Help Needed

[Jefferyyoung]

Do you think where palms seeds are harvested ( northern soarced)  will be more cold hardy ?

[Allen]

What type of palm are you wanting.  Palms from northern populations ‘could’ be more cold hardy 

[SeanK]

Good Question.

Problem is, a palm produces hundreds of seeds in a season so, there is still randomness in the genetics they carry. After many generations, yes it plays out. Like isolated populations of Washingtonia filifera in the California desert. Other factors affect a Palm's cold-hardiness. Was it seed-planted? Planted from a 10-in pot? Was it planted bare-root with 10-ft of trunk? In marginal areas the results are different. I know that Needle palms from Monrovia are not as cold-hardy as those grown east of the MS river. I can't say why. Maybe their herd isn't culled because they grow in warm weather. Local ones come from the Gulf Coast where cold winters occur yearly.

[Jeff zone 8 N.C.]

In general plants spread their range of environments by being the ones that survived under conditions where their siblings did not and it "can" help but usually does not mean a batch of seedlings from one plant will all be more cold hardy unless that batch of seeds has come from a group or swarm of plants that have survived for years under more stressful conditions.  It is usually a small percentage of seedlings that carry on a more favorable trait and then that trait can increase over more generations of seedlings from the original survivor but there are limits. Cross breeding of more northern populations can increase the chances of survival to certain conditions.  Also if the seedlings just get a cold hardiness gene passed on, then it would be a great step towards a better plant for a colder environment but if it also gets another trait, like hopefully the ability to use sun more efficiently at a more northern latitude then you really have a much better survivor.  All plant people want to find those survivors though because it is certainly a way to increase a plants survivability. So yea collect those seeds and give it a try and stay tuned to this forum to buy seeds from people who have already located those desirable plants and sell the seeds.

[Las Palmas Norte]

4 hours ago, Jefferyyoung said:

Do you think where palms seeds are harvested ( northern soarced)  will be more cold hardy ?

As with all living things, there are genetic parameters. Some palms of the same genus & species survive in more marginal conditions, but doesn't assure it's characteristics are passed along genetically via it's seeds. Having said that, I'd be inclined to include those seeds with measured optimism, knowing the uncertainty. Palms evolve over many millennium to adapt to suitable conditions or extinction.

[Fusca]

7 hours ago, Jefferyyoung said:

Do you think where palms seeds are harvested ( northern soarced)  will be more cold hardy ?

I don't believe where you source seeds makes a lot of difference in cold hardiness for a given species unless it is a variable species like pindos or queens which have unique native populations at different latitudes.  And considering what hemisphere you're talking about - Syagrus romanzoffiana (queen palm) are native to the southern hemisphere so seeds sourced from a more southern population in Uraguay are more cold hardy than those from a more northern population in Brasil. 

You're most likely referring to seeds collected from cultivated palms in the northern hemisphere.  If I had a Uraguay queen palm planted in my yard in deep south Texas and another person had a Brasil queen planted in Houston, seeds collected from my queen would be more cold hardy than those collected in a more northern spot.

[Manalto]

I think anyone would even the most rudimentary understanding of genetics would know that a tropical species transplanted into a marginal subtropic environment isn’t going to automatically produce offspring that are more cold hardy than it would if it had remained in the tropics. Could the question be how many generations would it require for a species in a marginal environment to develop higher cold tolerance than its forbears in a milder climate?

[Harry’s Palms]

Agreed. The evolution of a species as it adapts to the climate takes many generations . There are some that will just be hardier than others . Many palms from a single parent will have different hardiness occasionally. That said , I like getting local seeds from older palms in my area . It certainly doesn’t hurt! Harry

[Jubilation]

It improves your chances if the north is colder but hardiness can be fickle!! Correlation vs causation and all that. An example of not purely genetics reason is a tropical species might be in a microclimate or heat island that simply allows it to survive better than a spot over where it may struggle.  I make 'plant location and climate' one of my selection considerations myself.