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echobelly

Propogating Palmetto from seed?

echobelly
13 years ago

I'd like to plant some palmetto around my yard to soften the edges. I need quite a few, so I'd like to grow them from seed, if possible. Is this hard to do? They seem to grow fairly easily in the wild. Do I need to start the seed at a particular time of year? How fast growing are they (I'm new here)?

Comments (10)

  • palmcityfl
    13 years ago

    An Ebay vendor is selling saw palmetto seedlings for $1.50 each. They are the silver (blue) variety, not the common green variety. This will save you months of waiting for your seeds to germinate. The same vendor also has needle palm seedlings for $2.50, which is a valuable landscaping plant native to Florida.

  • echobelly
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I think I'm confused as to what the plant is called. I'm talking about the bushy variety that seems to be growing wild everywhere (except my yard). My neighbor says he's only heard them called palmettos. I'm not looking for the Saw Palmetto that eventually grows a trunk. Is it needle palmetto I'm talking about? I looked it up, and they do look like it, but the site said they're native to the mid-west.

  • stuartwanda
    13 years ago

    Saw Palmettos do grow a trunk if old and trimmed back. This is a saw palmetto:

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:835282}}

  • xentar_gw
    13 years ago

    There are a few other small Florida native palms, like: Sabal Minor, Sabal Etonia, and Rhapidophyllum Hystrix.

  • gcmastiffs
    13 years ago

    If you can find a place where a lot is being cleared of Palmettos, you can save years by sawing the trunks into sections, and plant them. We did this on the West side of our property, as we removed Palmettos from other areas. We dug shallow trenches for the trunk sections, wedged them in, and watered. Every single one lived and is thriving many years later. We layed the trunks down, did not plant them vertically.

    Lisa

  • jayinflorida
    13 years ago

    The most common in Florida would be either Sabal Palmetto (Cabbage Palm) or Serenoa Repens (Saw Palmetto) and both grow trunks, but both are rather slow growers. Sabal Minor (Dwarf Palmetto) does not usually grow a trunk, but are usually only seen in swampy areas. Take a picture of what you're talking about and then we can identify it.

  • cjc45
    13 years ago

    I don't think they're that easy to identify. I had what I thought was a yard full of palmettos. Then one day they shot up into sabel palms. It took many years.

  • jayinflorida
    13 years ago

    I can tell you exactly what they are if I can see them... I grow all of them. If you know your palms, it's actually pretty easy. A Sabal Palmetto looks nothing like a Serenoa Repens, even at an early stage.

  • babalu_aye
    13 years ago

    I've seen the silver variety growing in the dunes over at Canaveral National Seashore (Playalinda). They're absolutely beautiful.

    John

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