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sf_rhino

Macadamia nut germination

sf_rhino
13 years ago

A colleague of mine brought back a few fresh-ish macadamia nuts from Hawaii and I am thinking about having a go at sprouting them. Any general advice (scarring/soaking)? I notice that several of the nuts have small hairline fractures by where the stem was, so I'm guessing moisture already may hare a route inside.

Also, should I use a heat mat for these? I don't have one and was debating trying a DIY or just getting a small one.

Thanks!

Rhino

Comments (12)

  • mangodog
    13 years ago

    Hi Rhino - I don't have any answers, since I bought a beaumont macadamia plant right off the Home Depot garden lot, but if no one responds to your question here you might try googling your question? I would imagine there'd be lots of responses on line.....

    Oh, and here's a picture of my 3yr old macadamia (tropical FRUIT forum fanatics - forgive me!) Yes the brown leaves are salt burn from the soil - they really prefer deep irrigation and not the sprinkler setup I have working now...

    mangodawg

  • mango_kush
    13 years ago

    the variety you describe sounds like arkin papershell.

  • deano6165
    13 years ago

    My 15 year old Beaumont



  • mangodog
    13 years ago

    Beauty of a tree, Deano - have you noticed they don't mind the cold?

    About how many nuts do you get on your tree these days....and.......is the shell covering hard to crack?
    I don't think we have thin-shelled varieties, do we?

    I'm assuming you are in Florida...or are you SoCal????

    mangoArfy

  • mango_kush
    13 years ago

    mangodog- Arkin papershell has a hairline crack in it which allows it to be cracked easier then other varieties

  • deano6165
    13 years ago

    Hi Mangodog, This size doesn't mind the cold at all; I'm in sw Florida and we got down to 26-27 in Dec. If it wasn't for the animals, I would get about 100lbs. and they are hard shell.

  • makini
    11 years ago

    I live in zone 9 Ceres ca. Central Valley.I know of a mac tree growin in some ones front yard we do get frost but no snow.I just bought one mac and one kukui seedling i heard of kukui growing in the bayarea I will keeo in pots until big enough to plant out side wish me luck.

  • tropicbreezent
    11 years ago

    There's several species of Macadamia. Most come from outside the tropics and from mountainous areas. They have a reasonable cold tolerance, but none of them are in areas that get snow.

  • LisaBrodyaga
    10 years ago

    Friends - I recently bought three young papershell macadamia nut trees. One is precocious, and already has about six developing nuts, of various sizes. I would like to try to germinate them, when they are ready. How do I tell if they are "ripe"? They are still green, and the largest is about the size of a quarter. I am in deep South Texas, near Brownsville.

    Lisa

  • Mirko Di Pietro
    6 years ago

    Hi guys!

    I would like to sow macadamia seeds.

    Please, can you tell me when to plant them?

    It's better to put them in the fridge and sow in spring or, just like other nuts, to sow them now during winter (avoiding freezings)?

    Thank you very much!

  • sf_rhino
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Pretty sure they need to be really fresh. I've still had no success with mac seeds I've purchased, even ones I thought were really fresh from HI. Interestingly I saw a macadamia nut tree for sale near SF in a big box store last week right alongside the sad Christmas trees.