Caryota Mitis Fishtail Palm seeds

Tonight I planted 40 Caryota mitis of Fishtail Palm seeds that I collected the other day. They have gone through a 3 day hot soak and cleaning. These were collected off the ground so I am not sure how fresh they are but they all sank so hopefully I will have a good germination rate. I will keep you up to date on any new sprouts from these guys. This is a shot from the mom.

Floating Bismarckia seeds

The absolute worst thing I could have wanted to see. I will start with how I always am looking for palm seeds. Bismarckia and Foxtails are tough to find in my area because they have not been here for that long, but I thought I had scored. A big mature female with a male not as old a few houses away had been fruiting. I talked to the man who lived at the house and asked him if I could collect some seeds. Of course the man said. So I filled my pockets with seeds off of the ground. I got home started to clean and soak them. This is what happened. Every single last 1 of them floated not 1 sinker. So once again I am looking for that 1 Bismarckia fruiting with viable seeds.

Cold Night in Paradise

It's 48 degrees right now and dropping to 39degrees overnight. Dang thats cold. It rarely gets this cold here. I brought all the plants in for tonight and they say its gonna be that cold tomorrow also. So here is the collection in just a few shots. The Frangi is just starting to grow, the desert rose is starting to branch and here is a sneak peak at the seedling stand that is now about half filled. I have 46 tubes filled with sprouts. The last shot is the travelers sprouts. You can see the progression between them spike, just popping out of spike, and first leave coming out. These are going in some 1gallons tomorrow.

Large Pandanus utilis Screw Pine

I was out driving today and passed a large 3 banger Pandanus utilis , or Screw Pine. This 1 is a very nice mature specimen that was full of seed cones. If you click on the picture you can see the cones scattered all over the tree. The second shot is the roots that grow down from the tree. The last shot is a single screw pine in a yard next to the beach.

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Random Phoenix Palm Pictures

Here are a few different nicer phoenix palms. Some are Phoenix canariensis , reclinata, dactylifera, among others.

Veitchia merrillii , Christmas Palm Sprouts

Today in a tray that I had dropped 50 Veitchia merrillii , Christmas Palm seeds in back in the middle of Dec. 07 I found 49 sprouted and broke the suface of the dirt. I spent about an hour trying to replant these in new pots. 25 made it into the seedling stand, and the other 24 were split up in between some 1 gallons an I planted some 3 and 4 bangers. Some how a Canary Island Date Palm seed made it in the tray, it also sprouted and actually had its 1st strap leaf on its way. Just a little added bonus.

Tillandsia fasciculata , Tillandsia utriculata Air Plants

I have some of these Tillandsia fasciculata , or Quill-Leaf , Cardinal Air Plant , Wild Pineapple are some of the names I have heard these plants called growing on my property. The first shot has it in bloom with a bright red flower, the second shows 1 with pups attached to it. The third shot has a variety of air plants in bloom growing on an old live oak. How many blooms can you see. The last is a different air plant. This 1 is called Tillandsia utriculata , Giant Air Plant or Giant Wild Pine. It is one of the largest species of bromeliads in Florida. This plant grows a huge stalk out of the middle and as the bloom begins, the plant starts to die. Sadly, these plants are declining due to the Mexican Bromeliad Weevil attack, as well as habitat destruction and some collecting, and are now listed as endangered species by the state of Florida.

Musa acuminata , Ice Cream Banana Update

Since I have a new update on the Musa acuminata , Ice Cream Banana. I have decided to do progression shots from the time I started taking photos . The first set is from 12/18/07, the second set is from 1/16/08, the third set is from 2/11/08 when the lawnman hacked the baby w/ the weedwacker, and the last set is from 2/20/08 with the update of my new leaf coming from the trunk that was cut. Maybe this will comeback stronger than before. Also the hacked baby still has not died. It is still 1/4 attached maybe I'll get 2.

Palm Seeds , Palm Sprout Update

Here is an update on some palm seeds that I started this past week. On 2/17/08 I soaked these seeds for 5 days in warm water rinsing and changing the water daily. Then the seeds were placed in a 50/50 mix of peat moss and perlite, and placed in a 1 gallon ziplock bags. 8 Phoenix dactylifera , or Date Palm seeds , 12 Caryota urens , Fishtail Palm seeds , and 4 Iriartea gigantea, or Stilt Palm seeds. Then tonight 2/21/08 I started the seeds that were collected on the post from 2/12/08. 30 Livenstona chinensis , or Chinese Fan Palm after a 6 day warm soak 10 of these seeds have begun to germinate just soaking in the water some of these are in the shot on the notebook. Then 18 Phoenix roebelenii , Pygmy Date Palm, some of these were pretty tiny but they sank and when i squeezed them they felt hard so I'll give them a shot.
madagascariensis And the last 31 of the still unknown Thatch Palm. I named it in the other post but I am now doubting the original guess. All of these seeds were placed in snap-tite containers. Now sprouts...I Love Sprouts.....From a little seed in my hand to a growing palm tree.............All of the sprouts today were planted on the blog so you can follow their development as well. First from the Seed Score blog on 1/22/08 and the planting on 1/23/08 I have 3 Ravenala madagascariensis or Travelers Palm sprouts starting to spike, and 1 more of the Washingtonia filifera or California Fan Palm that was planted on the 1/16/08 post has started to spike, so that a total of 2 from that planting.

Chinese Fan Palms , Livinstona chinensis

The 3 gallon pot of Livistona chinensis, Chinese Fan Palms that I purchased this weekend for $15.00 finally got separated. This was a project trying to separate the root ball without damaging any of the roots. I think I did a pretty good job not breaking any of the big healthy roots. When I pulled these out it seemed to be a total root ball with barely any dirt in the pot. I could not image planting this many of these palms in a small clump like they were in that pot. When it was all said and done my $15.00 bought me 13 of these palms. I planted 5 in the yard. And then repotted the rest. 2, 3-gallon - 2 bangers, 3, 3-gallon singles, and 1 baby 1-gallon.

Lemon Trees

Progression shots of the Ponderosa Lemon Tree. Pic1 is from mid Dec, Pic 2 is from Jan 15, and the next 2 are the size of the fruits today Feb. 20. Then is a shot of 5 cups w/ ponderosa lemon sprouts 1 cup has its 3rd sprout coming up. Then the last 2 shots are of the new variegated pink lemon tree. I just had time to get it in the ground today.