It's easy to bring a small Christmas palm tree from a nursery and plant it in the ground. It will grow nicely. But there are some curious gardeners like me out there who love experiments. I was wondering if I could germinate Christmas palm seeds or not, and gave it a try. After two failed attempts, I made it. In this article, I will be sharing my experience of growing Christmas palms from seeds.
As I have germinated Christmas palm seeds several times, I will tell you the most effective way to germinate the palm seeds. Germination speed matters!
Note: I am not a nursery owner; I just love gardening. I love to grow most of the plants and trees through propagation. Seed propagation is my favourite one, as this is how nature wants plants to be propagated for most of the plants.
On my first attempt, Scarify, soak 24, & plant. This is what I got:
Here, you will find some methods that might be very unusual for you, but believe me, they work like a charm.
Last year, I accidentally made the mistake of throwing them in my composter. I had hundreds growing.
So this might be the easiest method to grow a Christmas palm from seed.
For those who don't have time to read the full article, can get an idea from here:
"Get a 5-gallon bucket and a bag of palm soil from Home Depot. To propagate these seeds, you need to layer dirt, then some seeds, then more dirt, then seeds, until you are out of seeds. Cover the last layer with soil. Place the bucket in the shade and let it sit for 3 months. Once the three months are up, pour the bucket out and find your sprouted seeds."
Remember that the seeds are not ready for planting until they turn red.
How long does it take to germinate Christmas palm seeds
First of all, it requires patience... A lot of patience.
Germination can take 2–4 months, and the palm will take several years to reach a decent size.
I will share some tips that can boost the germination speed (later in this article).
When I told my uncle, I was about to write an article on this, his response was like this: "I’ve never planted them. They just grow wherever they want."
As long as you're not spraying chemicals, they will grow where they land. Mine never grew, but now that I am practicing regenerative agriculture and no chemicals, they come up all the time!
So yes, it's easy to grow from seeds.
Methods to germinate the seeds
Usually, we get dried seeds for most of the seeds that we buy from stores or online.
For Christmas palm date seeds, the fresh seeds germinate much better than old or dried-out ones. I have witnessed "Viability drops quickly after the fruit dries".
Seed collection
Collect only red, fully ripe fruits/dates that have just fallen or are easy to pick from the tree.
For tall trees, no need to collect fruits from the tree. They will fall off the tree when they are fully ripe.
If you see any holes in the fruit, avoid that fruit and select other ones.
Remove the outer layer (red fleshy), and you will see a single seed inside it. This is what you need.
Prepare the Christmas palm seed for germination
Rinse the seed with water to remove all the remaining red pulp.
Soak the seed in the water for 3 days. Change the water once a day.
You might be wondering why you should do that. It's a trick to soften the shells.
Prepare the soil or medium
Mix 40% cocopeat, 40% perlite/normal sand, 20% normal garden soil.
You may also use standard seed-starting or palm/cactus mix.
Plant the seeds
Use your finger to make holes in the soil mix. Plant seeds about ½–1 inch (1–2 cm) deep.
I know, you will be wondering if you should put the seeds vertically or horizontally.
Do not think too much! Both will work absolutely fine.
I will not talk much about maintaining the temperature; instead, plant it when you get the seeds from the tree.
Keep the soil well-drained and moist at the same time.
When you see the first true leaf (maybe after 3 to 6 months), plant it in a larger pot or in the ground, where you want it to grow tall.
Good luck!
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