Welcome to the forum teebee. Where are you situated? and we love pictures of what u have got.

Hi teebee, welcome aboard PN.

Bitten?
From your great list, I'd say you've been devoured! 😆

Congrats on germinating the Christmas palms.
You'll find that there are folks here growing all the plants you love.

And, from the low prices you paid for your palms, I'd guess you're not in Canada?

Adam's right--we love photos.

Cheers!
Barb

Welcome teebee!

I was like you back in may. I had no palms or tropical plants, so I bought some seeds on ebay and amazon. Now I have quite a collection of seedlings and more mature palms! (13xWashingtonia robusta, 6xPhoenix dactylifera, 4xChamaedorea elegans, 19xAdonida merrillii, 2xRavenea rivularis, 1xSabal palmetto, 1xChamaerops humilis)

My washingtonia seedlings have been growing very fast and have been the most entertaining to watch. I also started some phoenix dactylifera seedlings around the same time (from grocery store medjool dates). Those also germinated really easily, so you could try that species out as well. I have some Christmas palms from seeds that germinated back at the beginning of September, but they're not even 4 inches tall yet, so you've got a solid start there!

I too, am looking forward to spring finally arriving so I can put some plants outside again!

I'm located just outside Toronto. (Waterloo) Definitely 5A territory (although not the last 2 years more like 5B ish but you can't count on that.)

Barb, I agree out choices are pretty limiting in Canada but I have a nursery in town and one of the long time employees is a palm addict to so he influences the purchasing to bring in all sorts of interesting stuff. Anything left over gets blown out for cheap and is well cared for. But anything I can't get or is too expensive I'll just bring in via seed and make it a more long term project.

I think in the spring I might order a 5'-6' Windmill for the front yard from Coconut Mike in Montreal but I have to figure out how much its going to cost to ship or make a road trip up there....

Welcome Teebee

Why not start with a smaller one?

These grow fast and can get away from you in a hurry-
protecting plants over 5' gets to be a challenge right off
the bat but maybe if you have just one or two it's no biggie......?

Jim makes a good point, teebee, and a smaller Trachy is a good way to start.
But then again...coconut mike has a sale on right now 😀 😆

Yippeee, another Canuck!
Maybe add your location/zone to your Profile.
So we don't ask you again and again. 😕

I have a nursery in town

You have a nursery!!! That's exciting, especially with the palm nut helping you.

back in may. I had no palms or tropical plants

Well done, Robocaeser!

And yes, storebought Medjool or Deglet Noor dates are easy to germinate, and readily available.
I ate a couple dozen (burp! :clown: ) and ended up with a whole bunch in 3 months (pic is the longest Deglet Noor seedling)

<a href=" http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/6813217674/" title="005 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src=" " width="375" height="500" alt="005"></a>

Barb

I planted a bunch of Ravenala madagascariensis seeds I had bought on 12/30 so far out of the 50 seeds I have planted so far 35% have germinated and some of them are already nearly 2" tall. These seems nearly as easy as Christmas Palms to germinate. I soaked the seeds in water with a cap full of peroxide and after a day or 2 I peeled all the blue skin off the seeds and there them in a ziplock with a heat mat and every couple days I open the bag and pull out the ones that are over 3/4" tall. I also have had good luck with some Agave Americana they have been very quick to germinate putting down a long tap root >4". I have a whole ton of other seeds on the table but I need some more lights and heat mats before I can start these.

nice list teebee............I'm really interested to find out if those Fargesias will be hardy for you........keep us updated on their progress. 😀

Sounds like they're coming up really fast for you, teebee.
Curious who your seed source is.

If you've got some pics as things pop up, how about posting them on "Germination Part II"
(part I got so long it almost crashed!!! 😆 )

some more lights

If for palms, they don't need light prior to germination.

Look forward to seeing your stuff.
Barb

Sounds like they're coming up really fast for you, teebee.
Curious who your seed source is.

I'm buying from whoever on ebay has decent pricing ships to canada and has a decent quantity of seed i ususally buy 50-100 seeds to experiment with. For the travellers palm seed i got them from the ebay id "deminimus". I also just ordered a bunch for gmpenny001 in the past

some more lights

If for palms, they don't need light prior to germination.

Issue is after they pop I do and right now I has some popped trravels palm I need to transplant but no spots with light available yet.

I haven't looked at eBay for ages.
Good you've got some reliable sources.

Look forward to seeing photos of all your poppers.

HD had some 4-foot double fluorescent fixtures on sale around Christmas.
And if you're making a choice of fluorescent bulb, maybe select Warm White over the Cool one for growing plants.

In my basement plant starting area, everything's "makeshift".
My 4-foot fluorescent fixtures are suspended precariously on lawn chairs, with pots below to catch it when it falls. 😆

Barb

In my basement plant starting area, everything's "makeshift".
My 4-foot fluorescent fixtures are suspended precariously on lawn chairs, with pots below to catch it when it falls. 😆

My stuff is a touch less makeshift but still lots of that.

My shelf came from Lowes My Shelf
For my Lighting I have 4 of these so far (2 per shelf) My Lights
For my bulbs I use GE grow tubes.

The other thing I have done is taken a lesson from pot growers you can get these nifty light rachet straps so you can easily raise your lights as you seedlings get bigger. My Rachet Straps

Good set-up, teebee 😀

I have one of those plastic-covered GHs, similar to your shelf.
But this year, I'm using 14-inch tall tree pots for my seeds.
Unfortunately they don't fit on the shelves, which aren't adjustable.
Probably too heavy anyway.

Similar to this http://www.eurobacs.com/go/offer--ResourceID--214--featuredMode----category--NEW-PLASTIC-CRATES-BOXES-TRAYS--get.html
which keeps them from falling over.

Barb

I went down to check my plants tonight. Finally a bunch of my medjool date palm seeds popped. They had been in the ziplock for a month without anything happening I was beginning to think they were bad as I had read that 2-3 weeks at the most for them to pop. Many more of the Travellers Palm seeds popped they seem to be very easy to germinate. I had about 100 seeds and between both batches I planted I'm at theast 25% and no sign of slowing down. But the ones I soaked for >2 days and peeled the blue skin from have popped much faster than the ones I soaked for 1 day and left the skin on. My Chrismas palms now have 2 leaves much better than a 4" stem 😉 I can't wait for better weather so these can get outside and get some real sun light and see if they can really put on some size.