Clinton3666

Hi everyone,
If you plan to buy seeds of musa species from rarepalmseeds.com,

You need to think about disppointment when your seeds might not germinate.

To test the freshness of musa seeds, you need a bowl full of cold water & seeds of musa species.
Throw / drop the seeds into bowl and watch the seeds.

Fresh seeds sink to bottom while stale seeds floats.

I brought the 100 seeds of musa beccarii var hottana on September this year.
I sowed the seeds on 26th and 27th September this year, but now over 60 past days, the seeds did not germinated.

Seems the seeds of callimusa species tends to become stale & dies earlier than hardy rhodochlamys species seeds.

Owner of rarepalmseeds.com did not know about seeds of musa species become stale after 1 month of fresh.

I learnt the many fresh seeds of musa ornata took 22-30 days to germinate while few stale seeds of musa ornata took 3 months to germinate.

Musa seeds sat at rarepalmseeds.com's shop for months. the food stores inside seeds get used up and baby plants dies.

If you buy today, your seeds will not germinate.

I tried seeds of musa textilis, musa campestris and musa laterite this year, but all seeds are stale & dead.

Kind Regards

Clinton.

RobG7aChattTN

I've given up on buying Musa seeds. I bought several varieties from rarepalmseeds in lots of 100. Out of something like 6 varieties I think I got 4 to germinate. Still, with fresh seeds I've also had poor results with some types. With velutina I've had good years and bad. I'd rather buy plants and wait for pups.

Jack Daw

It's difficult to buy really fresh seeds. They lose viability quickly and although ripe and fresh when bought in the homeland, they might be useless before they get to the vendor. Ther best and safest bet is to get seeds from some local via mail.

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



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Markku Hakkinen

Hi,
I was the one who introduced and describe M. beccari var. hottana from Kinanbatangan River area Sabah, Borneo 2004.
Since that I have grown it in my home from suckers and seeds. I have got its seeds with hand pollination from my plants (please see my avatar). I would say from my experience and tests with the seeds that they remain viable at least for a year in home storage. The germination takes normally up to 2 - 6 months. At Kew it took 5 months from my donated over a year old seeds.
I have also germinated many other Callimusa species in my home and our botanic garden. I have to admit that germination with them is very irregular out of their natural habitats. In vulcanic soil in their natural habitats they remain viable for decades. As soon as there is a gap in canopy seedlings are coming up very fast.
Markku.

planetrj

I'm also a past customer of Rare Palm Seeds. com, and I have to say with them it's hit and miss. I've had just as bad of luck with Trade Winds Fruit. They have also sent many many dead seeds to my sadness.
Many seeds BOTH sellers offer are recalcitrant, and that is where the problem lies. It's nobody's fault but the seller to be aware that many seeds are NOT meant to be stored. But, many of these resellers either cold store them, or they store them too long. Both, of which are bad news for many tropicals and recalcitrant seeds. They BOTH are guilty of selling seeds which show signs of being stored when they should have been planted upon harvest.

Now, my suggestion if you're TOO tempted to buy from either in any case, is use your PayPal Credit Card, as PayPal will reimburse you for lost or dead seeds. Also, American Express will do the same, however, I'm not sure if they accept AE.

It's good we all share our experiences, and maybe these companies will work out their issues if they continue to see a habit they have, and furthermore, if they see the complaints. DG has plenty of them for both companies.

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you will never have enough bananas ^_^