Germinating Areca seeds

[Eric Thompson]

I recently got around 100 Areca seeds from a plant in Niagara Falls. The majority of them still with the flesh on. I’ve tried using the baggie method with soil and perlite as well as paper towel with another group. It’s been 3 weeks and not seeing anything happening. I have now moved them into a done around 80 degrees. How long should I expect to see something happening. Thanks 

[PalmatierMeg]

When you say "Areca", do you mean Dypsis lutescens aka the Golden Cane Palm from Madagascar? Or do you mean a species of palm from the Areca genus native to south Asia? They are quite different palms. The first thing about germinating palm seeds is that the process usually takes time depending on species, freshness and other factors. Germination can take anywhere from a few weeks, months, to even years. Three weeks is hardly any time at all. Second, Dypsis and Areca seeds require heat to germinate well. 80F doesn't qualify as high heat. Winter room temps in northern houses are far too cold to germinate tropical palms. So, you may wait months for any sign of germination. Here in FL germination rates on seeds I pot up outdoors in winter will be nil until daytime temps reach high 80s to low 90s next Apr. You may want to consider soaking seeds in water for a few days, then removing as much fruit as possible. In some species of palms residual fruit can hinder germination. Also, all that fruit will be attacked by micro organisms that may also go on to attack the seeds themselves.

[Eric Thompson]

12 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

When you say "Areca", do you mean Dypsis lutescens aka the Golden Cane Palm from Madagascar? Or do you mean a species of palm from the Areca genus native to south Asia? They are quite different palms. The first thing about germinating palm seeds is that the process usually takes time depending on species, freshness and other factors. Germination can take anywhere from a few weeks, months, to even years. Three weeks is hardly any time at all. Second, Dypsis and Areca seeds require heat to germinate well. 80F doesn't qualify as high heat. Winter room temps in northern houses are far too cold to germinate tropical palms. So, you may wait months for any sign of germination. Here in FL germination rates on seeds I pot up outdoors in winter will be nil until daytime temps reach high 80s to low 90s next Apr. You may want to consider soaking seeds in water for a few days, then removing as much fruit as possible. In some species of palms residual fruit can hinder germination. Also, all that fruit will be attacked by micro organisms that may also go on to attack the seeds themselves.

I am referring to dypsis lutescens. The flesh was removed I was just pointing this out as an indication of viability. They were also soaked for about 48 hours. So are you suggesting if I up the heat in the domes I should see some speedier results. April here is in the 40-50s still lol

[PalmatierMeg]

Maybe. Good news is Dypsis lutescens are much more forgiving than Areca sp. How confident are you that your dome setup will maintain an even temp? If you are sure, consider raising temp to about 90F. But I've known people who have cooked their seeds to death when their setups overheated. You got a long winter ahead for seeds to germinate at their leisure - trying to force them may cause problems. When germinating palms, patience is a major virtue because the seeds are in charge. Trying to keep 100 seedlings alive in a cold, dark, dry house all winter won't be fun. Finally, I assume the seeds were fresh and ripe, i.e., yellow-orange, when you harvested them. Immature seeds never germinate.

[Eric Thompson]

6 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Maybe. Good news is Dypsis lutescens are much more forgiving than Areca sp. How confident are you that your dome setup will maintain an even temp? If you are sure, consider raising temp to about 90F. But I've known people who have cooked their seeds to death when their setups overheated. You got a long winter ahead for seeds to germinate at their leisure - trying to force them may cause problems. When germinating palms, patience is a major virtue because the seeds are in charge. Trying to keep 100 seedlings alive in a cold, dark, dry house all winter won't be fun. Finally, I assume the seeds were fresh and ripe, i.e., yellow-orange, when you harvested them. Immature seeds never germinate.

I have it on a thermostat that’s good to about 3 degrees +/- so shouldn’t turn into an easy bake oven. thanks for the info