De-fruiting queen palm seeds / Back from Florida

15 years ago

I just got back from a vacation to Florida today, and it was amazing. I saw so many fantastic palms, and even took home a coconut! I'll try to germinate it this summer, and see how that pans out hahaha. I know it will most likely just die in the fall, but what the heck, I can say I have a coconut palm for a little bit maybe. I didn't get to go too far south, only to Melbourne. We stayed in Orlando so I couldn't convince my parents to drive too far. I was surprised to see a cluster of cuban royals living near our hotel. They didn't seem to be doing poorly either. There were also TONS of bismarck palms, and even though they are supposed to be planted in warmer zones, most were doing okay. Except for this bunch in Universal Studios. Those looked terrible. I enjoyed riding down the coast with my parents and seeing tons of coconut palms growing there. They were all fruiting too. I was surprised how far up the coast they were. I always thought you had to be a lot closer to Miami/The keys to be able to grow coconuts. I was looking for palm seeds constantly, and drove my parents insane asking them to pull over in random places so I could check. I managed to get back with some queen palm seeds, and some sabal palmetto seeds. I COULD have gotten some christmas palm seeds from Busch Gardens, but everyone was looking at me like I was crazy when I was jumping up and trying to pull them out of the tree. Then I noticed a line of gigantic fire ants going up the tree to the fruit and just stopped. I couldn't find any washingtonia seeds, but I did see places in the trees where the fruit used to be hanging.

Anyways, time for my question. How the heck do you get the fruit off of a queen palm seed!? The fruit is ripe. Its orange and I got it off of the ground near a queen palm. It had all fallen off of the tree. Its all stuck on the seed really good though. Is there anyway that I can dry it out without bugs getting to it, or it molding so it peels off easier? I already found two beetles inside some of my sabal seeds. I don't need anymore of that going on. What do you guys think?

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Comments (3)

royalpaulm
15 years ago
Chad: bismarcks, royals, spindles, foxtails, Christmas all do fine in metro Orlando. Even this year which was coldest since 1996, the neighboring rural areas dipped as low as 15f, Orlando recorded an official low of 30. Heat island does a lot here.

I have several coconuts growing happily on my tree in my back yard. Granted Coconuts and bottle palms will need protection from frost here in inland Orlando, the species I mentioned above really grow worry free for those within the orlando heat island canopy here.
protempsfish
15 years ago
I did the same thing as you. I collected many seeds and brought them back. You need to peel all the orange fruit off the seeds immediately and let them dry out for a few days. You will get sore finger nails! :) Soak them after they have dried out and plant them. You will find that because they are so fresh you will have a much higher germination rate. I usually have 100% germinition rates from freshly collected seeds. Ordering them online is always a risk as I am sure most of them arent fresh.
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Some people sand through a tiny bit of the outer coating, others knick it with a knife. Most folks do neither. Just soak them overnight in warm water (I use tea, the acid helps break down the outer coat). Sprinkle them on top of a sterile potting media. Use a deep pot because the first thing they do is send out a tap root and it wants to go deep. It can take up to a year for them to sprout. And it can take up to another year for them to be anything more than two leaves (looking more like two broad leaves of grass). They are slow growing. Almost all palms require HIGH heat to do any growth. You want them to grow faster - heat them up. I know a guy back in Oklahoma that built a trench greenhouse/hoophouse structure - more like a shallow pit in the ground with a trench down the middle so that he can stand up in it with being stooped over. Lined the pit with black plastic. Set the gallon pots of seeds/seedlings on the earthen "benches". And covered the whole thing with clear plastic. Temps were routinely over 150 degrees!!!! Got great growth in the first year. But you have to monitor them hourly to keep from cooking them (happens around 180). Even if you have them sprouted. If you keep them in a pot you can't expect much growth. The large potted palms they ship up from Florida are grown in the pot sunk in the sand down there, they dig them up to ship north. They are slow to show signs of death and are quite adaptable really - so they handle the torture well. But if you want them to get big you gotta keep them very warm with lots of sunshine and regular watering.
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garyfla_gw
15 years ago
Hi
I collected seed from a neighbor .Just slightly buried them in potting soil I did soak them for 24 hours in water but didn't remove the pulp. Out of 50 seeds had 46 germinate. Now what to do with 46 palm trees on a 30x75 foot lot ?? gary

De-fruiting queen palm seeds / Back from Florida

Comments (3)

royalpaulm

protempsfish

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