La Palmeraie gb » Sowing

Grow you own Avocado

lapalmeraie — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 08:29:09 +0000

Sequoia sowing instructions

lapalmeraie — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 07:56:22 +0000

The Sequoia, or redwood, appeals to the imagination of many.

We all know it from the pictures of that gigantic tree where cars can drive through. These giants with their typical red bark undoubtedly deserve their common name. The giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) is the largest tree in volume. The largest living specimen, the “General Sherman”, has a girth of no less than 24 metres (78 ft 8 in)!

The coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is the tallest tree species. With its 115 metres (377 ft 4 in) high, the “Hyperion” is the tallest tree in the world!

The natural habitat of the Sequoia is the narrow, humid coastal strip that runs from the mountainous area of California to Oregon. The Sequoiadendron lives at altitudes between 900 and 2440 meters (2953-8005 ft) in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Hence its hardiness down to -15°C (5°F). These trees reach their considerable size not only due to their rapid growth of about 1 meter per year, but also thanks to their soft fibrous bark, which makes them insensitive to forest fires. Moreover, they rarely blow over. Because of their size, they are more sensitive to lightning strikes. The redwood was very popular for timber production. Not only are the trunks nice straight and of good quality, the tree also shoots back after felling. These trees are now protected in the National Parks of the region.

Cultivation

The travelers among us may have been lucky enough to see the Sequoia in its own habitat. Many take some seeds with them as souvenirs, but the result is often disappointing. Because cultivation is of course possible, this article discusses three different methods with which we achieved good results ourselves.

Seed

As always, the result depends directly on the quality of the seed. You can choose to pick your own cones if there is a Sequoia nearby. But these trees are usually too young to produce good seeds. A cone takes up to two years to ripen and can hang on the tree for decades! Of course you can also order seed from the well-known seed suppliers on the internet. These seeds do originate from older cones, so the result will be more favorable. The Sequoia sempervirens usually germinates slightly better than the Sequoiadendron giganteum, which only achieves a germination rate of 15%.

Sowing

In all cases, it is important that the seeds first withstand a cold period (stratification). After this artificial winter phase the seeds will germinate better. To do this, place the seeds in the refrigerator for at least four weeks before sowing.

Method 1:

With this method, which is the most familiar, the seeds are placed on the sowing ground. The seeds should not be covered with earth. The soil must be kept moist, but certainly not too wet. To prevent the soil from drying out, you can cover the pot with cling film. Place the pot in a light and warm place. On a radiator or window sill in the spring is fine. The first seeds can germinate after a few weeks already, but the result can also take longer. Patience is therefore certainly required. When the seedlings are large enough to handle, you can transplant them to their own pot.

Method 2:

With this relatively unknown method, it is important that you work as sterile as possible to prevent the formation of mold. Take an unbleached coffee filter, fold and moisten it. Then place the seeds on the filter and fold the filter twice again.

Place everything in a plastic bag and close the bag. Make sure that enough air remains inside. Then place the bag in a dark place. Regularly check for germinated seeds and any mold formation. Germinated seeds should be carefully placed in their own pot on top of the soil. If necessary, cover the pot to prevent dehydration. When mold is formed, remove the molded seeds and transfer the clean seeds to a new coffee filter.

Methode 3:

This method is actually a combination of the above two methods. Perlite is used instead of sowing soil. Place the seeds on the Perlite. After moistening, cover the seed tray and place it somewhere warm. Once the sprouted plants are large enough to handle, they can be transplanted.

Experience

In our own experience, method 2 gives you a better and quicker result, but…. you must transfer the sprouted seeds in time and well monitor the humidity. They are still very sensitive to dehydration at this stage. Method 1 is much less affected by this problem. With this method, you may lose sight of the seed tray for a while without drastic consequences. Method 3 gave us the highest germination rate.

Care:

The Sequoia seedling doesn’t actually require any specific care. From spring to autumn, the seedling can be placed outside in the shade. Water it regularly but avoid it to get too wet. It needs also be regularly transplanted to a relatively big container. This will benefit growth. As soon as your Sequoia has a reasonable size, you can also plant it in the garden. Of course, keep in mind their explosive growth and generous dimensions. Planting on the limits of your terrain won’t seem advisable to us….

National Park Service website

Sowing the Cocos nucifera: an experience shared

lapalmeraie — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 07:21:03 +0000

Cocos nucifera, or the Coconut Palm, is often offered for sale. For a few bucks you can buy this palm with its elegant appearance. But since this palm requires a very special treatment, it often dries out completely after a few months. You can of course consider this plant to be an annual terrace plant. After all, a bouquet of flowers will cost more. But of course, it can also be a challenge to keep it alive.

If you’re looking for even more challenges, you can also try to sow the coconut palm yourself.

One of our readers tried to do it himself and shared his experience.

“My palm from Aruba”

Hi La Palmeraie

Hereby my experience with sowing a coconut that I like to share with you.

I had received the coconut from my uncle from Aruba, who bred it there. On his advice I soaked the nut at least a week in a bucket.

Then I put it 2cm deep into the soil. Only I still had to manage the temperature. The only place that was sufficiently warm, close to the heating system, is quickly too dry for the coconut. When looking for a different solution, I thought that the meter cupboard brings all heating pipes together. Here it is always very warm, a meeting showed that the temperature varies between 25-29°C (77-84,2°F). So great. The coconut also needs a lot of light. After a study on lighting for plants on the internet, I came out at LED lighting. I didn’t know that this was possible. The first week I had just used a 60 watt light bulb. On the internet I read that someone had used blue and red LED lighting in combination with a normal 50 watt/240 volt halogen lamp. That’s why I immediately went to a DIY shop to buy a lamp holder with 3 connections. It now burns continuously above the coconut.

Every day I pour a little water over the coconut because the water evaporates quickly. Probably the germination was successful due to the favourable combination of light and warmth and high humidity because the coconut was in an enclosed space (please be careful with electricity in combination with moisture!).

To my surprise, the coconut did very well. Occasionally, in sunny weather, I took it off this place to get it used to the sun on the window sill. I did make sure that the coconut stayed well warm; on average 27°C (80,6°F).

For the nutrients I just use special potting soil for palm trees mixed with some sand. In Aruba, they also grow on the shores where they simply lie on the sand.

Hereby also some pictures. Good luck!

Gilberto H. – Almere (NL)

***

Try it yourself?

You can also try to sow a coconut palm yourself just with a coconut from the supermarket! Shake the nut to check that there is enough liquid inside. Then proceed as described above.

Plumeria sowing instructions

lapalmeraie — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 13:04:48 +0000

Plumeria or frangipani is such a typical plant that everyone knows without really knowing which plant it is. We all know it from those typical flower leis for which they are so famous in Hawaii. The sweet fragrance also explains the name of the cakes with the same name. Sowing the Plumeria is very easy. In this article we show you how!

Seeds

The seeds can be found quite generally on the internet. Collecting them yourself during your holidays is of course also a possibility. The seeds are quite recognizable and look a bit of the seeds of the maple tree.

Step 1

Put the seeds only with the thick part in the soil. Leave the wing above ground.

Step 2

Moisten the soil slightly and put the seedbed in a warm place.

Step 3

Quickly, after about a week, the first seeds germinate. Ventilate sufficiently so that the soil does not become moldy and keep the soil slightly moist but not too wet.

Step 4

When the seedlings are slightly larger, they can be transplanted. Because Plumerias should not be held too wet, transparent flower pots (e. g. those used for Orchids) are ideal. Tip of a local: also make holes on all sides of the pot! This keeps the soil better ventilated and dryer.

Step 5 & aftercare

Put the plants away warm and on a light spot. Take the plants inside before the night frost and reduce the irrigation drastically. However, the soil should not dry out. The plants will lose their leaves. New leaves appear again in spring.

Ravenala madagascariensis sowing instructions

lapalmeraie — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 07:18:00 +0000

Originally from Madagascar, the Ravenala is currently planted worldwide in tropical areas. As a result, this special exotic reminds inevitably of holidays. The common name “Travelers tree” is due to the myth that travelers would survive due to the accumulated moisture in the leaf bases. But in view of the height and its impurity, this seems unlikely. The Ravenala is rarely proposed for sale in Europe. The particular seeds with blue fringes, on the other hand, can be found more easily. However, cultivating this species is not so simple. Here’s a manual how we succeeded!

Ravenala description

The mature plant consists of a stem with a bundle of large leaves on long leaf stems arranged in a fan shape. A mature subject can grow up to 18 meters (59ft) with leaves up to 3 meters (9 ft) long! At a younger stage, when it hasn’t developed a stem yet, it has more resemblance to the Strelitzia, which is also part of the same genus (Strelitziaceae). The Ravenala likes a sunny, sheltered location so that the large leaves do not tear apart by the wind. Like the banana, the Ravenala needs a lot of water. This fast grower isn’t hardy at all and needs the be kept above 15°C (59°F).

Cultivating: step by step

Seeds

For good germination results, fresh seed is a necessity. Do not hesitate to contact the seller and ask for more details about the harvesting date.

Soaking the seeds

It is advised to soak the seeds before sowing for about 24 – 48 hours in warm water. This wil soften the seed coat and accelerate the overall germination. Therefore, fill a cup with warm water, put in the seeds and cover up with some aluminium foil to conserve the warmth. Place the cup on your central heating or other heat source. A thermos bottle can also be used for this purpose but it may be to smelly to use for normal use afterwards. Renew the water every 12 hours or so.

Sowing

Take a pot and fill up with a layer of quality seed raising mix. Then put your seeds on this mix and cover them with another layer of soil. The typical blue fringes must be removed from the seeds. A good rule is to cover them with a layer as thick as twice their own size. Humidify the soil but do not over water to prevent mold. Then you can cover up with some plastic foil to preserve humidity but ventilate enough to prevent mold grow. Place the pot somewhere warm, like on top of the central heating system. Humidify the soil when needed.

It is unnecessary to increase the house temperature. When the house is heated normally, the temperature right above the radiator fluctuates between 24°C (75°F) and 50°C (122°F) at the warmest point of the radiator.

Germination

After one month the first seedling came up. As it needs light from this stage on, the aluminum foil was replaced by plastic foil leaving a small open space for the seedling to grow but conserving a maximum of moist inside the pot. Within the two months after sowing the second and third seedlings were seen.

Transplanting

As soon as the seedling appeared to be strong enough, they were transplanted into their individual containers. Waiting to long may risk to do more root damage than necessary.

From the 25 seeds, finally 6 seeds germinated, the first after 6 weeks.

Ravenala pictures

Musa, Strelitzia, Canna and Yucca sowing instructions

lapalmeraie — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 08:40:31 +0000

Seeds

For good germination results, fresh seed is a necessity. Seeds that can’t be sown straight away are best kept in the frige for better conservation. Seeds harvested by yourself, with fleshy seed coats are best cleaned before conservation to prevent mold grow.

Certain species will have seeds with very tough seed coats (b.e. Musa). You can choose to scrub the end of the seed (scarification) so that the water can penetrate into the seed coat better. It is also adviced to scrub off the inhibators on the seeds coat with a brush.

Soaking the seed

Ravenala madagascariensis seeds

Sowing

Take a pot and fill up with a layer of quality seed raising mix. Then put your seeds on this mix and cover them with another layer of soil. (On Strelitzia (orange) and Ravenala (blue) you may delete the duvet before). A good rule is to cover them with a layer as thick as twice their own size. Humidify the soil but do not over water to prevent mold. Then you can cover up with some plastic foil to preserve humidity but ventilate enough to prevent mold grow. Humidify the soil when needed.

Tip: You can perfectly sow multiple seeds in one bigger container, this way you’ll economize space and energy.

Germination

Place the pot on a warm spot, close to a heath source if needed. 25-35°C (77-95°F) will do for most species. For bananas (Musa) a temperature alternation of 9h on 30-35°C followed by 15h on 12-15°C and so on… could be favorable. The seeds do not need any light in this stage. The time required for the seeds to germinate varies form species to species and depends on multiple conditions. Generally it may take from 1,5 to 3 months but also can take for one whole year to germinate. Be patient, just hang on and keep providing the ideal conditions. Do need dig in to see if something happend yet. You will only risk to do damage on the germinating seeds. As soon as the first leaves are showing up you can remove the foil and place the pot elsewhere than on the heath source to avoid the ground from drying to quickly. From this stage on the plant needs sufficient light.

Transplanting

When the seedlings are big (en strong) enough, they can be transplanted. Generally this is when the have their second leaf. Take a container that is big enough and which has draining holes in the bottom. Use a good quality potting soil and mix in some perlite or grit for optimal drainage. Do not use (to much) fertilizer yet, to prevent to roots form burning. Now your plant is good to go for a while and only needs to be transplanted again when new roots will grow from the drainage holes in the bottom.

Fertilizing

Add fertilizer in spring and during summer (growing season), during winter this makes little sense. Organic fertilizers are good fertilizers but be careful with non organic fertilizers which are more agressive. Do always respect the manufacturers prescriptions.

Planting

Strelitzia and Ravenala aren’t hardy and must therefor be cultivated in containers in colder climates. Other more cold resistant species may be planted out in open. Do inform yourself on the specific needs and especially on the hardiness and your local climat.

Photos: http://members.quicknet.nl/mija/zaailingen.html and www.palmhunter.be

Palm trees sowing instructions

lapalmeraie — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 08:23:13 +0000

Seeds

For good germination results, fresh seed is a necessity. Seeds that can’t be sown straight away are best kept in the frige for better conservation. Seeds harvest by yourself, with fleshy seed coats are best cleaned before conservation to prevent mold grow.

Certain species will have seeds with very tough seed coats (b.e. Jubaea). You can try to crack this coat however, the risk of damaging the whole seed is quite important and therefore this method is not recommended. You can also choose to scrub the end of the seed (scarification) so that the water can penetrate into the seed coat better. But this technique is definitely not necessary!

Soaking the seed

Sowing

Take a pot and fill up with a layer of quality seed raising mix. Then put your seeds on this mix and cover them with another layer of soil. A good rule is to cover them with a layer as thick as twice their own size. Humidify the soil but do not over water to prevent mold. Then you can cover up with some plastic foil to preserve humidity but ventilate enough to prevent mold grow. Humidify the soil when needed.

Tip: You can perfectly sow multiple seeds in one bigger container, this way you’ll economize space and energy.

Germination

Place the pot on a warm spot, close to a heath source if needed. 25-35°C (77-95°F) will do for most species (see exceptions on the bottom of this page!). The seeds do not need any light in this stage. The time required for the seeds to germinate varies form species to species and depends on multiple conditions. Generally it may take from 1,5 to 3 months but also can take for one whole year to germinate. Be patient, just hang on and keep providing the ideal conditions. Do need dig in to see if something happend yet. You will only risk to do damage on the germinating seeds. As soon as the first leaves are showing up you can remove the foil and place the pot elsewhere than on the heath source to avoid the ground from drying to quickly. From this stage on the plant needs sufficient light.

Transplantation

When the seedlings are big (en strong) enough, they can be transplanted. Generally this is when the have their second leaf. Take a container that is big enough and which has draining holes in the bottom. Use a good quality potting soil and mix in some perlite or grit for optimal drainage. Do not use (to much) fertilizer yet, to prevent to roots form burning.
When transplanting, try to plant the seedling on the same height as it was before. Now your palm tree is good to go for a while and only needs to be transplanted again when new roots will grow from the drainage holes in the bottom.

Fertilisation

Planting

Some hardy species are perfectly suited to be planted out in the open (Trachycarpus b.e.). Other, more tropical, species can be cultivated in containers. Do inform yourself on the specific needs and especially on the hardiness and your local climat.

Special care

Bismarckia: sow the seeds only half-buried and half exposed.
Jubaea: sow the seeds in high pots with at least 18 cm (7 inches) depth.
Trachycarpus: keep the seeds at maximum 22°C (71,6°F) to germinate.

Cycas and Dioon sowing instructions

lapalmeraie — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 07:40:16 +0000

Seeds

For good germination results, fresh seed is a necessity. Seeds that can’t be sown straight away are best kept in the frige for better conservation.

Cycas- and Dioon seeds do have a hard seed coat. You can try to crack this coat however, the risk of damaging the whole seed is quite important and therefore this method is not recommended. You can also choose to scrub the end of the seed (scarification) so that the water can penetrate into the seed coat better. But this technique is definitely not necessary!

Soaking the seed

Sowing

Take a small pot and fill up with a quality seed raising mix. Then put your seeds ON (not in) this mix and just press slightly to fix them in place. The pointy head and butt must be aligned horizontally. Humidify the soil but do not over water to prevent mold. You can eventually cover up with some plastic foil to preserve humidity but ventilate enough to prevent mold grow. Humidify the soil when needed.

Tip: You can perfectly sow multiple seeds in one bigger container, this way you’ll economize space and energy.

Germination of a Cycas revoluta:

Germination of a Dioon edule ‘Rio verde’:

Germination

Place the pot on a warm spot, close to a heath source if needed. 25-35°C (77-95°F) will do. The seeds do not need light in this stage. The time required for the seeds to germinate varies form species to species and depends on multiple conditions of course but it could be very quick; the Cycas by exemple may already germinate after only a couple of days! But more patience can be needed, just hang on and provide the ideal conditions.

Transplantation

As soon as the seed has germinated and its root is plunging down, it needs to be transplanted. Take a container with sufficient height (at least 18cm / 7 inches !) and with draining holes in the bottom. Fill up with a quality potting soil and some perlite or grit for optimal drainage. Do not use (to much) fertilizer yet, to prevent to roots form burning. Now your Cycad is good to go for a while and only needs to be transplanted again when new roots will grow from the drainage holes in the bottom.

Growth of a Dioon edule:

Photos by Paul

Fertilizing

Planting

Certain Cycads are hardy enough to be planted outside. Do inform yourself on the specific needs and especially on the hardiness and your local climat. A place form full sun to partial shade works the best.