Oh 💩 moment (good)

[JohnAndSancho]

I think brother @DoomsDave sent me these seeds about 2 years ago. At least I'm pretty sure they came from him because there's an absolute *expletive deleted* ton of them, and that's his style. If you've ever received seeds from Dave, you know when he sends seeds HE SENDS SEEDS. 

I'll be honest, I let them sit in a box for a while, then I did what I normally do and soaked them, put them in coir on a mat. And they languished and did nothing. Eventually, I pulled them out, soaked them again, and put them in another baggie about 6 months ago and put them back on a heat mat, this time with a thermostat (set to 87.5 if it matters).

So this morning I start cleaning stuff out and finding stuff I'm giving up on - there's some seeds I KNOW have dried out, there's some stuff in pots I KNOW isn't going to sprout, and I lift up this baggie and I see green! 

I pulled these 2 out, there's another one that I'm gonna let marinate for another week or so, and a few more showing eyes. 

 

So that's cool! If I had known I was gonna find these, I would have recorded the video of me squealing profanities. I'm guessing these are gonna be in pots here and should be fun since the Google machine says they don't like constant humidity and don't like anything below 20°F but any care tips are appreciated and I'll be digging around the interwebs later. 

[Harry’s Palms]

Brahea Edulis are fairly easy palms . I’m glad you got a couple . They can take sun at an early stage , mine was planted in full sun , after buying it in a 10” pot , down in gopherville . Nothing bothers it ! It is really big now , after 25+ years . Much faster than Brahea Armata. Harry

‘I’ve posted this pic a few times before , it shows how it adapted to the hillside. The only one down there that did this. 

[JohnAndSancho]

2 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Brahea Edulis are fairly easy palms . I’m glad you got a couple . They can take sun at an early stage , mine was planted in full sun , after buying it in a 10” pot , down in gopherville . Nothing bothers it ! It is really big now , after 25+ years . Much faster than Brahea Armata. Harry

‘I’ve posted this pic a few times before , it shows how it adapted to the hillside. The only one down there that did this. 

I love when trees adapt and bend, so cool! There's a lot of stuff around here that's bent around the house, there's some trees crawling across the ground that I dunno if they went looking for light from under the canopy or if they were Katrina victims - anyway the Brahea - There's probably a pound or 2 of seed in this bag, maybe I'll throw some up on the freebie forum after more of them sprout and we're not expecting Empire Strikes Back cold fronts again. But from what I've read it sounds like these are more trees I'm growing for someone else. 

[Palmarum]

This is why I get increasingly resistant to throwing away old seed...

My record for old seed germinating is five years but that was exceptional. Even with common stuff I think 'Oh just a hundred will do, 'cause only ten will germinate.' Boom, I get 108 plants.

Ryan

[Jim in Los Altos]

And in thirty years those seedlings will look like this. I planted this one as a small seedling.  

 

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

And in thirty years those seedlings will look like this. I planted this one as a small seedling.  

 

If I'm still here in 30 years I swear I'll be complaining about everything non stop 😂 

[Harry’s Palms]

I think they are a magnificent , stately palm. I water mine more frequently than some folks . Honestly , I think a lot of these that I see around are under watered . They have smaller fronds and look a bit sad. Jim’s and the one down my hill look very healthy and full. The inflorescence , although not as impressive as the B. Armata , give it nice coloring. The self cleaning trunks are a bonus . Easy to keep nice. Harry

[Harry’s Palms]

 @Jim in Los Altos  Now THAT is a very nice tropical setting . I could easily spend some time reading or enjoying an espresso there! Very nice , Jim. Thank you for sharing , Harry

[Jim in Los Altos]

4 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

 @Jim in Los Altos  Now THAT is a very nice tropical setting . I could easily spend some time reading or enjoying an espresso there! Very nice , Jim. Thank you for sharing , Harry

Thank you Harry. And yes, this Brahea is regularly watered year round. There are several mature  B. edulis around town that likey receive much less water and look decent but could look even better. That spot in my backyard is where I “hang out” for a while right out of bed in the morning pretty much year round and often at dusk as in these photos.