All i know is that these palms grow like WEEDS in central CA, wherever the birds drop them, they sprout by themselves and in a matter of months, you have a palm of notable size. My best advice would be to sow them outdoors in the ground when the climate permits (i.e. spring time). Then, you could dig them up carefully before winter and pot them if you wanted to. I dont find that they mind root disturbance. I just moved two six-foot w. robustas with very little soil and i broke lots of roots, and just two months later they are sending out new fronds. Large w. robustas (15 feet of trunk and more) are usually field-grown and uprooted when sold, with no soil or anything, ready for transplanting.

In my very limited experience, these are extremely easy to germinate. I've done both the baggy method and planted them directly into a pot. Same applies for filiferas as well.

I agree with central_cali369 and bradleyo, the seeds of W.R. are easy to germinate. What I do -with great success- is I put 20-30 seeds 1/2 inch deep in a small pot (10" diameter). It helps if the top 1" of the soil in your pot is peat moss (so that the seeds are burried in this top layer of peat moss). Unless you have a heated pad, the best thing you can do is wait for spring/summer before you do anything. The soil must be kept moist. If the weather is warm the seeds will germinate in 2-4 weeks. A couple of months later you can take the little seedlings out of the pot and transplant them individually into larger pots.

Good luck!

Nikitas

Those seeds germinated well for me both indoors in cups on a window sill in winter to a handful put just below the surface in a pot outdoors in spring. They usually germinated in about a month. I have a handful in a bag, in dirt sitting on my hot water heater with others at the moment.
Chris

I would have to agree with the others who say these seeds germinate easy. I got about 50 seeds from Mike in Chicago and one of them happened to drop in a flower bed. A few weeks later I noticed something different looking than my azaleas coming up and realized it was the Robusta. The soil was pretty dry and it was extremely hot weather at the time. So I would say minimal moisture and very warm soil would make them germinate quickly. The seed must have been just barely covered with redwood mulch. Just enough to hold some moisture.

Good luck... but you probably won't need it.

btw... I'm going to protect the seedling over winter to see just how hardy Robusta can be. But it sprouted in an unfortunate spot so I'll have to move it in spring... if it survives the midwestern winter. Now wish me luck because I will need it... LOL.

Thank alot everyone. Its good to know it wont be too hard. I'll post the results. Thanks again for the seeds Chris. I'll email when they arrive.

Josh-
Washingtonias germinate easily. You could plant them in egg cartons and if you provide bottom heat they will germiate in a couple of weeks.

Southern il boy
I got some seed from mike and believe it or not i bought
a jiffy planting kit and all my seed (was probaly about 30 ) germinated in about a week i never applied bottom heat just spritzed them with water about 2 times a week .

topher,

btw... I was mistaken, those were not Robusta. They are filifera seeds.

I got about 50 or more seeds from Mike. I can't possibly take care of 50 palm trees so I only planted a few in pots but every one that I planted has come up. A few were eaten by squirrels. But I've moved the remaining 3 inside and they are doing well. I checked the one that sprouted in the flower bed outside and it looks a bit stressed. It has been down to the mid 20's unprotected but I didn't think that would harm it. If it drops below 20F I'll cover it with mulch and a clear plastic cup. I'm not going to provide any heat for it though.

But you're right... they germinate very easy.

There is a difference between the hardiness of the adult palm and a mere seedling. Mid-20's on a regular basis sounds mightly cold for a seedling. Also keep in mind that though an adult filifera can take some cold dry, they are not particulary fond of cold and WET soil conditions. I would bring them in.

If you are truly in PA (or in Chicago) you are wasting your time with any Washingtonia (Filifera or Robusta). Try a trachy or needle palm unless you have a huge atrium where it can grow inside. These are desert palms, folks. Sorry, but that's the hard truth. How do you guys plan to protect these when they get older? Why waste the time only to let it die when you can't protect it any more? Seriously. We have trouble keeping Washingtonia filifera alive here in Central NM which is infinitely warmer and drier than you guys in the winter.

Thanks for chiming in flattie "if that truly is your name" but we'll waste our time with anything we want! There's many ways to protect them. That's sad you cant even keep a robusta alive in New Mexico(in the desert). We do have trachys, needles and many other palms. I have a coconut palm for the love of god. I'll get any palm I want and keep it alive for as long as I can until it dies and then do it all over again! What a downer you are!