I do think collecting palms is an incurable disease, I have had it now for almost 40 years , it began 11 years after I developed terminal orchid syndrome ,
I have been fortunate that my wife is a horticulturist like me . so we can share our love of plants .As we have travelled the world we have collected seeds and plants and started our garden In Panama. How you start your palm journey is find the seeds, plant the seeds and start planting them when they get big. we have planted over 5000 palms , some have done well others died , Its experimental , just like life, Here is my my prop area , Its a tempary one while I construct a new bamboo structure, We collect the seeds , clean them , some we soak and put in plastic bags and hang them up to germinate them .others we plant in shallow trays , it depends on size.The last photographs are of me finding a young Desmoncus orthacanthos its a native climbing palm , very similar to Calamus .The palm grows up through the canopy , covers the canopy..