Pygmy Date Palm seedlings

[dvrrenx]

Very new to this. I collected seeds from a few pygmy date palms on vacation. They took about 4 months to germinate. Do I put them individually in nursery pots for now or should I keep multiples together? How deep do the pots need to be for a seedling? Any other advice? TIA

[Harry’s Palms]

You can grow multiples but limit it to 2-3 per pot . I like them as singles too. I bought one that had a bunch of stems and they all grew to mature plants in the ground but in pots they will eventually compete for available nutrients . Singles would be easiest done while small before the roots become intertwined. I think you have time . Harry

[TropicsEnjoyer]

I agree. I have a clump of 4 that are around 2 years old and it’s very nice. However the 4th one sprouted late, I didn’t intend to have that many in one pot.

As for pot depth it doesn’t have to be super deep, just pick a somewhat deep pot it’s not rocket science. You’ll have to repot after about a year if you clump them.

[Johnny Palmseed]

Congratulations on your success and welcome to the forum! Last fall I pulled some seeds off my Roebeleniis and threw them in a pot just to see what would sprout. A few germinated quickly but as you can see there are some still popping up. This will likely be the same for yours. You can leave them for a while or you can gently extract them one at a time and pot them up. It looks like you might have used a plastic storage container that isn’t specifically designed for seedlings. That’s fine for now but you would be better off using plant containers with drainage holes when you pot up. Don’t go too big on the container though, bigger is not necessarily better when potting up. When I pot mine up, I will likely do it in the spring and I will probably use a 3” container. Most houseplant Roebeleniis are multiple palms but obviously it’s your choice. Like @Harry’s Palms said, 2-3 is probably best for your situation. Use a good quality potting mix with perlite and don’t fertilize until they have a couple leaves. And don’t use stuff like Miracle Grow. You can easily burn the plants up with synthetics. Better to use a natural product like kelp.

[dvrrenx]

Transferred them from the galvanized steel thing they were germinated/sprouted in to a 1gal water jug. Thanks everyone! Waiting until warmer weather, planning on potting them separately and acclimating to patio conditions hopefully here soon . 

[dvrrenx]

1 year update. Burned them with fertilizer (first and oldest leaves have burnt tips, lost one of the seedlings). Spent the summer outside in 8 hours of direct sun and now indoors under decent quality grow lights. Learned a lot from this little experiment!

[dvrrenx]

On 2/2/2025 at 1:47 PM, Johnny Palmseed said:

Congratulations on your success and welcome to the forum! Last fall I pulled some seeds off my Roebeleniis and threw them in a pot just to see what would sprout. A few germinated quickly but as you can see there are some still popping up. This will likely be the same for yours. You can leave them for a while or you can gently extract them one at a time and pot them up. It looks like you might have used a plastic storage container that isn’t specifically designed for seedlings. That’s fine for now but you would be better off using plant containers with drainage holes when you pot up. Don’t go too big on the container though, bigger is not necessarily better when potting up. When I pot mine up, I will likely do it in the spring and I will probably use a 3” container. Most houseplant Roebeleniis are multiple palms but obviously it’s your choice. Like @Harry’s Palms said, 2-3 is probably best for your situation. Use a good quality potting mix with perlite and don’t fertilize until they have a couple leaves. And don’t use stuff like Miracle Grow. You can easily burn the plants up with synthetics. Better to use a natural product like kelp.

Should have listened to you, I definitely burned them pretty early on with synthetic fertilizer. How often would you feed with something like fish or kelp fertilizer?

[Johnny Palmseed]

20 hours ago, dvrrenx said:

Should have listened to you, I definitely burned them pretty early on with synthetic fertilizer. How often would you feed with something like fish or kelp fertilizer?

Don’t feel bad. I burned up some Chambeyronia Hookeri seedlings with worm tea! I didn’t read the directions and fried every one of them. My advice would be to use according to the instructions or dilute beyond the recommended dosage until they are a few years old. They should be fine with once a month in the summer. Minimal amounts in the winter and increase gradually in the spring. Remember that your growing environment will not be able to produce optimal growth so do not use what would be expected for peak growth.

[Johnny Palmseed]

Here’s mine in the same pot. I don’t think I even fertilized them yet.