

Thank you, Scott! This is my first experience with palm seeds, and I didn't know it'd be so exciting! Getting a "ready" palm and growing it from scratch are two different things!

[Tyrone]

Butia seed that come up by themselves are often half protruding out of the ground anyway. Its fine to have them half exposed, just make sure the germinating eye has a bit of soil over it so it doesn't dry right out or get a full blast of summer sun for example.

[MSX]

Butia 4 month old, pushing the third leaf.

Compared with a same-aged Phoenix dactylifera var. Medjool

Edited December 2, 2021 by MSX

[MSX]

6-month-old, pushing the fourth leaf

vs. medjool

Edited February 3, 2022 by MSX

[MSX]

Something wrong is going on with my Butia, it stopped growing and the leaves start to turn brown/yellow. Overwatering, root rot? Any ideas/thoughts what to do to save it from dying, please? Thanks

[Xerarch]

How wet do you keep the soil? If it stays as wet as it is in the photo then it's probably too much water, you should let it dry out some between waterings, I've had butia in pots before and found them to be pretty forgiving.

[MSX]

22 hours ago, Xerarch said:

How wet do you keep the soil? If it stays as wet as it is in the photo then it's probably too much water, you should let it dry out some between waterings, I've had butia in pots before and found them to be pretty forgiving.

A month ago we had almost a whole month of non-stop rain and this Butia was left outside under the rain in fact. Today I cleaned the roots and changed the soil, it was 50/50 clay topsoil/compost, the new blend is 50/50 compost/grit sand for the best aeration/fastest drainage and watered it with fungicide.

[MSX]

I wonder if Im I going to have a double trunk butia now?🤔

[Fusca]

1 hour ago, MSX said:

I wonder if Im I going to have a double trunk butia now?🤔

Looks like it!  If you were to crack open a Butia seed you would likely find 2-4 embryos inside and you've got two of them to germinate.  I've seen photos of 4 germinations from the same seed!  Hope you can keep them going!

[MSX]

Double headed butia has sprouted!

[Harry’s Palms]

I have never grown one , intentionally , from seed. I did have a volunteer pop up right next to the parent . Like Syagrus , it seems like it stays in the “strap leaf” mode for quite a while. The seedling I started with was slow to start but gained speed after the juvenile  stage. Harry

[aztropic]

Yes. They are very slow growers as seedlings. It is also very common to get 2 or 3 separate plants from a single seed. I grew 1 batch years ago, but that was 1 and done. Since they are produced commercially by the hundreds of thousands, a small grower could never even break even for their current selling price at the big boxes. 

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[Jeff zone 8 N.C.]

I usually plant the double and triple sprout Butia's in one small pot, as sprouted seed, but later they all will completely separate from each other on their own once they disconnect from the seed.  At that time I separate them into their own pots. The Butia clumps seem to compete with each other and grow slow.

Here on the N.C. coast, the naturally dropped fruit, sprout best left under the mother tree after they are buried under a new layer of shredded bark mulch. That is usually about a year or two after they drop and are under that mulch. They are then easily popped out of the mulch with a small knife or hand spade. They also sprout ok when the fruit happens to fall and get trapped in the old leaf boots on the mothers trunk.

 

[Mattpalm28]

On 8/18/2024 at 6:49 PM, Fusca said:

Looks like it!  If you were to crack open a Butia seed you would likely find 2-4 embryos inside and you've got two of them to germinate.  I've seen photos of 4 germinations from the same seed!  Hope you can keep them going!

Did you pot it up like this or leave to grow some more? 

[Fusca]

On 3/26/2025 at 2:05 PM, Mattpalm28 said:

Did you pot it up like this or leave to grow some more? 

I think you meant to ask @MSX

[MSX]

On 3/27/2025 at 12:05 AM, Mattpalm28 said:

Did you pot it up like this or leave to grow some more? 

Yes, I potted it like this and this is how the double headed butia looks like right now