Germinating Palm Tree Seeds?

[Marco_Bleeker]

rcj at nwsrs.nw.att.com (-R.C.Jender) wrote:

>	 While vacationing in Puerto Rico, I pick up a few of these
>        palm tree "seeds" (if you call them seeds).

  Hi Raymond,
  I once picked up a few seeds in Venice, thinking they were the pits
of dades who someone had thrown away after eating the flesh. At home
in Amsterdam, I just put them in a pot (each seed an individual small
pot), and left them at room temperature. After a few months nothing
happening I moved the pots to an out of the way room, and eventually I
forgot about them. After more than half a year I stumbled over them
again, and decided to throw them out. However, I was a bit curious and
turned them over to look at the seeds. And bingo! One of them (I think
I had 10 or so) had started to germinate. It took several years before
this had mature leaves, and I could see that it was not a Dade palm -
it was a, sorry the, wild species of the Mediterranean (Chamaerops
humilis). Now after perhaps 10 years it is a beautiful little shrub,
still in a large pot. I just moved it up to the attic, because of the
first night frosts. But May to October it's outside on a south
balcony. 

  So the moral: be patient !  The species I have is adapted to very
arid soil, that is, it wants to make roots that go straight down to
drill for water. So it needs a pot that is quite high. I think this
goes for most palms from desert-like climates. In the better flower
shops you can buy special soil for palms, that has some clay in it.

  Success, bye, Marco

-- 
<mbleeker at euronet.nl>------------------<Marco Bleeker, Amsterdam, NL>
<CHEZ MARCO'S BOTANY PAGES>---<http://www.euronet.nl/users/mbleeker/>
<Plants Programs Pictures>------------------------------<nl-en-de-fr>