On the potting bench again with some sprouts

[happypalms]

Potting up a few seeds that have germinated. With a few Calyptrocalyx elegans, Joey magnifica, Cham graminifolia, aconthonphoenix rousellii, Cham genoformis and some Cham anemophilla along with a lone cycas species sexseminifera. A couple of newbie’s in the greenhouse that will give the rats something to have a go at if iam unlucky. They will only eat the most rarest and expensive ones fine dining tastes living the good life with champagne tastes on a beer budget. 

[quaman58]

Very nice! I’m still having difficulty figuring out how to not get fungus on seeds, especially when using the baggy method.

[happypalms]

  On 4/25/2025 at 3:07 AM, quaman58 said:

Very nice! I’m still having difficulty figuring out how to not get fungus on seeds, especially when using the baggy method.

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Hmmm good question clean viable seeds is a good place to start. If you’re having trouble hange your technique until you get the results you’re after. If at first you don’t succeed try try again with a different method until it works, but by not changing your technique you won’t know any different. Time to change I say until you find what works best a bit like life.

[coops 3214]

It's crazy ive never noticed rats in my garden I think the dogs keep them under wraps that was until I started growing palms from seed and they came and destroyed like u said all the rarer ones 

[happypalms]

  On 4/25/2025 at 6:14 AM, coops 3214 said:

It's crazy ive never noticed rats in my garden I think the dogs keep them under wraps that was until I started growing palms from seed and they came and destroyed like u said all the rarer ones 

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Rats love exspensive palm seedlings. Put on offer a thousand golden cane seedlings and put one rare palm seedling in the middle and they will find it for sure.

[Jonathan Haycock]

  On 4/25/2025 at 3:07 AM, quaman58 said:

Very nice! I’m still having difficulty figuring out how to not get fungus on seeds, especially when using the baggy method.

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Hydrogen peroxide purchased at either 3 or 6% concentration. Use neat and soak seed in it for 24 hours before sowing in a baggy. Was a game changer for me. Still get rot very occasionally, but this is bad seed to begin with, which is unavoidable.

[quaman58]

  On 4/25/2025 at 7:42 AM, Jonathan Haycock said:

Hydrogen peroxide purchased at either 3 or 6% concentration. Use neat and soak seed in it for 24 hours before sowing in a baggy. Was a game changer for me. Still get rot very occasionally, but this is bad seed to begin with, which is unavoidable.

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Removing the fruit, certainly seems like a good place to start. But some seeds, like Acanthophoenix are so dang small, I don’t even know where to start to take the flesh off them. Good call on the hydrogen peroxide as well. Jesse over at jungle music recommended the same thing to me a couple weeks back.

[happypalms]

Definitely removing the fruit is a must do, with various methods for doing so. I don’t use peroxide but it  most likely would be beneficial. I find if the seeds are fresh and everything is clean from the get go they will germinate regardless. As @Jonathan Haycock said some seeds are doomed regardless of what you do with or without treatment , how do we which ones are doomed we don’t know really but there are some obvious signs like old seeds. I guess it comes down to whoever we get our seeds from in the first place. Seeds straight from the home garden are as good as it gets. Seeds purchased online well that’s another story.

[Tyrone]

How the heck did you get Acanthophoenix rouesellii to germinate. Over the years I’ve tried hundreds of seed with not a single one ever to come up. They’re the only Acanthophoenix I completely failed with. Acanthophoenix rubra I got 2 out of about 1000 to germinate and they’re now in my garden and I did get crinita to germinate well only to kill every single one in a heat wave. What is your secret?

[happypalms]

  On 4/26/2025 at 12:11 AM, Tyrone said:

How the heck did you get Acanthophoenix rouesellii to germinate. Over the years I’ve tried hundreds of seed with not a single one ever to come up. They’re the only Acanthophoenix I completely failed with. Acanthophoenix rubra I got 2 out of about 1000 to germinate and they’re now in my garden and I did get crinita to germinate well only to kill every single one in a heat wave. What is your secret?

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Not sure the seeds come from @palmtreesforpleasure I guess it’s like the stone Masons secret hand shake. It must be a Palm mafia gang thing that shall remain a secret and if you tell you swim with the fish’s. But I will say you know my germinating technique! But the next lot of rouesellii seeds you get you better hand them over for me to try! Just to keep the boss happy or I will be swimming with the fish’s.

[Tyrone]

I wonder where Colin got the seed from. There’d be none seeding in Australia yet. I visited where they come from in Reunion and there are a few fruiting ones in the palm park there but none in the wild as the area around Tampon has no wild forest left. It’s suburbia now with a freeway and everything. The Roueselii estate is where they are now found but it’s private property. You’ve got something super special there. 

[Jonathan Haycock]

  On 4/26/2025 at 12:11 AM, Tyrone said:

How the heck did you get Acanthophoenix rouesellii to germinate. Over the years I’ve tried hundreds of seed with not a single one ever to come up. They’re the only Acanthophoenix I completely failed with. Acanthophoenix rubra I got 2 out of about 1000 to germinate and they’re now in my garden and I did get crinita to germinate well only to kill every single one in a heat wave. What is your secret?

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I failed miserably with Acanthophoenix rouesellii and rubra. They did not like my standard sphagnum moss baggy on bottom heat method at all. Next time, I’ll just sow in a communal pot and forget about them. 

I think Colin got the seed from RPS.

[tim_brissy_13]

Well done Richard. The Acanthophoenix rouesellii in particular are very special. 

[happypalms]

  On 4/26/2025 at 10:28 PM, tim_brissy_13 said:

Well done Richard. The Acanthophoenix rouesellii in particular are very special. 

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Thanks I just need the seeds and I will do my best to propagate them. Actually I should do contract germinating for a small  percentage of what germinated🤣

[happypalms]

  On 4/26/2025 at 6:30 PM, Jonathan Haycock said:

I failed miserably with Acanthophoenix rouesellii and rubra. They did not like my standard sphagnum moss baggy on bottom heat method at all. Next time, I’ll just sow in a communal pot and forget about them. 

I think Colin got the seed from RPS.

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Not good Jonathan try try again they say. 

[happypalms]

  On 4/26/2025 at 5:15 AM, Tyrone said:

I wonder where Colin got the seed from. There’d be none seeding in Australia yet. I visited where they come from in Reunion and there are a few fruiting ones in the palm park there but none in the wild as the area around Tampon has no wild forest left. It’s suburbia now with a freeway and everything. The Roueselii estate is where they are now found but it’s private property. You’ve got something super special there. 

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Tyrone you should know the palm mafia gang have contacts in high places. But you certainly have done your homework on the habitat of roueselii. 

[Tyrone]

Yeah I must have tried A roueselii about 5 times over a number of years and always complete failure. I always used bottom heat 28-30C and not a single one ever moved. I came to the conclusion that they have to be super fresh and that’s the issue in Australia unless you can find local seed. 

Acanthophoenix are a very interesting genus that should be tried a lot more in Australia if you can get them to germinate. 

Btw it’s the Rouesell estate in Tampon in Reunion not Rouesellii like  I wrote in my previous post. 

There is evidence in place names on Reunion for Acanthophoenix everywhere. The Plannes de Palmiste (Plane of Palms) probably referred to Acanthophoenix crinita, possibly even rubra.  There’s also a village in a canyon not too far from Tampon as the crow flies called Palmiste Rouge (Red Palm) which is thought to once have been a possible wild area of Acanthophoenix roueselii. No wild palms exist there now. 
 

People cultivate Acanthophoenix though. I saw rubra growing at approx 1500-1700m asl where some were growing Archontophoenix alexandrae. That’s well above the coconut line at about 1000m asl if I recall correctly. 

[happypalms]

  On 4/27/2025 at 12:33 AM, Tyrone said:

Yeah I must have tried A roueselii about 5 times over a number of years and always complete failure. I always used bottom heat 28-30C and not a single one ever moved. I came to the conclusion that they have to be super fresh and that’s the issue in Australia unless you can find local seed. 

Acanthophoenix are a very interesting genus that should be tried a lot more in Australia if you can get them to germinate. 

Btw it’s the Rouesell estate in Tampon in Reunion not Rouesellii like  I wrote in my previous post. 

There is evidence in place names on Reunion for Acanthophoenix everywhere. The Plannes de Palmiste (Plane of Palms) probably referred to Acanthophoenix crinita, possibly even rubra.  There’s also a village in a canyon not too far from Tampon as the crow flies called Palmiste Rouge (Red Palm) which is thought to once have been a possible wild area of Acanthophoenix roueselii. No wild palms exist there now. 
 

People cultivate Acanthophoenix though. I saw rubra growing at approx 1500-1700m asl where some were growing Archontophoenix alexandrae. That’s well above the coconut line at about 1000m asl if I recall correctly. 

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I guess I have two green thumbs and consider myself lucky that I got them to germinate, moisture may be the answers you could be looking for in your germinating success. That’s my tip for germinating seeds. The correct amount of moisture required to germinate different seeds depends  some like more others less moisture knowing the seed size is a good place to start for the correct amount of moisture in the medium needed to germinate your seeds.

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Some years ago using New Zealnd peat  Acanthophoenix species was used to germinate them before 2010.

I think there is both species mentioned still growing in the RBGSydney.  Sloow growing.

The latest seed did not come from RPS....sworn to secrecy. So i am waiting to see who germinated them for the botanic gardens for me.  Best not to mention them or every scavenger will be on your doorstep, each plant ends up being very expensive when they survive seedling stage.

Nice palm, many of us may not see a fruiting one

Regards

Colin

[happypalms]

  On 4/28/2025 at 1:40 PM, palmtreesforpleasure said:

Some years ago using New Zealnd peat  Acanthophoenix species was used to germinate them before 2010.

I think there is both species mentioned still growing in the RBGSydney.  Sloow growing.

The latest seed did not come from RPS....sworn to secrecy. So i am waiting to see who germinated them for the botanic gardens for me.  Best not to mention them or every scavenger will be on your doorstep, each plant ends up being very expensive when they survive seedling stage.

Nice palm, many of us may not see a fruiting one

Regards

Colin

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I was waiting for your response Colin. It seems a tricky palm to germinate and I might have cracked the code I hope. Moisture content may play a role and definitely fresh seeds. Your source of seed seems to be on the money when it comes to good seeds. Now all I need is another 1000 of those seeeds and together we can conquer the world and flood botanical gardens with them. 🤣

Richard