Germinating palm tree seeds

[shminbabe]

So just before the recent hard freeze (we took 24 degrees for two consecutive nights) the first flowering and seeds from my Archotophoenix Alexandre (the King!) turned ripe! I grabbed as many as I could and again, a few more, as I knew the freeze was imminent. We wrapped the King as best we could (He's getting almost too big to wrap) and was able to incude a heat lamp pointed to its heart. The look of the tree, as well as three others I grew from seed (Archontophoenix Maxima or as I call them, the baby Alexes), is utter desiccation - dead fronds, all. But it's as yet unclear as to whether any of these trees will survive...but their hearts look,,,dare I say it? They do look ok. Time will tell. So I got a setup, a rolling cart with grow lights and I planted these palm tree seeds. Some I soaked, scraped, and put into a community pot. Others I dried, then soaked and scraped and planted. Others I soaked and scraped, then let them dry out for several days, then planted them later.  Could have had more, but I managed to ruin a bagful of them, ugh. But anyway, the seeds are starting to sprout. It's very exciting! I have them on a warming mat, then under the lights for several hours a day.  So if I do lose any of my trees it's possible I could replace it from one of these being grown from seed. Otherwise: no more 'out of zone' planting of any kind. It's too hard to nuture something and watch it thrive for several years only to have it killed in a random freeze. It hurts my heart. I will know soon whether or not my existing tree survive.  Does anyone else grow palms from seed and what advice would you have for me?

[happypalms]

Well actually I grow a lot of palms from seeds as it happens, and I mean a lot of seeds. The archontophoenix is an easy palm to propagate so much so there a weed  in my garden and many other gardens. Just keep your seeds in a warm place, put a plastic bag over them to create humidity and iam quite confident you will have archontophoenix to grow! And all fails PM me and I will see what I can do about getting some seeds to you, good luck! 

[Harry’s Palms]

Archontophoenix as well as others are very slow to start . Many times the first few years can be a lot of work with very little reward . Replacing a tree with something grown from seed takes many years . A greenhouse can speed things up . King palms are fairly common here in Southern California and I bought a one gallon palm for$12 a year ago . I have many seedlings that I grew when one of my mature A. Cunninghamiana dropped a bunch of seeds . The seedlings need constant watering and shade and are very slow growing . I also grew some Howea F. from seed and they are actually passing up the Archontophoenix! It is a great hobby but it takes many years and a lot of patience to grow palms from seed. The exception is the Chamaedorea palms , much faster to gain size and quicker germination rate. Harry

This Howea F. Is almost 3 years old and just started speeding up….a bit!

A community pot of Chamaedorea Radicalis Tree Form is less than 2 years from seed .

I don’t discourage folks from growing from seed , it can be rewarding . It just takes a few years to get rolling . Once you get about 5-6 years worth of seedlings moving along , you will have palms that may be ready to plant in the garden. 
‘This Chamaedorea Radicalis ( middle of pic) was a volounteer from one of many Tree Form Radicalis I have around our house . About 5 years old when this was taken a year ago. It is forming a trunk already . 
 

Have fun with it and be patient. Harry