Insights

Here are some tips for sowing and growing the very special Sabal Palmetto palm (Cabbage Palm) yourself. Below, the growing instructions explain how you can easily sow and grow your own Sabal Palmetto palm in just a few steps.

What do you need to grow?

• Coconut soil or potting soil
• Perlite
• A sealable container about 10 cm deep
• Sabal Palmetto seed(s)

Sowing Sabal Mexicana seeds:

1. To speed up seed germination, it’s good to soak them in lukewarm water for 2 days. Change the water regularly!
2. Sowing temperature: the Sabal Palmetto palm germinates well between 25 and 30 degrees during the day and around 20 degrees at night.
3. Mix the coconut soil/potting soil with perlite and put it in the sealable container (light-permeable). Then moisten the soil slightly with a watering can. The soil must not be soaked, or the seeds may rot.
4. Use your fingers to make a small hole about 2 cm deep and place the seed in it. Cover the seed with soil and press it lightly.
5. Place each seed a few centimeters apart so the roots have enough space to grow.
6. Close the container and place it in a warm spot.
7. Remove the lid from the container every few days to let the soil breathe. The soil must remain moist throughout the entire germination period, but be careful not to make it too wet.

The germination period is between 60 to 90 days. When the seedling grows against the lid, it's time to repot the seedling into a larger pot.

Water the seedling moderately but regularly and place it in a warm and bright spot. For example, on the windowsill. The palm loves lots of light and warmth… but not wet “feet.”

Follow these steps and you will have a grateful and magical palm tree for the rest of your life.

The Pindo palm—Butia capitata [BEW-tee-uh, kap-ih-TAY-tuh]—has a low, thick trunk and is a compact perennial palm with an exceptional tolerance for cold temperatures. Butia capitata is known as one of the most cold-hardy palms.

Palms are unique among woody ornamental plants because, with a few exceptions, palm species can only be propagated from seed. Palms are also "notorious" for their slow and uneven seed germination.