in growing various seeds over the years [not just trees] .. i found that prevention is the biggest single step in avoiding media borne problems... see link on how to sterilize media ... you can do it today.. and it will be ready for months to come ....

second issue .. is the media you actually use ... and dirt isnt one of them ..... most trees dont favor high peat ... high water retention media ...

what you use.. should be near what is found in its native range ...

and finally .... dont fear transplant... do it as soon as they are large enough for your big thick fingers to transplant.. this is one way to use a media that favors water/humidity for germination ... yet move towards a longer term media ...

too many peeps think in terms of one media for too long ...

finally ... if you have a plan for how you are going to handle this... share it with us.. its easier to guide you.. than write a thesis for you ...

are you thinking about spring outdoors.. indoors now??... lights.. etc ...

i will mull it over.. while you tell us the route you are thinking about ....

ken

ps: split your seed into groups.. try various methods.. dont shoot for one solution .... so one group goes to cold treatment... others not.. etc ....

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Probably will start a group indoors under a grow light in late Feb, then the rest straight outdoors in April - just to experiment a bit.

I'll grow in containers (probably a root-pruning container) since their final "home" is likely not going to be on this property (looking to move to a new home Fall 2014, plus a family member with acreage says he wants some of them).

Keeping them alive is my issue. Mail me 100 bare root seedlings and I'm your man. Ask me to grow one from seed and I have no clue what to do after they germinate it seems.

This spring I am going to try some....outdoors!

Ask me to grow one from seed and I have no clue what to do after they germinate it seems.

==>>>

i agree. ... and i think the tendency is to love them to death ...

simply my observation ... regarding scots pine and oaks in my MI garden ... cones/acorns fall to the ground .. on top of my sand.. nothing from me.. severe heat.. drought ... abject neglect ..... and it seems like i have a bazillion seedlings ...

then i take some and try myself... foo foo media ... insane interest and handling ... most likely overwatering... un-natural drainage ..... adding fertilizer ... too much sun on a tiny black pot .. yadda yadda ... and i can kill a vast majority of them ... and with some pride.. i admit i am good at it ... lol ...

and all that leads me back to where they grow in nature ... soil ... humidity.. sunlight ... and at what soil temp they germinate in spring ...... etc ... and making it as least complex as i can ....

again.. no specific experience with these ... and i havent researched them .. but my inclination might be a tray of course sand [high drainage] ... bright light but no direct sun [throw them under some shrub] .... and basically ignore them [let ma nature do her thing] ... and if any success... pot them up to tree pots in fall ... or next spring ....

i really think the key when dealing with trees... really is... NOT LOVING THEM TO DEATH ...

oh.. and protect from vermin also ...

ken

ps: i would not try all of them.. indoors ... again.. try differing methods ...

So �" although most of these I will grow outdoors, I did take a dozen of my seeds to sprout inside. Just for kicks mostly. I moistened a paper towel, sat them on top of the paper towel, pressed them in, and covered the container w/Saran wrap. I did soak the seeds for an hour just to moisten them on both sides before sitting on the paper towel...not sure if that was necessary.

ItâÂÂll be a week tomorrow and nothing has happened �" no roots have sprouted or anything. Several of them look âÂÂplumpâ as if a root is in there pushing, but I canâÂÂt recall if they looked like that already or not.

Temp where they are sitting runs right around 68-71F (our kitchen). ShouldnâÂÂt I be seeing something by now?

I think most of mine took ten to fourteen days.

The pre soak I never did but how can that be much different than sitting on a damp towel unless they need to breathe.

Keep us posted!

So Thursday, I picked them up and saw several had swelled DOWNWARD out of the bottom of the seed, and the tip looked like a root starting.

I put them in individual cells and they're now rooting down into the medium pretty well so far. Seems once they got going they sped up. No top growth yet, but I can see that the roots have shot down a good ways.

All but one sprouted.

This is a good thread. I have a couple varieties of conifer seeds in the fridge, and will soak them prior to planting. I'll try some outside where they will grow, and some in root riot cubes inside. I only want one of each.

One is my desired Christmas tree, Pacific White Fir, and the other is the pine nut variety.

If nothing else, seeds are fun!
Suzi

I figure, if I get two or three good, healthy trees of each species I'm growing (5 conifers plus several broadleaved trees) I'll be happy.

OK, here's what's going on - this pic is from Wednesday, Jan 29, of three of the sprouting seedlings:

{{gwi:633130}}

Before anyone comments - no, I don't keep them that wet all the time - I had just watered 60 seconds earlier.

Today, I noticed most of the seedlings were now standing completely upright, but the seed coat is still 100% attached to the cotyledons without even a hint of the cotyledons spreading apart and breaking/pushing off the seed coat.

Is that a normal occurrence? I even VERY gently tried to tug on the seed coat of one, it doesn't budge (well not without uprooting or breaking the seedling off).

They will eventually discard seed coat on their own. Don't worry about it.

Any reason for starting this early? I tried that way and it was just a bit too much work without sunlight bulbs. I'm taking taxodium seeds out of the fridge mid-march and place the containers along the window inside. That way, I don't have to worry about late freeze/frost when the seeds are ready to be planted in the starter tray outside.

Mostly out of boredom. Most of them I plan to sow directly outdoors in rootmaker cells in April.

My concern is that the seed coats are âÂÂstuckâÂÂ. This morning, they still look the same as when I last posted. The stems havenâÂÂt elongated, and the seed coats are still hard-closed with no part of any of the cotyledons on any of them showing.

IâÂÂve read that too dry of an atmosphere (likely indoors) or planting too shallow (I surface planted since I couldnâÂÂt recall if light was necessary for germination of Metasequoia).

Yeah, it does get pretty dry inside when you have furnace running at full blast during cold spells.

Not sure about Metasequoia but I usually plant Taxodium seeds about 1/4" deep. Then again, in the wild, they just fall to the ground so who knows? They probably get slightly flooded that would bring sediments and slightly cover them.

Funny about boredom. That's why I did the first time only to realize it was a waste of time in the end.

So the handful I started inside didn't make it - I think it was just too dry, plus I think a few had damping-off.

However, I just started about 25 of them, in a rootmaker cell tray (the 36-cell tray). I just threw about 35 of them on a shallow bed of moist peat, in a bowl with a lid. All but 10 sprouted a radicle, this time, in about 6 days at ambient temps in the upper 70s (bedroom that gets hot from the sun in the window). Last time ambient temps were about 68 - temperature seems to make a big difference.

They're now outdoors in the tray, one seed per cell - I only planted the ones that had some semblance of a root starting to emerge. Highs have been mostly 60s and lows 40s. If we do get a freeze I'll bring them in for the night, but we'll see what happens.

How big should I expect them to get by summer's end? Maybe 12-18 inches?

It seems they start fairly slowly, but then start growing more rapidly after a couple months from what I see here on GW.

My rarest moment came from seed grown during Feb/Mar that grew to ~12" and I planted it and at the end of the year it was 6' tall.

You can easily expect 12". If you shift them from rootmaker to gallon early on expect another jump in size.

Dax

spray a fine mist of water from a litre atomiser - this can help with 'stuck' seed cases. repeat every few hours.

Well, stupid mistakes are my middle name.

The seeds are in a rootmaker tray, outside, getting 4 hours of morning sun. They were moist this morning at 8. I get home at 3. It was 70ð today, nothi g excessively hot.

The five that were breaking the surface had shriveled up.

How do I get then enough sun, without frying then before they can grow enough rots to not dry out that fast?

use shade cloth, umbrella, fleece - anything really - newly germinated seedlings don't need bright sunlight just decent light so they don't start to get etiolated....I have new sequoia giganteum seedlings in the shade of my north wall. Plastic covers are a potential nightmare too (been there).

I keep mine under trees where it gets filtered sun. Full sun sure is a killer for starting seeds as I've found out the hard way years ago.

Anywhere with some shade is right in rabbit central, they may get eaten.

Also, how do you acclimate them to sun when they start growing?

Moved them to the north side of a wooden fence. Mostly shade, except a few "bars" of morning sun that gets between the fence slats from about 9a to 12pm.

I have several survivors from the baking they recieved, mostly those that were sprouting but hadn't yet broken the surface.

Also presprouting some more to replace those few that baked.

So all 5 didn't perish - 3 did, but 2 did perk back up and are continuing growth (turning up straight out of the potting mix).

Of course, tomorrow night's low of 28, if it pans out, means I probably need to let them spend the night in the house.

Of the 2 that lived, one was actually broken off today, it broke off where the cotyledons (still inside the seed coat) attaches to the stem. I'm thinking the stem had some permanent weakness/damage from the drying out a few days ago.

The 2" of rain today (that came in several spurts, including a downpour worthy of the most intense SUMMER thunderstorms) probably knocked it off.

However, I have 3 more emerging. I did bring them inside for the night. Tonight's low of upper 20s isn't as bad as some of you further west dealt with, but Metas are notoriously frost-sensitive once they begin growth, so I will assume seedlings are the same.