Soaking seeds, yes or no?

[Hardypalms]

Hi

Is it mandatory to soak seeds? If yes, do you throw the floaters out? I will do the baggy method.

Don’t look at my zone in my profile, it’s 7b as I m going to germinate a lot of different species this year from 7 to 10b zones, just for fun.

The ones that make it in the warmer zones will go under lights for the winter.

I would like a general method for all, i just don’t have the time to provide different requirements for germinating. I will when they come inside for the winter.

Really need to know on the soaking and floaters!

Thxs

Pat

[Las Palmas Norte]

Sometimes it depends on freshness and the type of seeds you're germinating.

[redant]

I never do., never had an issue either.

[DoomsDave]

I generally do, for a few days in warm water.

I've sprouted thousands of seeds by now.

As Louis Armstrong would have said "You been gone . . . . "

[mnorell]

I always soak palm seeds because so many of them are recalcitrant in nature. It doesn't hurt, the recalcitrant species come from wet areas and don't expect to dry out. Those that are orthodox (dry/cold-tolerant) or intermediate in nature may be activated by the soaking, which simulates rain or seasonal inundation in their native habitats, which is a signal to sprout. 

The bigger problem today with palm seeds to my mind is that so many are recalcitrant (or intermediate) in nature, and there seems to be no reliable seed-vendor or resource (there used to be many in the USA in the past, including the old IPS Seed Bank), other than the occasional offerings from knowledgeable members on this forum, to guarantee that there is appropriate cleaning and damp storage after harvest/collection and through shipment to the grower at the other end of the chain. At this point it is such a crap-shoot buying palm seed on eBay or Etsy that it's basically a worthless endeavor, IMHO. I did get some fresh-picked Zombia seed recently from a vendor and two have sprouted. I consider that a miracle! And RPS has such a spotty reputation plus the USDA seems to have figured out an appropriately Byzantine system of rules and permitting steps to virtually guarantee that most small orders of international seed are confiscated and destroyed. 

'Floaters' are a traditional primary selection method (and not foolproof), but in my experience those that sink are not necessarily viable, either. These days, to have a successful outcome, I think one basically needs to travel (domestically) and collect the seed surreptitiously from botanical gardens or publicly planted specimens, or from your own (or other knowledgeable palm growers') mature garden plants, to make sure that they can be cleaned/treated/soaked appropriately and have good stewardship from collection to sprouting. That's the only way you're going to have a high confidence that you're not wasting your time.

[Hardypalms]

Well thank-you everyone!

Pat