The Palm Hunter Seeds

[PalmatierMeg]

My Georgia Silver seeds are germinating

[Bigfish]

5 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

My Georgia Silver seeds are germinating

 

7 hours ago, fr8train said:

My Nannorrhops ritchieana and GA silver have started sprouting 

How long did the GA Silver seeds take?  I hear they’re a little slow.

[Meangreen94z]

I have two coming up. It took them a couple months to germinate.

[PalmatierMeg]

7 hours ago, Bigfish said:

 

How long did the GA Silver seeds take?  I hear they’re a little slow.

Not sure when I received them but from the 1/13 date of this listing, I’d say ~2/1. I noticed the first germination circa mid-June. So, 5-6 months so not rockets but not slugs. I knew nothing will germinate until the heat is on, i.e., April here in SWFL.  I potted them then put them outdoors to wait for Nature to work its magic (they are SFL natives). 

[fr8train]

16 hours ago, Bigfish said:

 

How long did the GA Silver seeds take?  I hear they’re a little slow.

I think around 5 months 

[fr8train]

I'm really glad you managed to obtain all these seeds and list them for sale. So much of what you posted is exactly what I was looking for when I moved to Texas that I could no longer get due to Texas Cold Hardy palms closing, and RPS apparently losing interest selling to people in the US. 

I'm trying to prepare a "Palmageddon" proof garden that still has a lot of variety, rather than just the same 2 or 3 palms. 

[Bigfish]

3 hours ago, fr8train said:

I'm really glad you managed to obtain all these seeds and list them for sale. So much of what you posted is exactly what I was looking for when I moved to Texas that I could no longer get due to Texas Cold Hardy palms closing, and RPS apparently losing interest selling to people in the US. 

I'm trying to prepare a "Palmageddon" proof garden that still has a lot of variety, rather than just the same 2 or 3 palms. 

That’s cool, thanks for saying that!  I’m a big proponent of moving palms further north, or getting more people north of Florida interested in growing palms.  I lived in Tennessee for 37 years, so I was always trying to find out what I could grow after I became interested in palms.  So I have always wanted to find the most northern provenance of certain palm species, like Sabal minor ‘Cherokee’, Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Chambers County), and Serenoa repens ‘GA Silver’.  I didn’t discover them, but I have helped make seeds available.  Provenance matters, IMHO.  Some say it doesn’t with palms, but I don’t buy it for a minute.  Anyway, thanks again, and happy growing!

Don’t expect those to grow much at all, lol.  There’s a post here on PalmTalk somewhere (I can’t find it, maybe someone else can help??) that someone posted of a 11-12 year old Serenoa ‘GA Silver’ from the original RPS offering, and it was still strap-leaf.  They truly are somewhat of a mystery, and probably a genetic dwarf.  The landowner’s wife doesn’t like them though, so their days could be numbered.  Hopefully enough people will have some success growing them so they aren’t lost forever.

[nduba]

Bigfish no seeds listing from you anytime soon? Love yr variety 

[Bigfish]

1 hour ago, nduba said:

Bigfish no seeds listing from you anytime soon? Love yr variety 

I’ll have a few new things next week.

[fr8train]

On 8/6/2023 at 7:08 PM, Bigfish said:

I’ll have a few new things next week.

Any updates? 

[Bigfish]

5 hours ago, fr8train said:

Any updates? 

Yeah, sorry!  I just have other priorities at the moment, so the seeds are on the back burner.  I will *try* to get something up later today or tomorrow, but we have what appears to be a hurricane heading this way by Wednesday morning, so trying to get prepared for that.

[fr8train]

11 hours ago, Bigfish said:

Yeah, sorry!  I just have other priorities at the moment, so the seeds are on the back burner.  I will *try* to get something up later today or tomorrow, but we have what appears to be a hurricane heading this way by Wednesday morning, so trying to get prepared for that.

No worries. I've watched almost no news or TV over the last several weeks, so I had no idea there was a hurricane heading that way. Hope you stay safe. 

Edited August 28, 2023 by fr8train

[Bigfish]

I have a few new things and will have an updated price list soon.  
 

Anyone who ordered the Trachycarpus ukhrulensis seeds, can you please share your germination percentages here?  I’m trying to decide on whether or not to import more this fall if it’s available.

Frank

[Meangreen94z]

Unfortunately,  None of mine germinated. They are still in a bag.

[Neoasis]

Same here.  Mine are still in the baggie too.

[Bigfish]

Ok, that’s slightly discouraging, but I did talk with one friend who has germinated 14/25 to date.  He sent me a picture of 12 of them, and those are some Sabal causiarum on the right.  He said that he started them indoors in a baggie.  But another friend has only had 2 sprout so far, so I wanted to check around.  Thanks for the input.

[fr8train]

10 hours ago, Bigfish said:

Anyone who ordered the Trachycarpus ukhrulensis seeds, can you please share your germination percentages here?  I’m trying to decide on whether or not to import more this fall if it’s available.

So far one of mine has come up.

[Chester B]

I haven't germinated mine yet, as I have a big move coming.  @Jesse PNW has had success with his.

[Meangreen94z]

21 hours ago, Bigfish said:

Ok, that’s slightly discouraging, but I did talk with one friend who has germinated 14/25 to date.  He sent me a picture of 12 of them, and those are some Sabal causiarum on the right.  He said that he started them indoors in a baggie.  But another friend has only had 2 sprout so far, so I wanted to check around.  Thanks for the input.

Thank you for all the effort you put in to this.

[MobileBayGarden]

I haven’t had any luck yet. 

[BeyondTheGarden]

21 hours ago, Chester B said:

I haven't germinated mine yet, as I have a big move coming.  @Jesse PNW has had success with his.

I will get pictures and numbers when I get home, probably tomorrow.  I just threw them with some miracle gro potting soil into a plastic cup. It sat on a shelf in my kitchen, I don't remember how long germination took. Pretty quick, wasn't more than a few months. 

Trachycarpus are one of the most hit-or-miss seeds for me.  Seeds harvested the same day from the same flower stalk, put into several of the same containers and left in the same conditions- some containers will burst at the seams with brilliant green seedlings, while others may produce 4 or 5 seedlings. 

[Jeff zone 8 N.C.]

I do not think any of mine have come up unless I forgot.  If some did they are labeled but currently mixed in with over 200 other potted seedlings of various palms that I will sort later.  But I was not expecting them to come up in our spring and summer heat.  I assume they are like other Trachys  and like cooler temps to sprout.  In any case if you do get more I would probably order.  I have never expected a seller to back their seeds if they are acting honestly,  as no one can tell if seeds are good unless they do a sprout test before selling and that means that the rest of the seed batch, when sold, would be older and probably less viable.  And if they do a sprout test then the seeds should cost more as they are proven.  So as a buyer of seeds I assume most of the risk and would only consider it a bad deal if every ones seeds were bad.  That is not the case here.  And even if it was the case I took the risk.  So Bigfish you are doing a valuable service and getting some rare seeds out to collectors.  You will always get some bad seeds but you will get more good seeds I'm sure.  Please do not beat yourself up over this and keep offering seed.  Thank you for your efforts.

[BeyondTheGarden]

I hate this universe. 

This container is nothing but T ukhrulensis, 37 sprouts that I can count.  I just potted them up on Sunday morning. 

Sunday afternoon, my autistic son had an episode and I have been with him in the ER since.  Literally just walked in the door.  So these didn't get watered Sun, Mon, Tues. Soil was bone dry.  Only a small handful appear to still be alive.

The good news is, the seed batch is perfectly good. So I would say be patient. 

[Bigfish]

42 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

I hate this universe. 

This container is nothing but T ukhrulensis, 37 sprouts that I can count.  I just potted them up on Sunday morning. 

Sunday afternoon, my autistic son had an episode and I have been with him in the ER since.  Literally just walked in the door.  So these didn't get watered Sun, Mon, Tues. Soil was bone dry.  Only a small handful appear to still be alive.

The good news is, the seed batch is perfectly good. So I would say be patient. 

Oh man…sorry to hear that, but obviously family is priority #1 and palms are but a distraction for us.  I hope your son is better!  

 

15 hours ago, Jeff zone 8 N.C. said:

I do not think any of mine have come up unless I forgot.  If some did they are labeled but currently mixed in with over 200 other potted seedlings of various palms that I will sort later.  But I was not expecting them to come up in our spring and summer heat.  I assume they are like other Trachys  and like cooler temps to sprout.  In any case if you do get more I would probably order.  I have never expected a seller to back their seeds if they are acting honestly,  as no one can tell if seeds are good unless they do a sprout test before selling and that means that the rest of the seed batch, when sold, would be older and probably less viable.  And if they do a sprout test then the seeds should cost more as they are proven.  So as a buyer of seeds I assume most of the risk and would only consider it a bad deal if every ones seeds were bad.  That is not the case here.  And even if it was the case I took the risk.  So Bigfish you are doing a valuable service and getting some rare seeds out to collectors.  You will always get some bad seeds but you will get more good seeds I'm sure.  Please do not beat yourself up over this and keep offering seed.  Thank you for your efforts.

Thanks, Jeff.  I’m not going to beat myself up.  As long as I see some people having success with the seeds, I know that the problem isn’t the seeds.  Some are just a lot more finicky than others.  It’s not really an indictment of the grower either, if they aren’t having luck with a particular type of seed.  Some of the most experienced growers in the world have issues with some seeds.  That’s just the nature of starting plants/palms from seed.  

[teddytn]

On 6/20/2023 at 12:02 PM, Jesse PNW said:

Frank thank you, this is my 3rd or 4th time trying to get R hystrix to germinate.  And my first success. 

I’ve tried a few batches of needle palm seeds over the years and had one sprout. The latest attempt I put the community pot outside for the summer and it got raided by chipmunks…🤦🏼‍♂️🤬. Anyway did you keep covered and add bottom heat? Or 

[BeyondTheGarden]

@teddytn they were in sealed bags in straight peat moss if I recall.  Germ rate was low, but maybe they don't all pop at once.  I managed to also kill some of my R hystrix that had germinated but were still in the bag.  They got too much sunshine for those 3 hospital days and cooked to death.  Fortunately the seeds were split into a couple bags and the other bag was in shade.  

No bottom heat on these.  I was getting ready to move and I kind of just forgot about them. 

Edited September 9, 2023 by Jesse PNW

[Chester B]

A bit of advice with needle palm seeds, the shell is super thick. If you don’t have luck after a few months you need to crack or score the seeds heavily. What I have done is score with a handsaw and then take pliers and squeeze lightly and slowly add force until you hear the crack. Then put them in your baggie and you typically see germination quickly. That being said needle palms have very low germination rates in general. Think like 25%. 

[Bigfish]

16 hours ago, Chester B said:

A bit of advice with needle palm seeds, the shell is super thick. If you don’t have luck after a few months you need to crack or score the seeds heavily. What I have done is score with a handsaw and then take pliers and squeeze lightly and slowly add force until you hear the crack. Then put them in your baggie and you typically see germination quickly. That being said needle palms have very low germination rates in general. Think like 25%. 

@Jesse PNW 's seeds are completely removed from the shell.  I recommend a warm-stratification period (could be cold as well, but I don't think that's necessary) of about 2 months.  Yes, seeds can take up to a year or more to come up.  A few should pop within a couple of months, and I just recently had 5 more pop up from seeds I sowed in early April, so about 5 months on. 

[BeyondTheGarden]

Correct. I soaked them, squeezed and rolled them between my fingers to remove the shells. 

[fr8train]

On 9/3/2023 at 2:00 AM, fr8train said:

So far one of mine has come up.

I returned from a 3 week trip and 3 more have come up in one of my baggies. 

[Bigfish]

So I do have a few new things, but really not that much.  For the types of seeds that I sell, they are mostly fall harvested.  But there are exceptions.  Here's what I have new:

 

Acrocomia crispa - I have around 30 of these total.  I can do $18 for the whole lot, or $7/10

Roystonea borinquena - I have around 100 of these.  $18/100, $7/25

Butia odorata - $10/25, $20/100

                          I have two different lots of seeds.  One is from a sort of weeping form (pictures below), and one from a normal form with off-white fruits.  Both are the same price.

Caryota mitis - $12/25, $20/100

Chamaedorea tepejilote  $10/25, $18/100

Arenga pinnata  $15/25, $40/100   I only have about 125 of these, so $45 for all.

Syagrus comosa $9/10, $18/25.  80 total, $50 for all.

 

Musa nagensium (the real one) $10/25, $25/100.  This a a rare Musa (but not rare in habitat) that hasn't been in cultivation in the USA.  Plants and seeds sold as nagensium in the past were cheesmani.  The largest seeds of ANY Musa.  Tall, thin, dark pseduostems, waxy, lanceolate leaves with dark midrib.  Beautiful Musa.

Musa aurantiaca var. jengingensis (orange flower ornamental banana)  $10/25, $25/100   Another one that isn't seen much, if at all, outside of botanical gardens. A small plant.

Musa velutina  $8/25, $15/100.  These come from my plant, the parent mat of which grew over 10 feet tall.  Very fast and prolific bloomer.

 

That's it.  LOL.  Some stuff fell through.  I'm still waiting on a Corypha umbraculifera shipment from Australia to materialize.  The seeds are still ripening, so probably a few more months.  I will have a lot more stuff in the fall/winter.  I've been working on something else all summer, but not ready yet.  I need to be absolutely sure. 

 

For the rest of the stuff, let's have a big 50% off sale!  Everything below is 50% off from now until October 1. 

Arenga engleri  $10/25, $15/50, $20/100

Sabal maritima       $7/25, $11/50, $17/100

Livistona decora      $8/25, $12/50, $18/100

Sabal uresana (green form)  $9/25, $14/50, $20/100, $70/1,000

Sabal rosei  $8/25, $12/50, $18/100, $65/1,000

Sabal mauritiiformis  $8/25, $12/50, $18/100, $65/1,000

Trachycarpus fortunei ‘Tesan’ (open pollinated)  $13/25, $20/50, $32/100, $80/1,000

Rhapis excelsa  $8/25, $12/50, $18/100

Thrinax radiata  $7/25, $10/50, $14/100

Arenga microcarpa  $10/25, $14/50, $20/100

Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Alachua County, FL)  $7/10, $13/25, $20/50

Rhapidophyllum hystrix (cultivated) - same prices as above.

Zamia standleyi      $1.50/ea

Sabal miamiensis                         $10/50, $15/100, $55/1,000

Sabal palmetto 'Lisa'                   $14/50, $20/100, $70/1,000

Serenoa repens 'Cinerea'             $10/25, $16/50, $25/100  These are from some nice palms.  

Serenoa repens 'Georgia Silver'    $18/25, $30/50, $42/100  Check out my last post in the forum for pictures and the real story. 

Serenoa repens 'Weeping'            $9/25, $14/50, $22/100      I have a post about this form in the forum also.  Here

Chamaedorea seifrizii                   $6/50, $10/100

Copernicia alba                             $5/10, $9/25, $13/50, $20/100 

Musa velutina subsp. markkuana (actually now just Musa markkuana)     $7/10, $12/25, $18/50, $25/100 
 

Non-palm seeds

Quararibea funebris (Rosita de Cacao)     $2/ea, $15/10, $25/20

 

2021 seeds

Sabal 'DeFuniak Springs'            $8/50, $12/100, $35/1,000

Sabal palmetto 'Lisa'                  $10/50, $16/100, $50/1,000

 

As a reminder, I do ship internationally also.  It's very easy for me to obtain a phytosanitary certificate.  Just DM me if interested. 

Weeping Butia odorata

 

Butia odorata with whitish fruit.

 

Musa nagensium seedlings (proof that the seeds are good, haha!)

More Musa nagensium seedlings

Musa aurantiaca seedlings. 

[Bigfish]

I am out of the following:

Acrocomia crispa

Roystonea borinquena

Chamaedorea tepejilote

Arenga pinnata

Syagrus comosa

[Jblume]

PMed re standleyi seeds!

[Bigfish]

I am out of Zamia standleyi also.