Growing palms from seed

Palms can be grown from seed. You should soak the seeds for 24 hours after receipt and clean off any residual outer fruit. Be careful and clean when doing this, it's even an idea to wear gloves as some palms are especially vulnerable to moulds or other infections at this stage. Plant the seeds either separately or in a tray with a couple of centimetres distance between each seed. We'd recommend a propriatary product such as vermiculite, or an equivalent mixture of perlite and peat moss in a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio. You should then ensure a stable, humid warm environment. Some use a wooden box heated by a light bulb, others keep a shoe box on a radiator. We'd recommend a thermostatically controlled heating device such as our 'soil warming cables' set to a temperature of around 31C. Watering should be done say, once a day, so that the soil is kept a little moist. Once germinated you can encourage your seedlings by watering a little with a product such as palmbooster. Transplant carefully, many transplant after the appearance of one leaf but often it's better to wait till the apperance of a second or third leaf.

Palms from seedlings

As you will have surmised from the above, palms are fairly vulnerable and require special attention when grown from seed. This can be great fun but can be frustrating while you experiment to get it right. We supply an extensive range of seedlings for many species to help you over this hurdle and to reduce the 'time-to-garden'!

Trachycarpus geminisectus seedling ready to go!"

Planting out

For some reason or other we are always advised to plant in groups of odd numbers; a solitary in the middle of a lawn, groups of three or five. It's strange but true; I find groups of say two or four less pleasing than three or five! If anybody has a good psychological explanation of this phenomenon we'd love to hear from you!

Preparing for your palm

It's an idea to dig well round the base of what you are planting. Don't dig too deep, just aim to cover a few centimeters (2/3 inches) above the root ball. It's an idea to place the palm on a sort of shelf in the middle of the hole with a slightly deeper trough dug around the edge. This you fill with soil mixed with some rough sand. This will allow the plant to drain water away from the roots. Place the plant upon the shelf created and then refill the hole with normal earth.

Don't over-feed!

Modern thinking suggests that if we enrich the soil too close to the root ball the roots become lazy and don't develop. Once filled you are better off mulching your plant substantially with wood chippings, lawn cuttings or other organic matter in a large area arond the root so that the food is distributed evenly and the roots are encouraged to develop well. Excellent results are achieved with products such as palmbooster if applied regularly and well. In most palms roots are still growing late in the year when foliage has apparently stopped - keep giving your palm the necessary attention even in this period and you will be well rewarded later on! You will find that if the roots develop well, the top foliage and trunk will respond a year or two years later!

Watering

Most palms like a lot of water. If you ensured adequate drainage around the root ball as we suggested it's a good idea to create a sort of saucer to trap water round the root by making a rim of soil around 40cm from the trunk. This will then trap water, funnel it to the roots and the drainage trench will ensure the roots don't get waterlogged. Ideal conditions for your palm! ©