Thanks Tim! Have you started any that I sent you?

Chamaerops humilis seed.
Wasn't sure where to sandpaper, but the process was sufficient to allow water to enter.
A little brown "trapdoor" suddenly opens with the "button" emerging. Here they are:

<img src=" " width="375" height="500" alt="DSC04456" />

The following shows "lost cause" Pritchardia hillebrandii seeds.
Damn...these were expensive.
All appear to have a dead embryo, no trace of white interior anywhere = obviously old seeds 👿

<img src=" " width="500" height="375" alt="DSC04455" />

Barb

Neat, I guess I'll have to try the sand paper method. I have some Queen palm seeds I'm dealing with now. 8)

Nice work with the chamaerops, Barb! Did you try cutting one of the Pritchardia seeds in half? Sometimes it's easier to find the embryo that way.

I only had 4 Pritchardia seeds left, and was reluctant to "ruin" any 😆 😆

But shouldn't that "endosperm" be 99% fleshy and white if it's the food supply for root development up to and including first leaves?

OK gonna cut one in half. 😕

Stubborn even after de-lidding, Pritchardia hillebrandii, cut in half because I couldn't find ANY white area inside:

I don't think there should be a gap between the white part and the outside (it didn't rattle yet).

<img src=" " width="500" height="375" alt="DSC04459" />

And since I read on Cameron's link about somebody sawing a coconut in half and then taping it back together AND IT GERMINATED, thought I would too:

<img src=" " width="500" height="375" alt="DSC04461" /> :blackeye:

Would the seed have made it if I: de-lidded a little deeper? waited longer?

Barb

Barb, hopefully that Pritchardia will germinate!

Here's a Jubaea seed that was de-lidded around 3 days ago:

I knew if I wanted to de-lid the rest, I would have a bit of work to do, mainly cracking the outer shells:

I seperated around 200 for trades, etc. After a few hours (and with a sprained finger 😡 ), here was the result:

Now the sanding begins... 🙄

Good examples Cameron.

My de-lidding is working on some, but none of the 3 hr or 24 hr responses you and others report.
As always, fresh seed is the trick so mine are obviously older than the hills.

A sprained finger :evil4:
I'm sure you'll come up with a sanding contraption yet...

I bought more sandpaper yesterday; the clerk asked "renovating?"
Feeling he wouldn't understand the real answer, I just said "yes". 😆

Barb

Wow, that's a lot of seeds, Cameron. What kind are they?

Yeah, when I was buying a bunch of rubbermaid storage trays for the seeds yesterday, someone behind me in line said "you're going to have a very organized house!", and I just agreed 😆

Dean, those are all Jubaea seeds!

Been thinking about a "sanding contraption".

Anybody's grandmothers do needlepoint? 😆
Utilizes a wooden frame, shaped like a circle, that can be expanded to any size with the turn of a screw.
Wonder if seeds could be placed tightly (so they don't roll around) into one of those, and then a belt sander run across the top...hmmmm.

If it worked it'd be super quick.
But the time spent to line up all the seeds...maybe not so good. 🙄

Need something like a tiny egg carton.

Barb

I used a pair of pliers to hold the seed then sanded.

Yup that works, Dean.
I was thinking of Cameron sanding hundreds of seeds... 😉

I'm sure that by the 1000th seed, I'll have found a more efficient way to do it 😛

Here's how I germinated my spores,I like this method. 😀

You can just buy this stuff yourself,it's a little work to sift the peatmoss-

whayagonnado?

http://www.fernfactory.com/frontend/proddetail.aspx?pn=supsgrwkit&co=10000397