On January 6th 2010, I planted two Windmill Palm (Trachycarpus Fortunei) seeds (I bought from Amazon.com in a package of 10 that were harvested in August of 2009) in two separate pots. Each pot I filled with fresh potting soil from Menards (a regional store). I placed the seeds in each of the pots about an inch or so deep in the center of the pots. I then put about a cup of water (a household drinking cup) into the each of the pots. I placed the two pots next to a window that gets sun from noon until sundown (but even when the sun is directly overhead it'll still shine into my room). In the Winter it was as low as 45F in my room, but once I got home from school I would boost the temperature back to 68F until I would leave the next day. Most days I would return to find it at 52F on average. Now that it is spring it stays above 60F in my room no matter what. Every week since I've planted them I have checked the soil in the middle of the week to find that the soil is dry. So I then have added (usually) another cup of water. For the pot that doesn't have a tray I've been pouring the water in to it from the top. For the one that has a tray on the bottom of it for water, I've been filling the water tray. But the other, day I got impatient and I dug away the soil lightly only to find that the seed never germinated at all. I did this same thing (brushed away the soil until I found the seed) to my other pot that didn't have a tray for the water underneath and I found that it had grown and made at least one root, I then gently placed the soil back where it was, once again covering the roots and seed. After that, I put one of the seeds I still had in a zip-lock plastic bag within a wet paper towel. I then placed the plastic bag with the seed in front of my window, and there it has been for a week now. It is now May 16th, 2010 and I am just wondering if I'm doing okay with trying to grow Windmill palm seeds. Is it normal for them to take this long? What must I do for the remaining seed to shoot up even a shoot to the surface? It it that I've not waited long enough? Should I have done the paper towel baggy thing before putting them into the pot to grow (for my first seed I tried)? What am I doing wrong? Are Windmill Palm seeds truly this hard to grow? I've read they are among the easiest to germinate and grow. I would appreciate any help that anyone has.
I planted seeds of T. wagnerianus on Jan 29, and saw the first sprout on May 3, so yes, they do take a while. I sowed a lot of seed, but so far only have 5 sprouting, so I hope I am doing it right. For you, it could just be a bad seed. So far, you've had a 50% success rate - try more seeds and see if it improves.
Well, the one that died was in the pot that I watered by way of the water-tray underneath the pot. So I think since I filled the water-tray every time it was empty I may have Over-watered it.
