Seeds I'm trying to germinate...
Chamaerops humilis var. Cerifera
Chamaerops humilis
Butia oderata
Butia eriospatha
Trithrinax campestris
Sabal Maritima
Sabal Palmetto
Sabal Louisiana
Trachycarpus Latisectus
Trachycarpus Manipur
Trachycarpus Wagnerianus
Trachycarpus Takil
Trachycarpus Nanus
Trachycarpus Oreophilus
Trachycarpus Nainital
Brahea sp. super silver
Brahea Dulcis
Brahea armata
Ptychosperma Macarthurii
Christmas Palm
Thrinax Radiata (florida thatch palm)
Phoenix Theophrasti (Cratan Date Palm)
Acoelorrhaphe wrightii (everglades palm)
Jubaea Chilensis
Hyphaene Coriacea

Looks great, what are you trying to keep away from the Banana plants?

Wow! that's a lot of seeds you're trying to germinate. What are you gonna do if they all germinate? You're gonna have to buy a greenhouse LOL. I'm guessing you're trying to keep rabbits away from the bananas? If so, just thought I'd share my experience with you, the rabbits may eat a little bit of a lower leaf, but generally they leave bananas alone for some reason. And I have terrorist rabbits LOL. My rabbits eat anything and everything except bananas and cannas. Eventually, and probably sooner rather than later, you'll have to remove the cages from around those bananas because they grow so fast.

We have alot of rabbits here, I'm new to gardening (I'm 18) but my mom tells me she's had many plants killed by rabbits. I was worried about the bananas since they're so small and delicate.

I do however need a greenhouse, last winter my room had so many plants that my freinds didn't have anywhere to sit. I'll see what I'll do this winter... As for the seeds germinating, I tryed to only get rare palms, since if I'm going to take the time to raise them from seeds, well, they should at least be rare. I'm not counting on getting high germination rates, but if I do, I can sell the seedlings off on ebay.

Anyway, I'll be keeping this tread updated with pics and progress, and if anyone has any advice for a newbie... You can chime in :)

great Job, I just bought some seeds online yesterday. I wish i had done it a few weeks ago considering the great hot stretch we'vew had.

fr8train:

What do you do with your Washingtonia Filifera during winter? I thought Filiferas are not ideal zone 5a.

Thanks, Palmlover1

I hope your seeds are not out in full sun - you can cook them pretty quickly in baggies - I lost lots of seeds that way last year -Keep them in a warm area but out of direct afternoon light - I agree with Island, you sure have your work cut out for you when they all start to germinate.

cheers

No palms here are ideal, unfortunately. Washingtonia's, even though common and not as hardy as others, are some of my favorite palms (aesthetically). On top of that they grow fast.
As for winter, I'm going to try a method I saw on here by someone with the screen name artictropical, I think. He/she made a box made of styrofoam or a house insulation type thing and provided additional heat with a florescent bulb along with christmas lights (running 24 hours along with wrapping everything up inside). I'm going to try it with the washingtonia and the butias as they where inexpensive, but I'll try to do all I can to protect them. I'll post photo's of what I end up doing in the fall on here.

I'm also, hopefully making a trip to the southeast soon and would like to pick up a larger trachy (among other things) that I would need to do the same thing with. I was going to make a new topic, but I might as well ask here..

Does anyone know of any good palm nurseries in the Carolinas? Or just nurseries that stock palms? Or is going to a home depot or lowes there the best way to go? I appreciate any feedback.

"I hope your seeds are not out in full sun - you can cook them pretty quickly in baggies"
Really? I'll bring them in tonight. How long did your have them out in the sun before they got killed? Since I've brought them out I've had my Sabal Maritima's and 1 Brahea sp. Super Silver germinate but that's it. But I don't want to run the risk of killing them (anything). Where do you recommend I put them so they get enough heat?

Also according to the zone map in the Palms won't grow here book, my zone is 5a. But when I went to a garden website a few days ago and typed in my zip code it had me at 6a. I go with the 5a, with "better safe than sorry" in mind.

Anyway, thanks for all the feedback.

Rhapidophyllum hystrix :)

Fr8t,how did your seeds do?did you ever plant you needles?

Most of the seeds that you mention require lots of heat to germinate .Are you getting much heat this time of year in zone 5-6. I t's not good for your soil temp to get hot then freeze. Too keep your baggies at a constant temp is ideal.

WOW!!! where did you get those big Needles? i have a needle palm but it is nowhere near that size. i am also a new gardener from zone 6-7, about your age, and i have been raising palms for about 2 years. If i could be nosey, where did you get them and were they expensive???

I got a large Needle Plam in 2007 from Mail Order Natives.

Jake

Here is a link that might be useful: Mail Order Natives

I got my large needle palms from them also. Their plants are premium quality. This one even produced 4 seeds right after I got it.

Good luck with all the seedlings fr8train. It is going to be neat to see how everything comes through the winter.

Fr8train: So how did your seeds do? Just wondering how many Waggies you got to sprout? If you have an extra one I would love to buy one from ya! Let me know.

Nova,I know someone who has Korean waggie seedlings $5 if your interested,I posted pics under the T. tesan thread I believe

Whats the difference between Korean waggie and just a regular waggie? nothing? Is it in name only?

How fast do waggies grow? I forgot. fast as Fortunei?

Id love to have 1 or 2. how do i get in touch?

You might need to ask Jeff that,he posted the Trachycarpus fortunei"tesan" thread,you can e-mail me jimpdelaney@yahoo.com I will give you his contact info-
I personally think they gow as fast as fortunei,one of mine that started with one leaf put out five last year along with my Princeps!go figure-

Hi Fr8train,

If you have any extra Trachycarpus Nainital that germinated for you, I'd love to buy one. Let me know!

Hello all,
I came across my own thread doing a google search for more Brahea sp super silver seeds :) I didn't know anyone had posted here since last summer.

Hello Jim,
So far this is a list of the palms I've had luck germinating:
Sabal urensana
Sabal minor Louisiana
Sabal rosei
Sabal maritima
Sabal X Texensis
Brahea armata
Brahea sp. Super Silver
Trachycarpus wagnerianus

So far I haven't thrown anything out, but what I think a big problem is: I didn't get very fresh seeds. Sabals seem to be immune to being stored for a long time, regardless of what type of sabal it is. I know for a fact that my Sabal X Texensis seeds were not fresh, yet nearly all of them germinated after a month. I'm having a lot of trouble getting Trachycarpus seeds to germinate. So far since June of last year I've only had a few waggie's come up (after nearly 5 months), but I'm not throwing anything out yet.
Some additional seeds I'm trying now are:
Butia purpurascens
Chamaerops humilis var. Vulcano
Guihaia argyrata (Trachycarpus sp silver dwarf)
Trachycarpus sp. Manipur
Trachycarpus princeps (true white form)
Trachycarpus princeps (cultivated)
Trachycarpus nanus
Trachycarpus oreophilus
Trithrinax Schisophylla (sp?)

topher,

You're right, and I brought everything inside since I made this thread at the beginning of last summer. I've started heating everything but the trachy's recently, but so far I'm only having luck with sabals. My guess is old seeds, I hope that's not the case with this new batch I have now.

palmetto-pal,

I got them at a Lowes in Virginia Beach last summer. You can get ones just as nice from a mail order natives on ebay for less than I paid and you won't have to drive anywhere :)

novaplantguy,

I have had 3 waggies sprout from ~20 seeds so far. As of right now they're only on their first leaves and are still very tiny. You should check out mb palms on ebay, he sells waggie seedlings at pretty reasonable prices. And as far as how fast waggies grow, my large one (large for a waggie anyway) has grown faster than any of my fortunei's. I just baught another one of similar size. I'll try to post a pic later.

Hello treeguy ny,
As of yet none of my nainital have germinated :(

And as for my big needles, we'll see. So far I've peeked under their coverings and they look ok, but come spring I'll ultimately know. We got down to -23F this year so I'm hoping for the best!

Here's a pic of my new waggie (that just came in) along with my old one..

I have found Princeps grows fast as well but they are slow out of the gate,how did you cover your needles? I am in the same boat,-16F here,I am going to uncover mine(needles) mid week as weather is breaking into more of a spring pattern with highs in the 50s and 60s forecast,my other needle is just how it was last fall(heated)my other 2 are under leaf piles and thats what I'm uncovering this week as long as there is no arctic air forecast in the 10 day forecast when I check Wednesday,I am looking forward to seeing how they did.

Nova,did you talk to Jeff about the Korean waggies?

Nice waggies,collector palms?

There are lots of good deals on e-bay right now on lots of trachys

Jim
I used big garbage cans (like for my butias except I didn't use insulation) and I wrapped them in christmas lights.
I got the waggies off ebay from a guy in California, I don't think he has an ebay store. He doesn't sell often, this auction with the waggie was the first on I've caught since last years purchase.

Here are some photo's of last year's musa progress, along with one of the needles in the ground..