Macadamia nut germination

15 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

Featured Answer

boson

15 years ago

Hi,

I have grown macadamia from seeds. You may soak nut overnight - not necessary. What is important is the orientation of the seed. The micropyle (blossom end) of the nut should be horizontal when you put the nut into the soil. I hope that helps a little. But I still think the best answer I can give is a reply I got from an Horticulturist at the Univ. of Hawaii many years ago. I still have it saved. He wrote:

"For maximum germination, fresh seeds (in-shell nuts) that sink in tap water, have kernels that are tight in the shell and have shells that are not dark colored, bleached or cracked should be planted. Germination percentage drops rapidly after 3 months storage at ambient temperatures and can vary between cultivars. For proper development of the tap root, seeds are planted with the micropyle and suture aligned in a horizontal orientation. Root malformations can occur if seeds are oriented improperly at planting, planted in shallow containers or when obstructive materials are encountered in the planting medium. The malformations result in structural weakness in the root systems of grafted trees and make trees more susceptible to wind-throw."

And here is a good link:
http://www.coopersnuthouse.com/maclib/anoteongerminatingmacadamiaseeds.html

Good luck!

Tomas

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Comments (12)

mangodog
15 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
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mango_kush
15 years ago
the variety you describe sounds like arkin papershell.
deano6165
15 years ago
My 15 year old Beaumont
mangodog
15 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
15 years ago
mangodog- Arkin papershell has a hairline crack in it which allows it to be cracked easier then other varieties
deano6165
15 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
14 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
14 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
13 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
8 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
8 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.