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Sabal Palmetto Seeds

14 years ago

I just ordered 10 Sabal Palmetto seeds off ebay.What is the best way to grow them from seeds?I was looking the other day at home depot at those peat pellets,in a tray with tops.Will this work?Has anybody grown them from seeds?What system did you use?Should I wait till spring or will they germanate from indirect light now?Ive never tried to grow any kind of palm from seed.How long does it normally take for them to start growing?Can anybody help?

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Comments (8)

alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
14 years ago
I put mine in moist sand and store them in the bottom dwawer of the fridge until spring (a dip in some bleach water first won't hurt), I figure this simulates the natural conditions here on the gulf coast. I saved about 50 seeds this year but the last time I germinated them was about 5 years ago, the ones I germinated then are just now getting their full leaves. I use just ordinary potting soil and black nursery pots, don't worry about using that fast draining palm mix, Cabbage palms are not picky about moisture.

Once they get going make sure to move the pots often or set them up on some blocks or something, the roots will go through those drain holes and be in the ground in no time.
va_canuck
14 years ago
The pics aren't there anymore but I germinated a bunch last year.

See discussion

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/palms/msg0123390022303.html

THIS MORNING I swiped about 500 Sabal Palmetto seeds from some trees out in front of a Days Inn here in Chesapeake VA. There must have been 20,000 of them available.

It's been almost a year and they have been slow slow growers. They are now about 1 foot tall but are mostly just blades of grass in terms of their structure. I'm to understand that this 2nd summer coming up things should take off.
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Since you are in south FLA, I would just do it the good ole au natural way. Just collect as many as you can, and toss em all over the ground. Don't bury then or anything, do nothing to them, just toss em. I can tell you from first hand experience from my uncles place, and from reading multiple threads on different forums of people wanting to get RID of them, that when they seed, the seeds just sprout and root on thier own just fine, and rather prolifically. I remember my uncles sabals when I was a kid, he would have almost a carpet of baby sabals under the tree itself, and there would be seedlings scattered all over his and the neighbors lawns. Furthermore, the places that have mature, seed producing sabal minor up here where I live, they seed prolifically, and they germinate just fine just by falling to the ground on their own. There are a couple of places I know of in the DC area that have mature populations of Sabal Minor, and they are littered with seedlings growing up under neath of the parent palms. Since you are in an area that is favorable for the Sabal Palmetto, I would just gather as many as you can, toss em, and let nature do its thing.
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really? i woulda thought copernicia macroglossa to be slower than a palmetto, or maybe even some of the trithrinax species, acanthocoma, campestris, or schizophylla, Jubaeas are pretty slow, hmmmm, slowest of the slow...never wouldve figured a palmetto. andy my seed usually sprout within a few weeks, we sow 3 to a cell, takes about a year down here to fill out a gallon from a deep 38ct tray, a full 3 gallon for us here in deep South Tx takes 2 to 2 1/2 years. so while it may take a while, I wouldnt call a palmetto the slowest of the slow. time frame is still the same are you refering to dwarf palmetto or the regular florida sabal? still not the slowest of the slow. florida sabals take about 5 years from a well rooted gallon in the field to a 3 to 4 foot trunk 8 to 10 foot overall plant. dont be discouraged by the nay sayers, try them out, you'll be suprised!
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tropicpalms
14 years ago
so I have a quesion after a year of growing about how large are they 1 gal? does anyone have any pics? thanks...
alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
14 years ago
You could easily grow them in small quart size pots for the first year, then bump them up to one gallon the second year. My five year olds were growing in 3gal pots with no problem.
User
14 years ago
Just use a really well-draining soil. I don't tend to use the peat pots because they dry out so fast. Tend to use smallish plastic pots to germinate--large ones will stay too wet, too long. You will need a source of bottom heat--especially in January. Very warm soil temps will hasten germination. But no problems with full sun though even for seedlings. Good luck!
alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
14 years ago
This will give an idea of the growth rate...

I started this one from seeds I picked up from an airport parking lot in Feb '04 (germinated them that summer). As you can see it is just now getting it's droopy fronds. I finally planted this one at the edge of the woods a few months ago.
alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
14 years ago
I snapped off a huge seed stalk today from a nice inland tree that I know has seen 14F (maybe lower). If anyone wants any of these seeds you can have them, just send me an email. There must be nearly 500 seeds on this thing, many fell off in my trunk.

(My dog just had to be nosey)
alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
14 years ago
I wanted to make a correction here, the palm in the picture is from seed collected in the fall of '06, not Feb '04. So this palm is three years old, not six.

I knew I picked up the seeds from the airport parking lot, I just couldn't remember which trip it was. LOL

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