Seedling S. louisiana

[Las Palmas Norte]

I started these Sabal louisiana in April 2024. They went into these 3" pots and some roots are escaping though drain holes. Makes me wonder if I should plant one out at this stage. Easy to winter protect to size it up quicker. A few have developed a bulbous base while most appear in their typical form. Anyone else with seedling S. louisiana?

 

[Fusca]

I've got a few from this past year as well.  First time for my in ground Louisiana to produce seeds. Obviously I'm in a different climate than you are but I wouldn't hesitate putting one in the ground now.  Here Sabals seem to grow better in the ground than in a pot.  Yours look a bit further along than mine. 

[Las Palmas Norte]

24 minutes ago, Fusca said:

... Here Sabals seem to grow better in the ground than in a pot. ...

I think that's true in many cases. While palms manage nicely in pots, some better than others, unobstructed root run seems to stimulate growth. 

[Chester B]

Don't plant them out at that size in your climate.  They will likely sit there and linger or eventually fade away, this is from experience.  You want to get them bigger and give them additional heat like in a greenhouse to keep them moving.  Louisana is tougher which is good but I would be transferring them into some tree pots at that size so the root has room to grow.  Once they start getting bifid leaves it may be worth planting a couple out to see what they do.  I planted small palmetto around that size in Portland, and they all eventually disappeared.  I did plant some minor a bit larger than those and they did pretty well, but there is a whole lot more heat in Portland than your location.

[PalmatierMeg]

Agree with @Chester B

[SeanK]

Sabals like heat, so I concur with @Chester B. Deep pots, a couple winters in the greenhouse.

[JohnAndSancho]

Ok I don't wanna threadjack (like I normally do) but didn't wanna start another topic either. 

 

Are the seeds really this tiny? I got some in a package from @Fusca and while I was cleaning them I thought I was squishing them. Not gonna lie, I threw them in coir and put them on the heat mat anyway - but now I start cleaning this batch from @teddytn and again, it's like, squish and I'm thinking these seeds are super fragile or something. How does something that gets as massive as a Louisiana come from a seed this tiny? Sancho sitting on a dirty t shirt for scale. 

 

Do I need to double check the batch from Jon and these Sabal Minor seeds too? 😬 

[Fusca]

28 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Ok I don't wanna threadjack (like I normally do) but didn't wanna start another topic either. 

 

Are the seeds really this tiny? I got some in a package from @Fusca and while I was cleaning them I thought I was squishing them. Not gonna lie, I threw them in coir and put them on the heat mat anyway - but now I start cleaning this batch from @teddytn and again, it's like, squish and I'm thinking these seeds are super fragile or something. How does something that gets as massive as a Louisiana come from a seed this tiny? Sancho sitting on a dirty t shirt for scale. 

 

Do I need to double check the batch from Jon and these Sabal Minor seeds too? 😬 

Sabal Louisiana is just a trunking variety of Sabal minor and the seeds are basically the same size.  Consider Washingtonia - their seeds are slightly smaller and produce massive palms!

[JohnAndSancho]

7 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Sabal Louisiana is just a trunking variety of Sabal minor and the seeds are basically the same size.  Consider Washingtonia - their seeds are slightly smaller and produce massive palms!

I'm starting to realize I might not be the world champion seed cleaner. I've germinated a few Sabals, I don't remember how small the Filifera seeds were, some Chamaedorea, and of course the Chambeyronia that I thought were for real supposed to be the size of a peach pit, until I cracked one testing to see if it was rotten after almost 2 years on the mat that still hasn't sprouted.. just wow these are tiny. 

[Allen]

I don’t clean the seeds and they seem to come up in community pots 

[SeanK]

Sabal and Trachycarpus fruit I just toss in a pile of damp leaves. No cleaning.

[JohnAndSancho]

Lol I love this hobby so much. On one end of the spectrum, you've got people with like these setups with humidity domes and these thermostat controlled fans and humidity monitors and all this stuff, and on the other end you've got "oh I just throw them in some dirt and leaves." 

[SeanK]

Once they send a strap leaf, you can pot them up. Meanwhile, no need to fret about them every day.

[JohnAndSancho]

After reading all of this, y'all will never guess who spent probably 2 hours cleaning Sabal seeds and then put them in a baggie with coir and put them on a heat mat despite the fact that I also read @happypalms post about how crazy the root structure gets in baggies and on top of that, me having a baggie of Sabal Mexicana sprouts that absolutely look alien. 

[Las Palmas Norte]

I upsized the pots on the ones that needed it. Not much new top growth, but likely new root growth as they adjust to the new pots.