I planted a Cocothrinax fragrans today; it's not looking good, so I thought I would pop it in the ground and see if it improves. The tag said June 13, and I was wondering why I didn't put the year. Well, duh, I started that plant from seed in June 2013, so it's over 12 years old. I have two other fragrans that I planted a few years ago, from the same batch of seeds, and they have a few feet of trunk, look good, and are seeding regularly.

I also did a C. borhidiana x fragrans cross and got lots of seeds, and some have already germinated. For whatever reason, my borhidiana has not self-set seed. One of my goals in doing the cross is to see if the cross has hybrid vigor and grows faster than pure fragrans and pure miraguama, both of which I started from seed recently.

I got a few nice palms at the Palm Beach Palm Society holiday party giveaway: Calyptrocalyx holrungii, Calyptrocalyx polyphylus, and Actinokentia divaricata. I'll probably kill them, but for free.99 I'm willing to give them a try.

 

 

3 hours ago, Boca Palms said:

One of my goals in doing the cross is to see if the cross has hybrid vigor and grows faster than pure fragrans and pure miraguama, both of which I started from seed recently.

I'm sure you'll see faster growth with the hybrid than the borhidiana anyway.  I believe @aztropic has seen it with his hybrid.  Not sure about fragrans but miraguama has been pretty fast for me.  It'll be an interesting test.  😊 

2 hours ago, Boca Palms said:

For whatever reason, my borhidiana has not self-set seed. 

 

I had a purebred borhidiana flower in the Arizona desert over a month ago. Weather seemed perfect for a good self pollination, but it only has 55 seeds developing. 🤷‍♂️ 

At least I know they're pure,and I didn't have to travel to Cuba to get them...😄

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

I did the borhidiana x fragrans cross twice and got a great seed set. One thing I did find out is that something likes eating my borhidiana fruit when they get really ripe. I lost a lot of them that way. I'm pretty sure it's birds that are eating them, but the birds don't eat miraguama or fragrans fruit.

38 minutes ago, Boca Palms said:

I did the borhidiana x fragrans cross twice and got a great seed set. One thing I did find out is that something likes eating my borhidiana fruit when they get really ripe. I lost a lot of them that way. I'm pretty sure it's birds that are eating them, but the birds don't eat miraguama or fragrans fruit.

Yep,birds. If I want to harvest a crop, I have to bag the seeds,or watch them fly away by the dozens each day.🤷‍♂️ I've actually taste tested Coccothrinax fruits,and would have to say that yes,they are edible; even for humans. Slightly sweet, slightly bitter, and very juicy.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona