Starting a Sabal from seed

[MSX]

A new project: Sabal from scratch

 

[SeanK]

I would use a heating mat to germinate them this summer.

[MSX]

Germination is fast - a week in sphagnum moss/perlite mix and here we go

[PalmatierMeg]

7 minutes ago, SeanK said:

I would use a heating mat to germinate them this summer.

I agree. You may need that mat next winter to keep your seedlings from stalling. Sabals want high heat, sun and humidity esp. in summer. The major reason they are so cold hardy in winter is a hot, sunny summer. In year round cold/cool climates they struggle to survive much less grow well.

That said, Sabals are great for germinating palms from seeds. My first palm germinations were Sabal palmetto seeds I collected locally. Looks like you're doing the right things. Your seedlings should do well for at least the next few years.

[Fusca]

I've germinated a bunch of different Sabals from seed that are now in my landscape.    First pic is Sabal guatemalensis from my property in San Antonio and others are what I currently have.

Sabal miamiensis:

Sabal causiarum:

Sabal domingensis:

Sabal 'Riverside':

Sabal maritima:

[Stefanus]

I'm germininating seeds from the same batch atm, I'll follow this thread with interest!

[MSX]

13 hours ago, Stefanus said:

I'm germininating seeds from the same batch atm, I'll follow this thread with interest!

Cool! So we have the same batch seeds from Tobias! How is your progress with the germination?

[Stefanus]

10 hours ago, MSX said:

Cool! So we have the same batch seeds from Tobias! How is your progress with the germination?

Yes, I think so. The germination rate seems quite good! I ordered 20 seeds and germinated the first 10 with the baggy method, potted them up and a few are starting to break the surface. 

[LeonardHolmes]

It's a long-term project.  I started some from seed around 1990 and one is looking "trunky."  They are in the woods and so they grow slower and don't look as chunky as they do in the sun.  

 

 

[MSX]

On 5/7/2024 at 1:41 AM, Stefanus said:

Yes, I think so. The germination rate seems quite good! I ordered 20 seeds and germinated the first 10 with the baggy method, potted them up and a few are starting to break the surface. 

I received 11 seeds and all of them germinated within a week-10 days period, so germination rate is 100% at my end. Good fresh seeds

[MSX]

On 5/7/2024 at 6:22 PM, LeonardHolmes said:

It's a long-term project.  I started some from seed around 1990 and one is looking "trunky."  They are in the woods and so they grow slower and don't look as chunky as they do in the sun.  

 

 

Beautiful Sabals! This is my first Sabal try and I do realize they are slow growers, but if they really beat trachies in hardiness in the long run I think it's worth trying. And to balance the things for short-term palm project I have my Washy

[Arecaceus]

I only recently got more into Sabals and the ones I grew from seeds so far all germinated pretty quickly. S. causiarum was the fastest and is also the fastest growing seedling. One causiarum seedling is already planted out and made it through the winter quite well. It has already been growing all spring so far and I'm surprised about its speed even compared to other seedlings of faster palm species. Repotting is very important though. My S. palmetto 'Lisa" seedlings are still in a small community container and they all stopped growing by now. I'm going to pot them soon.

[MSX]

Just received a new batch of Sabal brazoriensis from RPS and the seeds look totally different from what I got from RPS last year, the new seeds are much smaller now, they actually look exactly like Sabal minor seeds that I hand collected from Tashkent botanical garden last year.  The seeds are so different that I don't know what to think, whats going on with RPS! Which ones now are true SABR seeds guys need help!

[MSX]

On 5/6/2024 at 12:56 AM, Stefanus said:

I'm germininating seeds from the same batch atm, I'll follow this thread with interest!

Stefan, do you have an idea what exactly we have been growing lol? I had been pretty sure it was true SABR until today...

[Stefanus]

On 6/8/2025 at 7:24 PM, MSX said:

Stefan, do you have an idea what exactly we have been growing lol? I had been pretty sure it was true SABR until today...

Thats a very big difference. Last year I asked RPS about the seeds and they responded with the following message:

”I have asked for more information for you. The batch of Sabal brazoriensis seeds from which you received your seeds comes from a botanic garden. In comparison to seeds from the wild, those in botanic gardens or other maintained gardens are well irrigated and well fed and therefore likely to produce larger seeds than plants that grow in the wild where they may not be getting the same nutrients or amount of water. Also, even the same trees will produce batches that aren't identical. We had the impression that this year's batch were slightly larger than the previous year's, although they came from the same trees, collected by the same person in the same location. It may have been warmer or they were better fed or irrigated that in a previous year.”

They said it was from a botanical garden in Mugla, Turkey.

I still have some doubts about them, the Sabal Tamaulipas seeds that I received this year were about the same size. I remember that I found one botanical garden selling seeds that met the description: http://www.palmiyemerkezi.com/english/etohum.htm

They use old names but they also sell Sabal Princeps seeds, I think those are the same as Sabal Bermudana. Maybe they mixed them up. 

 

 

[Fusca]

On 6/8/2025 at 12:20 PM, MSX said:

Just received a new batch of Sabal brazoriensis from RPS and the seeds look totally different from what I got from RPS last year, the new seeds are much smaller now, they actually look exactly like Sabal minor seeds that I hand collected from Tashkent botanical garden last year.  The seeds are so different that I don't know what to think, whats going on with RPS! Which ones now are true SABR seeds guys need help!

Not sure what to think about that - I've never seen that much variation in seed size from the same Sabal species.  Usually the variation is just 1-3 mm.  

[MSX]

20 hours ago, Stefanus said:

Thats a very big difference. Last year I asked RPS about the seeds and they responded with the following message:

”I have asked for more information for you. The batch of Sabal brazoriensis seeds from which you received your seeds comes from a botanic garden. In comparison to seeds from the wild, those in botanic gardens or other maintained gardens are well irrigated and well fed and therefore likely to produce larger seeds than plants that grow in the wild where they may not be getting the same nutrients or amount of water. Also, even the same trees will produce batches that aren't identical. We had the impression that this year's batch were slightly larger than the previous year's, although they came from the same trees, collected by the same person in the same location. It may have been warmer or they were better fed or irrigated that in a previous year.”

 

 

Following this logic sounds like this year has been tought for the palms in Mugla botanic garden, without watering let alone the feeding... Coming to palms, there should be no room for uncertainty especially with super slow-growing species such as sabals, you want to be sure you're growing a right thing...

[Stefanus]

1 hour ago, MSX said:

Following this logic sounds like this year has been tought for the palms in Mugla botanic garden, without watering let alone the feeding... Coming to palms, there should be no room for uncertainty especially with super slow-growing species such as sabals, you want to be sure you're growing a right thing...

I fully agree!