Surprised to hear this. My very numerous arb seeds are released steadily from shortly after ripening in roughly Sept. on thru fall. Wondering why yours are still hung up in the cones.

+oM

I collected them last fall and have stored them in a paper bag. I tried rolling them in my hands and drying them further,this seemed to help some. How do nurseries collect large quantities of seed?

since they root rather freely ..... why would they bother with seed ... ?

lol.. you know.. if you had taken 3 cuttings.. when you harvested the seed.. you would probably already have at least 2 plants.. with just a little skill and a little luck ...

and that would be why for profit.. seed gathering might not be profitable ....

ken

I've been watching this thread and from the beginning I thought literally....
"you simply have to take the time necessary to spread open the cones with your hands and shake out the seed."

I've done thousands of Thuja occidentalis cones. Of course I let them dry first in a paper bag.

Dax

A few years ago I collected a few (5 thousand or so ) Pinus strobus seed . They grew great ,now I'd like to try Thuja occidentalis. I have 10 acres where they grew naturaly that I'm trying to restore. How do nurseries get large amounts of seed?

Sounds like your property is similar to mine own. White pine, "white cedar" and white birch make up the bulk of the forest trees there. I applaud your goals.

Check the USDA Forest Service Sylvics pages. Usually a good source for such info.