Macrozamia Macdonnellii seed germination, capping?

[Cycadsavy]

Hello Palmtalk team,

I’ve got two macrozamia macdonnellii seeds that have been cooking for about eight months now.  They’re on a bed of vermiculite, at a temp of approximately 83 degrees.  Once a month, I’ll soak them overnight.  Do y’all recommend capping seeds to start sprouting?  Any insights welcome.

Thank you,

[Shiveringtropicals]

I don't have experience with Macrozamia macdonnellii but i have germinated, Macrozamia moorei, communis , elegans , diplomera and more and i always leave the seed like it is.

I know it can take a long time but as long as the seeds don't have mold on them they should still be capable of germination.

They could also be bad seeds, no way to tell on the outside.

[amh]

Did you give them a float test? Are there any protrusions at the ends?

 

[Cycadsavy]

17 minutes ago, amh said:

Did you give them a float test? Are there any protrusions at the ends?

 

They don’t float.  They readily sink when placed in water.  Also, no protrusions...

[amh]

39 minutes ago, Cycadsavy said:

They don’t float.  They readily sink when placed in water.  Also, no protrusions...

I guess just give them time. You may try raising the temperature to between 85 and 90, but you may want to wait for someone with more experience to respond.

I've only germinated Macrozamia communis.

[amh]

Any updates?

[Cycadsavy]

4 hours ago, amh said:

Any updates?

No, unfortunately not.  They’re just sitting, nestled in moist vermiculite.....  Wish I could report more.

[Cycadsavy]

Update, personally I wouldn’t recommend capping or scarification.  I read that it increases the chances of rot or contaminants getting inside the seed and killing the embryo.  One down, keeping fingers crossed for the other.  Please see below....

[amh]

A real shame, I had a bad year for Cycas seeds.

[Meangreen94z]

I had quite a few show up bad or go bad, but had some decent success. Rare seed like Cycas Desolata and Cycas Basaltica became available, but it seems the market availablility overall has dried up. I’m guess not as many people were out and about hunting seed, or maybe figured it wouldn’t be a lucrative year to do it.

[amh]

16 hours ago, Meangreen94z said:

I had quite a few show up bad or go bad, but had some decent success. Rare seed like Cycas Desolata and Cycas Basaltica became available, but it seems the market availablility overall has dried up. I’m guess not as many people were out and about hunting seed, or maybe figured it wouldn’t be a lucrative year to do it.

I had good seed this year, but I had to learn the hard way that cycas seeds do not like temperatures above 100F.

The zamia and dioon seed were unfazed.

[Cycadsavy]

Update, one visibly rotted out a couple months ago.  The other looked good, but got tired and decided to cap today.  I’m glad I did because even though the exterior looked healthy, the embryo had rotted out in the second as well.  

Now, I wish I had capped sooner rather than staring at these seeds for months...