New Sprout Update

The first update is on the Ponderosa Lemon Tree seeds that were planted 0n 12/16/07. The single image is from and older post on 1/20/08. It has 2 nice leaves on it now. The multi shot is of 4 other sprouts, 1 of them has been trying to shed the outer shell for a couple days now. Next is a shot of the seeds. The same as the sprouts. The first of these is a Jacaranda acutifolia, Blue Jacaranda Tree planted on 1/1/08, this is also from an older post on 1/17/08. Then we have the first shot of a Pachypodium lamerii, or Madagascar Palm. And also my first shot of this Himalayacalamus falconeri, or Candy Cane Bamboo that was planted on 1/6/08. This is planted in kitty litter that is placed in a ziplock bag with a mixture of 10-10-10 and water. I never had heard of this before but, that is what the man said to do that gave me the seeds and 3 of 6 have sprouted so far. Not bad for a couple weeks. here is a link to a picture of a more mature speciman of the candy cane bamboo.

A few Palm Tree shots with their babies

One of my favorite things about where I live, besides the Indian River Lagoon, the ocean, and my buddies who have boats is the fact we have different palm species everywhere. There really is never a need to buy a palm tree here. well except for those rare 1's. I will show you my collection someday. But were taking it 1 day at a time here. Everyday I go to work I seem to find another nice tree or collection of trees in in a parking lot, on the side of the road, in an empty lot, or yes even in somebodies yard. But I always talk to the person first before going in their yard. There are seeds and seedlings just about every place you look. I never really carried a camera with me but now I seem to have it every place i go. I had to work late again today and only have a couple shots from around town today. 2 are of Washingtonia robusta, Mexican Fan Palms mamas and there baby palms in an island in a local parking lot. Then 2 are from a local gas station and i believe it is a Livistona chinensis, a Chinese Fan or Fountain Palm and its blue-green fruit still on it. And the last 2 are next to work they are Rhapis excelsa, the Lady Palm and some seedlings all around. Please note that I am not a palm expert by any means I try to id the palms by pictures from the internet so if i am ever wrong please post a comment and correct me. It sucks I have so many seeds I need to clean and plant. Just never enough time in the day. Also a new a technique to try out for seed germination that someone posted on a forum for me from northern Greece. Thanks AMOTO. I have been getting new friends from all over the world. i have had visitors from 64 different countries reading this little blog i only started 15 days ago. In plant life that is probable less that a minute. My plants just can not grow fastest enough. sigh ....But I know you can't rush perfection. Man I am having so much fun. I hope you all are also enjoying this. It sucks that stupid work thing keeps holding me back.

Red Seeds and Possible Seedling Collected

Well from the information i have found out so for. They still call it a Canary Date Palm, but this red 1 is a hybrid. So i have gone back and collected some seeds. I also found 1 little seedling sitting under this beauty so of course here is that picture also. And central_cali369 sent me a sweet thread to palmtalk.org that talks about this red hybrid. Again thanks to everyone who posted info on this topic for me. I feel I am very well informed now.here is a link to the thread if anyone wants to read about these hybrid canary date palms. Link to thread.

Why Red Fruit

After seeing lots of these canary date palms with yellow or gold fruit. This beauty has always stood out. It seems to be the only 1 around town that I have noticed with red fruit. Is this still a canary date palm or is it another species? Or is it normal and i am just crazy? This is what I would like answered if anybody knows. The bottom picture is another tree next to the red 1.

A few more CIDP Pictures!

This is the row of trees the red 1 is located in. Here is a shot of the normal yellow/gold and a close up of the red fruit or seeds.

Tree Fight******** Sabal Palms Vs. Strangler Figs

TREE FIGHT----
Well at least this is what my friend Aaron has dubbed it as. Again being totally oblivious to my surroundings this is another one of those things that I had never really notice before. I must say that half of the trees I always thought were really nice banyan trees have turned out to be this incredible phenomenon. If you look in the middle of most of these monsters there seems to be this poor palm tree sitting there supporting these trees. The lower 2 pics show a palm that has managed to slightly escape from this fig tree.

Shots of Tree Pot Boxes

Here are the pics of the boxes I built to hold the 4"X14" and 4"X30" nursery tree pots. The 2 smaller ones hold 25 pots a piece. I can not wait for some seeds to germinate so I can put these things to use.

Starting Another Batch of Seeds

I saw someone post that they started bismarkia's seeds in 5 days with this method. So I giving this method a shot. I am starting 3 Canary Island Date Palms-Phoenix canariensis, 3 Redneck Palms-Dypis lastelliana, 5 Mexican Blue Palms-Brahea Armata, 10 Ruffled Potato Chip Palm-Licuala grandis. I have given the seeds a 24 hour hot soak on the mug warmer. Then I soaked the perlite for 24 hours also to clean any fertilizers that may have been on it. I placed the perlite in to go containers, that I scored from a friend at a pizza shop, and placed the seeds in the perlite. Then I closed the containers and placed them in the new seed box. I will post updates as soon as they start their germination.

New Seed Box

Today I made a new seed germinating box. I have been on a lot of different forums lately, and have seen some pretty good ideas. So here is mine. It was made with stuff that i had laying around the house. I took a Rubbermaid storage cabinet and hung it on the wall in an efficiency that's attached to my house. The efficiency is not in use right now, only for storage so i am taking advantage of the little kitchen area. I put an old direct TV box inside of the cabinet plugged it in, and turned it on. Then put a thermometer on the door to monitor the temperature inside. I am also using candle warmers and placing cups on them filled with water to soak all of my seeds prior to germinating. This also helps keep a nice warm temp. inside the box. As of right now its about 85 degrees inside.

PalmTree Shots

Today i have a few different pictures. I first shots are of some palms that are on a piece of property that i own, and will 1 day have a really nice house on it. I stress 1 day. No time soon. A lot of the palms have different climbing vines on them. Also there are a few palms growing almost laying down thanks to the hurricanes we tend to experience here in S. FL. Then we have some shots of tonight. My woodworking buddy J-Lead-Lo and I banged out a plant stand for the porch and got all the wood cut for the tree pot boxes. I came home and could not wait. I had to assemble 1 of the boxes to see how it was going to work. The first 1 is done minus the handles and measures 23"X21.5"X12" and it holds 25 of the 4"X14" pots. I will hopefully have the others done Sat.

New Tree Pots Arrived

What another tough day at work. I got home really late with no new plant updates for you, but there was a big box at the door step. Inside were my new tree pots. I ordered these last week and have really been anticipating their arrival. The sizes are 4" X30" wow these things are huge. Next is the 4" X 14" they are a real nice size and I think they will be perfect for Bismarkia's . Finally we have the 2.5" X 10" tubes with a collar that holds 20 of them together. Tomorrow I am meeting up with a woodworking buddy and we are going to hopefully build some holders for these pots. I will update with pics when we are finished tomorrow night.

Started Traveler Seeds tonight

What a day at work today, overtime kicked my butt so I didn't get a chance to do to much with my plants. But I did sit here tonight and clean about 100 of the traveler seeds and still have another 500 or so to go. What a blue mess, my fingers are stained blue. Oh well. I started 18 seeds though. Here are the pics. Also in the picture is the bin of cleaned seeds.

Travelers Palm Seed Score

Today I went and visited my brother at the family ranch and saw some amazing Travelers Palms or Ravenala madagascariensis. So of course I had to ask for some seeds from these beauty's. I have posted pics of the moms, the pods on the trees, the pile of stalks that i cleaned, and the container full of seeds that i got from cleaning the stalks . Also if anybody can i.d. that green curly cue thing in the pic I have no idea what it is, but it is hard. Hope you enjoy the pictures.