germinating yucca brevifolia, rigida and elata seeds

[Cowtown Palm Society]

Hi All,

Just received 15 seeds each of yucca brevifolia, elata and rigida. I have no clue how to go about transforming these seeds into lovely little yuccas.
I've never grown anything from seed, in fact.

Does it matter how the seed lays in the soil, how deep, how much moisture, how hot etc? I noticed in an earlier forum that someone had a yucca brevifolia seed that wasn't even in soil-it looked like the seed was laying on top of wood chips, in a cup, to germinate.

Any help is most appreciated.

Thanks!

Duncan

[Okanagan desert-palms]

Duncan yucca and almost any desert plant are among the easiest to seeds to germinate. Put them in a glass of water for a couple of days.I put mine in between folded moist paper towels in a zip lock bag near a sunny window until they start to sprout ,usually within one or two weeks. Yuccas like deep narrow pots. Be carefull not to let the roots of the germinated seedlings grow into the paper towels. You will have to cut the towels to remove the seedling roots otherwise. Plant in a fast draining soil with the seed head sticking out of the soil.

John

[Jay-Admin]

After soaking the seed, I have had good luck just placing the seeds on top of the soil.
Usually sprout every time.

-Jay

[DesertZone]

Very easy to start.
If you do cover with soil make sure not to plant them very deep. Only cover with about a 1/4 inch of soil and don't let it dry out until they have sprouted. just lay the seeds on the flat side as this is how they would fall in nature. Most yucca seeds should sprout up in about 3-10 and straggelrs in a month or two.

PS Jay and John's methods work very well

[Cowtown Palm Society]

Thanks everybody for your advice on germinating my new yucca seeds!

Duncan

[lucky1]

Good luck Duncan, and keep your camera nearby so we can see the results.
Barb

[Cowtown Palm Society]

Thanks Barb! I'll definitely keep you guys posted.

P.S.

Did you see the Calgary weather today?!!! Grrrrr.

Take care!

Duncan

[lucky1]

The Okanagan's 10 degrees colder than recently...and a cold northerly wind.

BRRRRR and GRRRRRR.

If anybody complains about the heat this summer (when it finally arrives), I'm gonna smack 'em
Barb

[DesertZone]

.........

[Cowtown Palm Society]

Hi All,

Just thought I'd share some pics of my brevifolia seedlings. The first batch, in April, didn't germinate at all. So I mail-ordered another batch-which germinated at a rate of 75-80% in about early June. I had them inside until about three weeks ago, when I tried them outside for around a week-with about 6 hours of direct sunlight. That stint seemed to be stressing the plants-increased purple colour, especially around the stem and, as well, some leaves started to shrivel. Back inside now-seems to have stabilized them.

http://www.imagehostdirect.com/gallery. ... revifolias

[lucky1]

Well done, Duncan!
Wow they've really shot up to nice size quickly.

I started some yucca rostrata from seed last year...only one is still alive.
Agree with you that being outside stressed them, the baby stem and a couple of tiny leaves went purple.
Think it was sunburn, so back into shade where it remained most of this summer.

Your jaw will drop when you see how blue those Joshua leaves become very soon.

Where are you keeping them this winter...a sunny southeast window?
Barb

[Cowtown Palm Society]

Hi Barb!

Unfortunately, it's a west window for winter. With low sun/and lots of west cloud over the Rockies-I'm worried about these guys (and my Trachy, Needle and Washy too).

I haven't had much time for the forum lately. How is your Trachy in the ground? And your y. rigidas? Did your blazing summer do-in your y.rostrata seedlings?
Wow, you guys had some hot days. We finally got some summer late this year. The last month has mostly been over 25c. No frost yet either, which is rare for us (3 last night). Take care Barb!

Duncan

[lucky1]

Glad you've got forum time again, Duncan.

Supplemental lighting is easy to do, you've probably got a grow lamp or two already.
Just a matter of finding a spare room, and figuring out how long you want the lights on...a timer works well so you can forget about it.

My in-ground trachy seems happy, gets only morning sun, thankfully, and is somewhat protected from wind up against the east side of house. I was really really busy this summer and many of my plants suffered...think I only watered the trachy two or three times

You're right...July and August was blazing hot again, but the rostrata seedlings look great despite my neglect.
The big y.rostrata x ? (forgot) didn't grow a lot, but seems to like its rocky full sun spot.
Lost both my calamondin orange, starfruit, coffee, and a couple others.
Almost lost the papyrus, it's in sick bay (the fish pond.)

I've run out of shady areas so some cycads took a beating but are doing fine now.
All the palms are still sending up new spears...some 2-3 feet long.

I saw the 3C (37F) yesterday for Calgary, we had a very cool morning too, today high could be 28-30C (84F).
If this heat heads east you'll be warm for a while yet.

How'd your plants fare this summer?
You'll be so pleased with those seedlings, it'll be good to watch them mature.
Keep the camera ready!

Barb

[Cowtown Palm Society]

Hi Barb,

Here's some quick shots of my palms. The last month has been great-unusually warm. Today's forecast is 33c (92f)-unheard of for this time of year! Slow consistent growth on all palms though. They had about 4 frosts in June and several brutal wind storms-my Washy lost a frond in this. The Trachy and Needle especially show the wind damage (no shelter from north winds unfortunately). I have a house now though, so my front yard will be transformed into a desert garden this spring. I have several great little potential micro zones-sheltered from north and receiving lots of south west sun. Can't wait till spring to get going on this. I haven't decided exactly which plants to use yet. I'm definitely going to try y. rostrata (might order a big specimen from the U.S.), for example, in a good spot-which I think has a real shot when protected from the worst of our winter. Definitely y. glauca (native to Alberta) and y. filamentosa (proven hardy here). Not sure about palms yet-might just be too much work.

http://www.imagehostdirect.com/gallery. ... r-09-palms


P.S.
The other pictured plants are y. rostrata and Med./Euro Fan Palm (you could probably tell). Do you have some recent plant pics up on the forum?

[lucky1]

Hi Duncan,
If you're heading through the Okanagan in the next year, John (okanagandesertpalms) in Kelowna has some beautiful palms of good size, and you'll love the y.rostrata x (gorgeous), I bought one and it's settling in nicely. Easier than dealing with phytosanitary certificates and the "border patrol" (taxes taxes taxes).

Congrats on getting into a house where you have microclimate areas.
Looks like a great yard that you can fill with palms!
As you said, protection from cold NW winds is critical.
And if el Nino shows up (yippeeee), hopefully milder temps this winter.

Despite your big storms this year, there's not too much damage.
They'll bounce back.
Good sizes on all of them.

It'll be neat to read/see your desert garden work.
Barb