Jubaea chilensis Manual Cracking

When looking for information on germinating Jubaea I noticed to different groups of people; those who said sow as they are and those who lived by cracking them.  I decided not to crack them for fear of damaging the seeds.  Today I changed my mind.  I took a look and there were no signs of germination.

At first I thought a nutcracker would work.  I asked the landlord if I could borrow one.  There is no way that a hand-held nutcracker could ever open one of these things!  I thought for sure I was set and would have better control so I wouldn't damaged the seeds.  Nope.  Nothing.  I think if I kept trying the nutcracker would've broken.

Next I found a way that actually worked.  I set the seeds up vertically so that one of the pointed sides faced up on a brick walkway.  Then I grabbed a rock and smashed.  To my amazement the shell exploded like a bomb and the seed was completely unharmed.  Ideally your only suppose to do it in one blow to prevent damaged.

I cracked them all with varying degrees of success.  Some still have their entire shells, some half and others are completely naked.  They are more prone to mould this way but I'll check daily and take care of any that shows up.  I did split one seed.  I died a little inside but then remembered that they're edible.  They do look and taste like mini coconuts.  Just no coconut water.

I'm going to soak them another few hours then plant them in a mix of sand and compost/potting soil in 15cm (6") depth pots.  They tend to put out a deep taproot before showing any signs of top growth.  Hopefully it works!  They should be up within a month now (at least the first few).

I've been a little distracted lately so sorry about the lack of posts and commenting. Things are still a little crazy. Hopefully I'll be getting more settled soon. ;)