Difficult Palm Seeds

[Jason in Orlando]

(Jeff in Costa Rica @ Dec. 06 2007,01:57)

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(Ray @ Tampa,Dec. 05 2007,06:55)

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Bo,

I agree freshness is the key with C. renda.  The seeds that Jeff from Costa Rica brough me over the summer were picked just before he got on the plane.  All 30 or so germinated over the next couple of months. My biggest challenge will be getting them through our "harsh" winter.

Ray

Ray, glad to hear they germinated.  They couldn't have been any fresher!

I received a large seed order at the end of June.  Here are my failures so far (I ordered 100 of each of these):

Carpoxylon macrospermum - I ordered and paid for 100 seeds but they shipped me 150 of them.  They seemed dried out when I got them and they all floated in water.  Not one has germinated.  Not sure why they sent me the extra 50?  Unless they knew they were old?  Those seeds were very expensive.  

Bentinckia nicobarica - 100 seeds, none germinated

Pigafetta elata - 7 germinated out of 100 seeds.  These seedlings are faster than any others I have grown.

Euterpe oleracea - seeds got some kind of fungus on them.  I managed to find one seed that germinated and that seedling is doing fine.  The other 99 seeds were thrown out.  

But on a positive note, I had good success with the following (from the same order received in June):

Rhopaloblaste augusta - I think all 100 seeds germinated.

Dictyosperma album - approx 60 out of 100 germinated.

Chamaedorea plumosa - about 30 seeds have germinated so far.

Burretiokentia hapala - seeds took 5 months to germinate but I now have at least 20 seedlings.

Bismarckia nobilis silver - At least 75 out of 100 germinated

Archontophoenix alexandrae , cunninghamiana, maxima and myolensis all had very good germination rates.  

Kentiopsis magnifica - just recently started germinating.  Looks like quite a few are popping.

Dypsis pembana also just starting to germinate  

When I placed my next order, I only ordered seeds that said "new" (and I only ordered 10 of each).  I received them in October and many of them have already started germinating.  Seeds must have been very fresh.  So far all 10 Johannesteijsmannia altifrons seeds are germinating.  And Johannesteijsmannia perakensis, Archontophoenix pupurea, Roystonea oleracea, and Kerriodoxa elegans are all now starting to germinate.  

From now on I will only buy "new" seeds.

I tried Carpoxylon before also, and the seeds all floated.  Someone here mentioned that's normal for Carpoxylon, if I remember correctly.  They may not be bad.  I erroneously tossed mine before giving them enough time (due to the floating mistake).

Jason

[madagascarbob]

Madagascan Orania's ,within weeks they grow into huge staghorn fungus then turn to dust .

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Thanks for the info Jason, hopefully some will germinate.  At least I have one seedling (that I got from another source), I was just hoping for more of them.  

Madagascarbob, I have 3 Orania ravaka seeds that are germinating now and sending down a big white root.  So far, so good.  I have seen fungus like that on seeds before and I hope it doesn't happen with my 3 seeds.

[jdapalms]

The most difficult palms for me to germinate have been.

1. Acrocomia aculeata- At one time I recieved a batch of good fresh seed and I was getting about 4-6 sprouts each week for about a month and then they slowed down for a few more over the next two years. Occasionay I still get one here and there from under the greenhouse benches where I dump some of my old seed. Other batches of seed would just get me a few plants, probably old seed.

2. Butia capitata- This has been a tough one for me to germinate in my greenhouse. I do get fruit from my own trees every year and I have sowed seed several times and nothing would happen. The strange thing about this is that under the parent palm there is always seedlings sprouting. I gave up on trying in the greenhouse and I just dig up the seedlings from the base of the palm.

A few others that at times are a problem for me is Parajubaea, Jubaea and Jubaeopsis. I guess I am picking on the cocoide types.

Old seed is more often the problem in most situations.

Jerry

[SubTropicRay]

Rhopaloblaste Jeff??  That's one of my favorites.  Have you seen any mature cultivated specimens in CR?

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Ray, Here's a big one just outside my front door.  It's got to be at least 30+ feet tall.  Unfortunately it was planted under a large tree (maybe a ficus?) and now the crown is under the edge of the tree canopy.  I have seen a few more of these around Manuel Antonio.  There are two planted near a pool at a local resort that are about 10-15 feet tall and look great because they are out in the open and not covered up by a tree!  I had so many of these seedlings that I didn't know what to do with them all so I walked around one day sticking seedlings into the ground here and there around the property.

Crownshaft

[kelen]

Difficult to me....

Acrocomias (none)

Butia lallemanti (none)

Astrocaryum aculeatissimum (1 sprouted, but died)

Parajubaeas (I'm waiting...)

Polyandrococos caudescens (1 sprouted but died)

Scheelea phalerata (Attalea phalerata)

Easiest to me:

Syagrus romanzoffiana, Trithrinax brasiliensis, Syagrus pseudococos, Syagrus oleracea, Attalea dubia, Copernicia alba, Trachycarpus, Syagrus picrophylla...

[cfkingfish]

Is is dependent on how fresh the seed is, but here is what I have had problems with:

Barcella

Leopoldinia with fruit on

Acanthophoenix

Lemurophoenix

Maxburretia furtadona

Bactris spp.

Dypsis bejofo

[Gileno Machado]

I've had zero germination with Barcella odora so far (still have hopes) but I've had a limited success with Leopoldinia piassaba and Lemurophoenix (one sprout of each).

Dypsis bejofo and Voanioala remain the impossible seeds for me so far...what if we microwave these seeds for a few seconds before sowing?