[ Hardy Palms In Temperate Zones Board ]

24 Years . . . . . . Join the discussions, no logins or passwords needed, ever.

Needle palm seed viability question Posted by Mark z7 Sharptown, MD on January 18, 2021, 3:06 pm I was out today and noticed that there were quite a few seeds on my needle palms. I collected most of them. I did the float test and about 60% did not float. I ended up with about 35 seeds. My question is are the truly viable? I am unaware of a male needle being here or is one needed? I am going to wait to try to germinate to see what y'all have to say. Thanks in advance for your replies.

Re: Needle palm seed viability question Posted by Fred SC on January 18, 2021, 6:27 pm, in reply to "Needle palm seed viability question" Most likely not, Mark as Needle palms are unisexual and need a male snd female like holly trees to produce seed.

Re: Needle palm seed viability question Posted by Kevin seTN on January 18, 2021, 10:35 pm, in reply to "Needle palm seed viability question" I got seed from Rob on here a few years back. Although I can't answer your question i will tell you this. It took a few summers for the seeds to germinate. Best of luck with them. Kevin seTN

Re: Needle palm seed viability question Posted by Mark z7 Sharptown, MD on January 19, 2021, 7:21 am, in reply to "Re: Needle palm seed viability question" Thanks Fred, there are 4 plants near each other but I can not tell if one of them is a male. I was hoping that since the seeds didn't float they were viable.

Re: Needle palm seed viability question Posted by Mark z7 Sharptown, MD on January 19, 2021, 7:23 am, in reply to "Re: Needle palm seed viability question" Thanks Kevin, with all these seeds I was hoping to get more going. I like the look of the needle palm. It just looks delicate and tropical, to me.

Re: Needle palm seed viability question Posted by Fred SC on January 19, 2021, 7:32 am, in reply to "Re: Needle palm seed viability question" Ok I would hope one was a msle and one female out of the bunch. Good luck, sI wish you great needle germination.

Needle palm seed viability and the floating coconut - photos Posted by Rob North Tennessee on January 19, 2021, 2:29 pm, in reply to "Needle palm seed viability question" Mark the old float or sink is a great indicator that many use. Their is one exception, the coconut seed. It can float for months as evident of them popping up on deserted islands My experience in how germination happens is that my Big Mama fertilizers herself. No, she is not hermaphrodite but with over 20 pups under her skirt, some of them bloom and fertilizer her blooms (several of the pups have 3' trunks. I know for a fact they can get fertilized from their pups but hermaphroditic individuals do exist. So she is an all in one production center. Check to see if you have pups growing around your mama needle.They can be hermaphroditic but its not real common. I have had big bull needles near her in her first 10 years and they bloomed and that might have got her seeding before her pups began. The bulls have been gone since the vortex in 2014 and 2015. Here is old mama, around 47 feet in circumference and around 8' tall as of this morning but don't think she will grow anymore. We had flurries overnight as we sometimes do in winter but its 50* or warmer now. Mark here are some old seed patches below some female blooms. They have dried out and not identifiable. Here are some old male flowers but they to have fried up and its hard to identify their look The Needle Palm has long been known to be scarce and endangered (I think it is in some north Florida counties) and the reason for this is poor seed distribution among and plant poachers but below is a photo of their known trait showing how the needles all over the trunk sometimes keep seed from falling off the palm so the seeds are stopped from germinating. IF you look closely you can seed seedlings that germinated and are trying to survive among the needles all over the trunk. This is the demise of the needle palm and they should be cleared of old blooms and seed yearly I like that photo showing the seedlings and I will harvest them today or tomorrow. I've yet to clear out any 2019-20 seeds yet but like Kevin stated, it takes a long time for germination and even longer for growth. That's why its always good for people in temperate zones to get the biggest specimen you can find for slow growing palms. Thanks Mark

Oye Fred Posted by Rob North Tennessee on January 19, 2021, 3:59 pm, in reply to "Re: Needle palm seed viability question" Agradezco sus oraciones y mensajes que envía y significó mucho para mí y sé que DIOS está conmigo. Espero que usted y la Ms Dorothea estén bien. Gracias mi amigo.

Re: Oye Rob Posted by Fred SC on January 19, 2021, 5:18 pm, in reply to "Oye Fred" De nada ,Rob. Nosotros deseamos lo mejor para ti, Amigo. Siempre oraciones para ti.

Re: Needle palm seed viability and the floating coconut - photos Posted by Mark z7 Sharptown, MD on January 20, 2021, 9:05 am, in reply to " Needle palm seed viability and the floating coconut - photos" Cool explanation Rob, thanks! I do believe one of the flower remains resembled the male you showed here. My bull needle also got wiped out back then. I had it for seven years. There is one new plant coming up. I will set up a couple of communal pots and see what happens. Some will have seeds that I will file through the shell trying not to damage the embryo while the other will have the untouched seeds.

Re: Needle palm seed viability and the floating coconut - photos Posted by Rob North Tennessee on January 24, 2021, 3:49 pm, in reply to "Re: Needle palm seed viability and the floating coconut - photos" That sounds like an awesome germination technique to try. I never thought to try that. Thanks for sharing Mark.

« Back to index

Welcome to the forum. Visitors are urged to post any information pertinent to plants, weather, or topics related to either. Off-topic posts, Spam posting, "inflammatory posts" and advertisements are subject to removal at the discretion of the moderators. NEW FEATURE FOR LOADING PHOTOS IN YOUR MESSAGES: The HARDY PALMS IN TEMPERANT ZONES has a great new feature when adding photos into your message body. As of May 2010 , You can now add photos in your message body straight from your computer files and we recommend Imgbb found in the message body form. * Your certainly welcome to transfer photos from your Photo Albums located in on-line Photo Albums like Imgur, Photobucket or others. LIFE IS A JOURNEY , TRAVEL LIGHT You are welcome to contact the forum at: HardyPalmsTemperateZones@gmail.com . . .