Palm seeds need to be started fresh as viability decreases over time. The outer coating needs to be peeled as it has germination inhibitors in it. Most varieties will usually start in peat, although soil can be used. Depending on the variety, they can take 6 months to germinate. I usually donÂt scarify mine unless they have hard seed coats. They can be planted densely and transplanted when young, but as they age they do not like their roots being disturbed. Here is more info: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP238

As I understand it, professional orchid growers propogate orchids in sterile labs, and even then, it may not work, even if a particular plant is usually easy to propogate. Big plug for Meyers Conservatory, who's been among the best growers to deal with - for me, anyway. From his site: Meyers Conservatory's mission is to provide laboratory-grown orchid species at the lowest possible price in an effort to aid in orchid species conservation. Since we started in 1999, we've never operated as a for-profit business, instead charging just enough to cover the costs of the flasks we produce and to pay our employees. https://lab.troymeyers.com/flasking/donate-funds.php They accept donations. From the flasking page: We usually charge the same amount for each flask, regardless of its rarity. Rare orchids or particularly nice specimens usually command a higher price, but unless there are difficulties growing a species we don't charge more; we will charge more if propagation requires extra time or materials, but not just because it's desirable. By not charging a lot for something rare, we can rest easy knowing that we're not helping to perpetuate the high prices that make collection of wild endangered orchids profitable. __________ I check the site every couple of weeks. Troy doesn't have a large selection, but he's had orchids that I couldn't find anywhere else in the U.S. WC8 Here is a link that might be useful: Troy Meyers' flasking page

I can understand anybody's frustration with seed planting of tropicals as sometimes the instructions from the seed source seem the same for every package ... And maybe that's true ... basically the same thing applies to all of them, moist soil, 75 degrees or above, to about 85 degrees. But some of these seeds can be tricky as I have pointed out in my first response to this post. The nice thing about the seeds I show above is that I have about 12 Jacaranda seeds and so can experiment a bit, saving some seeds for when I feel comfortable that I have it tacked. The packet of Tabebuia seeds has 16. I can work with that. My first packet of Tabebuia Chrysostricha seeds was planted all at once and nothing ever germinated. Will I get something later? I don't know. But I got some more seeds to try again under more controlled and experimental ( indoor ) setups. Sometimes that is what you gotta do ... experiment. Look up on the web and find as much info as you can and then try to setup conditions to do the trick. If you had a saltwater aquarium, you'd worry about temperature, Ph and Salinity, Ammonia concentrations, etc. etc. Well, some people germinating seeds get down to doing similar monitoring and adjusting. I don't think we as dumb dodo gardeners need to get so specific, but you may have to try and try again with a different tack until you succeed. Try to think about how plants grow in their native habitat, starting under high canopies, shaded from the sun, perhaps drenched in water, sandy soils with lots of acids from decay products. Without sun they only get as tall as perhaps two to three feet, but if they are lucky and an old growth tree topples over and they aren't crushed, the sun will break through the canopy and away they go ... growing to fill the hole as new giant. So seedlings often need to be shaded at first and given sun after they reach a certain maturity. They don't print that stuff on seed packets. You have put yourself there in your imagination after reading up a bit on the plant. Then recreate the temporality of that situation so that the plant starts out shaded and then gets that lucky break when you physically move it and put it out in the sun. Is a Jacaranda a savanah type tree? No. Is it a dry climate tree? Perhaps. Dig into it. This is the fascinating part of growing tropicals. Don't let me spoil it for you by telling you the details. Discover them for yourself. Good Luck and use some imagination to help you achieve your goal.

I did a cross of Inniswood and Northern Exposure this summer, still waiting for the seed pod to turn yellow, I have grown inniswood seed in the past and liked alot of what i got, thought that i would try to cross it with another hosta that i like, supposedly they are both from the Elegans progeny line thing somewhere, we will see what happens, most green ones will be grown for a couple of years and then pitched( if they dont look like anything worthy) or given away. I only do one batch of seeds per year cause there just aint no room for all of them to grow!! as far as lights go, i use the cheapest shop lights that i can find, and suspend them from clothes line rope tide in slip knots so i can adjust the height. quite simple and cheap. all the growing is done on a short table that is 4' X 8' the size of a sheet of plywood, the lights are on for about or less than 14 hours per day. and they are only shop lights that cost about $12.00, and usually last about 3 years (some last for over 10 now!!). and that is what i use on my aquariums too!! so much cheaper than buying all those expensive and nice looking lights to hang over a tank of water that i will be the only one looking at!! (the aquariums are in the basement and you need a pass and special invitation (hopefully the watch cat wont bite you) signed by me to get down there!!) and you dont really need to invest in any special grow light bulbs, i use "cool white" bulbs. oh!! did i tell you? on another note!!,,,, talk about waste. I went to my local Taco Bell tonight, and bought 1 taco salad and 2 nachos bell grande (feeding 3 mouths on this episode!!) and they gave me 34 PACKS OF HOT SAUCE!! what am I going to do with 34 PACKS of hot sauce?? (yes i did count them!!) If i was buying hosta wholesale I could have got one hosta for the cost of what they just gave me!! The cheapest hosta that i bought for wholesale was paul's glory for $6.00 and my partner at the time went thru the roof!! (or i should say the high end hosta at the time, years ago, another story when i owned a backyard nursery) Uh.. there was a beer around here somewhere!! man uhhhhh... PHOEBE (the cat)!!! wheres my beer?? Darn, I left it on the kitchen counter and now it is probably warm!! Drat!! LOL Paul