A Yard In Fort Pierce

Eureka!! My Areca Palm Tree ( Dypsis lutescens ) is seeding and they are almost done. I have been waiting for this Palm Tree to seed for a long time now. The Areca Palm Tree is one of my favorite types of Palm Tree. I always smile when I hear someone call it the Eureka Palm Tree. It is a very common mispronunciation. The name is Areca Palm Tree ( Ah-reek-ah). I noticed that the seeds of my Areca Palm are almost gold in color. That means they are pretty much ready to be picked. I will wait a little bit longer before I pick them though. I usually like to wait until they fall on the ground themselves. If you would like to see my other Areca Palm Tree post then click here. For now here are some pictures of Areca Palm Tree seeds.

These are the gold ones that are almost ready to be picked.

These are some new seeds that will not be ready for a while.

These seeds are turning color and should be ready in no time.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Have a great day!

While on my last visit to Heathcote Botanical Gardens of Fort Pierce Florida I noticed a few Gru Gru Palm Tree ( Acrocomia aculeate ) or Macaw Palm Tree seeds on the ground. These Palm Tree seeds are very interesting. They have a shell like outer coating and then a fleshy layer just inside the shell and then what you would expect to be a seed buried in the middle. Surprisingly there are no thorns on the seeds like the rest of the tree. There is no part of the Gru Gru Palm Tree that does not have thorns covering it. Another name is the Monkey No Climb Tree.

I have cleaned my seeds and put them in the dirt. Here are some pictures of the trunk of a GruGru Palm Tree. And also pictures of the seeds. I placed the seeds next to a tennis ball for a size reference. If you would like to see more Gru Gru Palm Tree pictures then click here.

I sure wouldn't want to run into this Palm Tree while running through the woods.

Check back to watch this extremely dangerous Palm Tree grow.

I came home the other day to find that on my doorstep laid 7 fresh Foxtail Palm Tree Seeds. I had no idea where they came from so I called everybody. Nobody had any idea where they came from either. A couple of days go by and my father calls to ask if I had found the Foxtail Palm Tree seeds he left for me.

The one person I did not think of. That is always how it works isn't it!! I am very grateful for this as I am trying to test my different methods of germination. Can't have to many seeds for that!! Thanks dad!!! Here are some pictures for you so you can see what fresh Foxtail Palm Tree ( Wodyetia bifurcata ) seeds look like. Once you peel off the fruit and dry them out you can click here to see what they look like. The seeds in my last Foxtail Palm Seeds post look completely different.

Today I started germination on 22 Triangle Palm ( Dypsis decaryi ) seeds. I placed these seeds in a polystart solution 4 days ago and let them soak. I have done this to speed up the germination process. In the first picture you can see my tools. My incubators 12 and 13, polystart container with 22 Triangle Palm seeds and tweezers. I use tweezers because it is not a good idea to touch the seeds once you have started germination. I germinate my seeds in peat pellets which I purchase from my local garden center for really cheap!!

The second picture is a closer look at the seeds. You can also see the process of prepping the peat pellets. The ones on the left have just been placed in the warm water and the ones on the right have been in the warm water for about 5 mins.

In the 3rd picture you see my process unfold. I place the Triangle Palm seeds on the tops of the peat pellets so I can remember which ones have seeds. If I just start putting them down I forget where I started and try to put seeds in already occupied holes, waste of time. This way I know they all have seeds and if I don't see them they are already in.

In the forth picture you see all the Triangle Palm seeds are in!!

The final picture shows the incubators sealed, labeled, and ready to go!! The heat from the warm water is fogging up the incubators, this is good as heat and humidity are positive factors in germination.

Huge score today!!! I have been looking around for a Foxtail Palm ( Wodyetia bifurcata ) that was seeding for a long time. Nothing, the problem is the Foxtail Palm was only really introduced to my area about 10 - 15 years ago so there aren't many mature. That is all starting to change, finally!

Today I discovered a Foxtail with seeds on it!! I couldn't believe my eyes! The best part about it is that I had my camera with me today, that never happens. The first picture is of this beautiful Foxtail Palm.

I walked up under the Mature Foxtail and sure enough there were seeds on the ground!! I was absolutely shocked, I couldn't believe my eyes. I picked up 13 Foxtail Palm seeds and brought them right home. Foxtail Palm seeds have a long root system so I needed something rather deep to germinate my seeds in. I found an old styrofoam cooler that I was never going to use again and said that will do the trick. I poked 12 holes with a phillips head screwdriver in the bottom of the cooler for drainage.

My next step was to make a sandy mix for my Foxtail Palm seeds to germinate in. I just so happen to have a very sandy section in my yard so I filled a bucket up half way with the sand and half way with perlite. Then I mixed it all together and poured it into the cooler for my germination mix.

Next, I laid my Foxtail Palm seeds out on top of the germination mix. As I was doing this I noticed something that makes this score a SCORE!! One of the seeds has already sprouted!!! Wow, I can't believe it!! Today was a really good day!! That means that they all are probably ready and it will be no time now before sprouts! We'll see though, I have my fingers crossed. Just for reference, I placed the sprouted seed in the top right hand corner of the Foxtail germination box.

The second to last step is to cover the seeds with a quarter inch of more germination mix.

And for the final step, SOAK IT! For the initial wetting you want to soak the mix until water is coming out of the bottom. Foxtail Palm seeds are a bit bigger than most Palm seeds, and with this in mind you need to be sure and water evenly. If just one side of the seed gets moist then successful germination is at stake. After initial soaking I just need to make sure that they do not dry out between watering's. Wish me luck, and stay tuned!!

Today I started my Pandanas utilis ( Screw Pine ) germination project. As you already know from my earlier post "Screw Pine Seed And Sprout Score", I have a lot of Screw Pine seeds. If you haven't read this post "click here"I suggest you do as it has lots of information on the Pandanas utilis.

I placed 11 seeds in a polystart solution a few days ago. Today I decided to start germination of these seeds. What I have done here is taken the sandiest dirt I could find in my yard and filled the pot up about a quarter of the way. Then I placed my Pandanas utilis seeds on the top of the dirt. Once my seeds were all on the dirt I covered them with about 2-3 inches of mulch. That's it, that's all you have to do. I will water 1 time to soak the mulch and dirt and that's it. Do not water anymore, let the rain take care of it. I have done this with 11 polystarted seeds and 16 non polystarted seeds. Now I wait to see results, should take about a month or so.