Copernicia Alba. How to tell if seeds are viable (pics incl)

[PalmGuyPSL]

I have a 10ft Copernicia Alba in the front of my house and this was the first year it flowered and now there are tons of seeds.  How do you know if the seeds are viable and do you have to wait a certain amount of time before you cut them down.  Tree had a rough ride in hurricane Ian’s few weeks ago, have to trim a bunch of fronds off the bottom.

 

[aztropic]

Seeds should start turning black when they are ripe. Peel the fruit off several seeds and try to sprout with the baggie method at 90F or even in a warm glass of water,kept warm. You should see some sprouts in a few days to less than 2 weeks. Most Copernicia species sprout very quickly. Just by your picture,those seeds look like they are good,but the above test will prove it. I recently sprouted some Copernicia berteroana from my own tree and had first sprouts in 3 days. Fresh seed makes a huge difference. 

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[PalmGuyPSL]

@aztropicthey have been on the tree a while and none look brown. How long does that take for them to turn that color?

[aztropic]

After growing to full size seeds,I think mine looked shiny green just like yours for about 3 months before they started changing color.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[D Palm]

Usually when they drop. Peel off any fruit, squeeze. If they collapse, no embryo, discard. Place in water, wait 20 minutes and discard if float.  If they pass these test, probably viable.

[PalmGuyPSL]

@D Palmi hope some start dropping there are hundreds of them. Multiple stalls filled with seeds. I hope I do get some viable ones, time will tell. I would assume by fruit you mean the outer shell and the seed would be inside?

[D Palm]

That palm seed I either see green on the tree or no where to be found. I just don’t come across them often. Wasn’t sure if they have a fleshy fruit coating like Pindos. Queen seeds have a oily coat that prolongs germination and I use H202 to help strip that to speed things up. Royal seeds and sabal I just throw in a community pot and wait. 
 

If sabal seeds are on the side walk I gently step on them to see if they crush, if not…into the pocket they go!

Good luck!

[GoatLockerGuns]

I picked some Copernicia baileyana seeds off a tree at the Naples Botanical Garden last Christmas.  They were black hanging off the drupe.  I had really good germination rates on those.  I would wait until they turn a darker color like @aztropic said.  Sometimes you can have viable seed when the fruit is still green (I have seen this with Sabal mexicana); however, that is toward the end of the seeds' development, and the seed inside the fruit needs to be at least brown in color.

[PalmGuyPSL]

@GoatLockerGunsi will definitely wait, there are plenty of seeds.  Thanks for the input.  I have to get to some botanical gardens and try and collect some seeds.