Chamedorea Metallica - how to propagate

[eacdmd86]

I have a young chamedorea Metallica that seems to be doing well. It is exploding with inflorescences.  I was hoping to get seeds from it to try to germinate, but from my research, it seems these are dioecious.  And it seems mine is a male, which means I have to find a female chamedorea metallica (how am I gonna do that?) My parents have a metallica that is like 30 years old and 7ft tall with 2 stalks, but it appears to have male inflorescences like mine on one (third pic) and maybe female on the other (4th pic)? 5th is it staked up with a PVC pipe for support .

Also, why does my palm have some flowers that are red and some that are black (see pic).

Thanks!

Edited May 31, 2022 by eacdmd86

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, eacdmd86 said:

I have a young chamedorea Metallica that seems to be doing well. It is exploding with inflorescences.  I was hoping to get seeds from it to try to germinate, but from my research, it seems these are dioecious.  And it seems mine is a male, which means I have to find a female chamedorea metallica (how am I gonna do that?) My parents have a metallica that is like 30 years old and 7ft tall with 2 stalks, but it appears to have male inflorescences like mine on one (third pic) and maybe female on the other (4th pic)? 5th is it staked up with a PVC pipe for support .

Also, why does my palm have some flowers that are red and some that are black (see pic).

Thanks!

If you search the forum, you'll come across a few threads discussing how to propagate these.. 

Pretty easy actually, but involves  some attention to detail and a steady hand.. Essentially, you'll have to stuff the male flowers,  into the female ones..  Some let nature do the work,  but, assisted pollination often guarantees more reliable seed set. Very easy to germinate as well.. Done so myself a few times in the past.

[Darold Petty]

The tall plant shown can be air layered to reduce its height, I used a specialized pot,  

http://www.rooterpot.com/en/introducction.htm

 

[Darold Petty]

Here is the link about my successful air layer,

 

[eacdmd86]

Very cool on the air layering! Had no idea that was possible.

 

Can you tell from my third pic whether those straight growths are early female flowers? I'm hoping the pair is a male and female.

[sgvcns]

Spicate inflos are female. It's not clear but looks to be seed setting. Black is ripe

[Darold Petty]

10 hours ago, eacdmd86 said:

Very cool on the air layering! Had no idea that was possible.

 

 

For most palms this is not possible,  Chamaedorea metallica is one of the few with this potential.  Look for a node on the stem  that already has small bumps, indicating the adventitious roots.

[eacdmd86]

On 6/3/2022 at 1:07 AM, sgvcns said:

Spicate inflos are female. It's not clear but looks to be seed setting. Black is ripe

Wait the black ones are seeds?

[msporty]

I wanted to have a grouping of C. metallica so I bought two pots, each with three or four plants, at Home Depot a few years back. I separated the plants and lined my front door with them. Funny enough, I thought they were all the same sex (the inflorescences look pretty similar), but in time I realized I had male and female plants. This is the first seed set. I am going to pull them soon. 
 

We just had our house painted — that’s white paint overspray on the leaves and seeds.