Harvesting a few alogoptrea arenaria seeds

[happypalms]

It’s a great feeling when you harvest some seeds from a palm in your garden, and this one is no exception. Another fantastic rare palm producing seeds for future generations. I have collected seeds from this palm before with good success in germinating them. Using the baggie method with spagnum moss at 30 degrees bottom heating. A great palm for dry parts of the garden. I also used an artist brush for a couple of days to help the insects out plus a rat trap to keep the rats out getting one back on the rats. They were cleaned in about 2 minutes with a jet wash super easy for a hard seed to clean. 

[Jonathan]

What a great idea Richard!

Keeping the seeds safe initially is sensible but leaving them in the cage for cleaning is genius. Nice work.

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, Jonathan said:

What a great idea Richard!

Keeping the seeds safe initially is sensible but leaving them in the cage for cleaning is genius. Nice work.

Why naturally sir!

[happypalms]

And sown asap  bottom heating baggie method 30 degrees Celsius. 

[gyuseppe]

Hello Richard, I had a dozen of these made with RPS seeds bought in 2007,
if not too troublesome for you, I would be interested in some seeds
thanks again

[happypalms]

10 hours ago, gyuseppe said:

Hello Richard, I had a dozen of these made with RPS seeds bought in 2007,
if not too troublesome for you, I would be interested in some seeds
thanks again

Yes a great palm. I  will keep them germinating and when I have a few other varieties to send to you I will put a couple in for you. They will be fine and still fresh if I get them from the germinating process to send to you. 

[Patrick]

13 hours ago, happypalms said:

And sown asap  bottom heating baggie method 30 degrees Celsius. 

Thank you for the germination advice. I have a younger one- probably 10 years old- that has flowered for a couple years now but never made any viable seed. All little skinny things like some of the "seeds" in your images a couple posts above. Perhaps I will pay more attention this year as I just noticed a new stalk emerging a few days back. It certainly is rewarding to collect your own seeds. Many years of waiting and nurturing and enjoyment for a little payoff....

[happypalms]

9 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Thank you for the germination advice. I have a younger one- probably 10 years old- that has flowered for a couple years now but never made any viable seed. All little skinny things like some of the "seeds" in your images a couple posts above. Perhaps I will pay more attention this year as I just noticed a new stalk emerging a few days back. It certainly is rewarding to collect your own seeds. Many years of waiting and nurturing and enjoyment for a little payoff....

The first couple of flowering years I got no seeds then I used an artist brush to help the insects out. And now I get a decent amount of seeds. The small ones are not pollinated. It’s even more fun when it’s a rare palm. 

[gyuseppe]

ok Richard very thanks

[Brian]

Great palm, one of my favorites for coastal conditions. They always look very nice. Good job on the seed collection!

[Brian]

4 hours ago, happypalms said:

The first couple of flowering years I got no seeds then I used an artist brush to help the insects out. And now I get a decent amount of seeds. The small ones are not pollinated. It’s even more fun when it’s a rare palm. 

Can you elaborate further on how you used the artist brush? Are you cross pollinating between plants?

Ive produced seed from my first and second generation alogoptrea arenaria plants however my third generation plants are not producing seed and I’m not sure why. 

[happypalms]

15 hours ago, Brian said:

Can you elaborate further on how you used the artist brush? Are you cross pollinating between plants?

Ive produced seed from my first and second generation alogoptrea arenaria plants however my third generation plants are not producing seed and I’m not sure why. 

Through observation when the flowers where ready I would just paint along the flower giving Mother Nature a hand. How long did your ones take to first flower my ones took around 15 years before flowering in a subtropical dry part of the garden.

[Brian]

36 minutes ago, happypalms said:

Through observation when the flowers where ready I would just paint along the flower giving Mother Nature a hand. How long did your ones take to first flower my ones took around 15 years before flowering in a subtropical dry part of the garden.

In this tropical climate, mine took about 5 years to flower and produce seed which was fortunate for me because the plant died not long after producing seed. Those seeds germinated and again about 5 years later they also produced seeds and about a year after that the palm died again! I was able to germinate the second generation seeds and currently have 4 growing of which three are producing flowers but no seeds. My worry is that they too will die before I get more seeds. I have no idea why they suddenly die off here. They have always looked really nice and then from one day to the next they start drying up at the growing point. 
Here are some photos of how they currently look,

[idontknowhatnametuse]

1 hour ago, Brian said:

In this tropical climate, mine took about 5 years to flower and produce seed which was fortunate for me because the plant died not long after producing seed. Those seeds germinated and again about 5 years later they also produced seeds and about a year after that the palm died again! I was able to germinate the second generation seeds and currently have 4 growing of which three are producing flowers but no seeds. My worry is that they too will die before I get more seeds. I have no idea why they suddenly die off here. They have always looked really nice and then from one day to the next they start drying up at the growing point. 
Here are some photos of how they currently look,

Do you sell the seeds or seedlings? I also live in Mexico. Would like to get some this summer.

[Brian]

1 hour ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Do you sell the seeds or seedlings? I also live in Mexico. Would like to get some this summer.

I don’t actively sell but if I can get these to produce viable seed I’ll reach out to you. 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Do you sell the seeds or seedlings? I also live in Mexico. Would like to get some this summer.

Yes I can send a few seedlings to Mexico have sent before plants. A nice one in the picture strange they just up and die after flowering . Try the paintbrush method ext chance you get also keep the flowers dry could be the rain situation stopping pollination.

[happypalms]

5 minutes ago, Brian said:

I don’t actively sell but if I can get these to produce viable seed I’ll reach out to you. 

No worries in Australia I need a phytosanitry certificate to import. But have  another address that’s ok to send to thanks.

[Tyrone]

All this talk of Allogoptera arenaria flowering must have induced mine to flower. I need some tips on helping the pollination process from Richard.

[Tyrone]

It’s pushing 3 flowers now and yesterday one opened in the winter sun.

[happypalms]

15 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

It’s pushing 3 flowers now and yesterday one opened in the winter sun.

Nice one now you need to observe daily then give Mother Nature a hand 🖐️ you know what they say about blokes who hand pollinate! 

[happypalms]

On 3/2/2025 at 10:05 PM, Tyrone said:

All this talk of Allogoptera arenaria flowering must have induced mine to flower. I need some tips on helping the pollination process from Richard.

Hand rubbing or artist paint brush daily observation! But just start to do your magic any chance you get to! Regardless of what you see happening but you will know definitely when it happens. 

[Brian]

On 3/2/2025 at 5:05 AM, Tyrone said:

All this talk of Allogoptera arenaria flowering must have induced mine to flower. I need some tips on helping the pollination process from Richard.

While using the artist brush method on mine, I noticed pollen falling from the first flowers to open. I saved this pollen and applyed it to flowers on another Allogoptera arenaria that had flowers opening up. After a few days I noticed that a different typr of flower was starting to open up. This was probably the female flower so apparently I applied male pollen from one plant to male flowers on another plant, oh well, live and learn. 

If you can save any pollen from the male flowers, wait to apply it to the female flowers when they start to open. 

[happypalms]

4 hours ago, Brian said:

While using the artist brush method on mine, I noticed pollen falling from the first flowers to open. I saved this pollen and applyed it to flowers on another Allogoptera arenaria that had flowers opening up. After a few days I noticed that a different typr of flower was starting to open up. This was probably the female flower so apparently I applied male pollen from one plant to male flowers on another plant, oh well, live and learn. 

If you can save any pollen from the male flowers, wait to apply it to the female flowers when they start to open. 

Through observations you learn the most with plants. You’re a good gardener, did you get any viable seeds? 

[Brian]

11 minutes ago, happypalms said:

Through observations you learn the most with plants. You’re a good gardener, did you get any viable seeds? 

So far I got 7 good seeds from the first inflorescence I hand pollinated. The fruits developed to a pretty good size before falling to the ground and you’re right about the rats, they love them! There are 3 more inflorescences ready to open in the next few days and I’m anxious to try again with a better understanding of the anatomy of the flowers.

@TyroneOn my Allogoptera arenaria I’ve observed that the male flowers appear to be on the top half of the inflorescence and open first. The females are on the bottom half and open a few days after the male flowers start to drop off. Yours could be different but that’s what I observed.

 

[PalmBossTampa]

I have these too and when you’ve got couple flowers within a few days of each other you can bang them together and help them along. Male pollen on tip . Ive sprayed them with a hose too. Squirrels seem to eat them before me but i do have several volunteers over time where the stalk has laid down to the mulch.  Can you / do you see Allagoptera caudescens cultivated in  Australia

[happypalms]

4 hours ago, PalmBossTampa said:

I have these too and when you’ve got couple flowers within a few days of each other you can bang them together and help them along. Male pollen on tip . Ive sprayed them with a hose too. Squirrels seem to eat them before me but i do have several volunteers over time where the stalk has laid down to the mulch.  Can you / do you see Allagoptera caudescens cultivated in  Australia

I did see a nice one on eBay for sale once, but only in seen in palm collections. I have sold a few seedlings to various places around Australia. They are here but rare, try placing a wire cage around them to prevent the squirrels getting them if you’re keen to harvest seeds. But the squirrels have to eat something I guess!