Butia

Mowgley , it will take about 10 years from seeds to see a flower , when i go back in Italy I will pick some more , even if they will eventually reach 4/7 meters high .

about the ensete ventricosum I do have some spare if you need few

 

It's ok sal I'm going to send off for them as I think that you need quite a lot of seed (25)because germination is erratic but thank you anyway.
I think it was Kristen said about 10% germination rate

 

Mowgley not a problem , let me know if you want one got about 7 of them , about 3 feet high ...bananas are tricky to germinate and keep them alive , then if you buy dead seeds it even harder

 

I'm trying it from seed. If I manage to get some to germinate you are welcome to some. Maybe you are wanting a decent sized plant though, rather than a seedling?

I think "fresh" will help too - if you can find a supplier that tells you, rather than just leaving it on the shelf for months / years? and sending you whatever they have got when you buy some. Getting increasingly less happy with that "It's difficult seed, so what if it didn't germinate for you? You must have done something wrong" is not the feeling we should be having, but I reckon many seed supplier are getting away with that with a lot of punters.

 

[quote="Kristen, post: 748671, member: 1519"






I think "fresh" will help too - if you can find a supplier that tells you, rather than just leaving it on the shelf for months / years? and sending you whatever they have got when you buy some. Getting increasingly less happy with that "It's difficult seed, so what if it didn't germinate for you? You must have done something wrong" is not the feeling we should be having, but I reckon many seed supplier are getting away with that with a lot of punters.[/quote]

T&M have been doing this for 25yrs at least.
And I'm beginning to think Chilterns are doing it as well.

 

110% agree with you Pete , I`ve now stopped to buy seeds from seller and only use the one come from trade and that I pick my self .....If I think all the money I`ve wasted in the past in dead palm and bananas seeds I could have actually bought a nice plant instead ...and anytime the answer was the same that seeds where fresh and I did something wrong.

One case it`s actually Mowgley , he bought some canna seeds and nothing happen untill we send him some fresh seeds

plus not to say , that we are attracted by pretty pictures od specimen plants that in reality would take us a lifetime to see a plant like one in the picture : as infact plant like dicksonia and butias

 

Well ordered a butia from palm centre today.
Should be here tomorrow. Took @pete advice and brought one as big as I could afford in a 30l pot and around 1m tall.
Will post some pics when it comes
Oh and brought another musa basjoo for £4 in a 2l pot.
Got my eye on a brahea armata on ebay too.

 

Brahea armata?
Good luck.

Ever thought of a Chamaerops "cerifera".?

 

Are they tricky?

 

Never tried to be honest, but personally I dont trust all those hardiness figures.
I do know it needs real heat to grow properly, my thoughts are it might struggle, look rubbish for about three years and then give up the ghost.
I 've not seen many at gardens like Kew etc. If it was a winner here they would have it outside, its too wet in the milder west, so I'm not for it myself.

 

But dont let me put you off

 

The brahea was going to live in a pot anyway and bring into the GH in the winter
From reading up on them they hate root disturbance and wet feet.
They can supposedly take -9 but like you take that with a pinch of salt.

 

Mowgley, I bought a Brahia Armata from my local indie GC last summer. I lost my Palm Centre one three years ago as I left it outside and eventually succumbed to a few nights of -6c.
This one is in the greenhouse for the winter.
My Butia also suffered damage to three fronds two years ago and has since only thrown out one undamaged spear, again -6c.
I think the low temperatures touted for these Palms are for relatively mature specimens.

 

I think the lows touted are for mature specimens on a one off basis, usually with a very dry atmosphere.
Nothing like trying to establish a plant in the UK winter.

 

Well it's came this morning, not unwrapped it yet as it's blowing a gale and p***ing down again.
It's bigger than I thought it would be
Hopefully if it stops rain I'll take some pics tomorrow