2019 From seed

[Shibui]

but if i move a bit of soil, i can still see the seed and small root.

That sounds like good news. If they were dead you would only find mush. Maybe they are just waiting until conditions are right. Fingers crossed.....

 

[ysrgrathe]

Check this out, species Japanese maple my brother is growing, not that different from yours. This is probably a hybridized offspring of cultivars as it was a volunteer from a nursery. This one is also definitely upright!

looks like a large lace leaf to me. Leaves have 5 or 6 lobes

View attachment 217626 doesn't appear to be a graft and I'm not sure if it's even an acer palmatum. Its fairly large as u can see. If anyone has a positive I'd on this let me know. I collected a couple hundred seeds and wanna know what I'm growing

 

[BonsaiNaga13]

Check this out, species Japanese maple my brother is growing, not that different from yours. This is probably a hybridized offspring of cultivars as it was a volunteer from a nursery. This one is also definitely upright!

View attachment 239230

View attachment 239231

Pretty sure the one by me was grafted. They're the slowest growing of all my seedlings but they're also all completely bright red right now so I'll be patient with them

 

[Halifax]

Just outplanted about 960 mixed stratified seeds into 10 Leach Conetainer racks:

Ponderosa Pine
Western White Pine
Loblolly Pine
Japanese Larch
Colorado Blue Spruce
Blue Douglas Fir
Colorado Pinyon Pine
Bristlecone Pine
Mugo Pine
Hinoki Cypress
Japanese Black Pine
Jack Pine
Balsam Fir
Tamarack
Japanese Larch
Engelmann Spruce
Subalpine fir
White Spruce Densata
Black Spruce
Colorado Blue Spruce
Red spruce
Lodgepole Pine Murryanna
Japanese Red Pine
Pinyon Pine
Jeffrey Pine

I haven't done conifer seed work since graduate school over 25 years ago when I worked on a jack pine-pitch pine/climate-change project on Cadillac Mountain at Acadia NP (the only place that the two species co-occur). I had forgotten how much fun it is to work from seed.

My growing medium is Pro-Mix HP Mycorrhizae in 10 cu. in. Conetainers. I added some screened cedar mulch to the top of each cone. I am not using any heating mats or warm storage for this first year trial, letting nature run the party (unless their is a frost warning).

And yes, I have Conifer Derangement Syndrome.

 

[sikadelic]

I'll add my 2 cents. I'm starting a batch of JBPs, Tridents, Japanese Maple, and Korean Hornbeams. And they threw in 10 cherry seeds so I'll try those too. I plan to start a large batch of seedlings each year.

And by the looks of things, do I sense a seedling swap in the next year or two?!

All the maple seeds were crap.. I'm going to stop buying from eBay and go with a good source next year.

The KHs and JBPs are doing well. I trimmed the roots back on the KHs and planted them in their own 4" pots this evening and will leave them be the rest of the year. I'll update with the JBPs once I cut/replant them.

 

[Shibui]

All the maple seeds were crap.. I'm going to stop buying from eBay and go with a good source next year

Maple seed goes into deep dormancy when stored for a while. Not dead just very difficult to germinate. Fresh seed germinates very easily so look around for trees in your neighbourhood this summer or find someone who can get fresh seed for you.

 

[Cajunrider]

If they grow anything like mine did last year they'll need transplanting again in a few months

You were right. I'll need to transplant fairly soon. The roots are already filling the plastic cups.

 

[It's Kev]

Finally, got all the seeds I wanted for this year:
Hibiscus
Rooibos tea
Baobab
Marula
Wild olive
Hawthorn
Some sort of plum



Like an idiot, I misplaced my Scots pine seeds and they got left behind at home in SA. Asked my mom to handle it, at least there they can grow in the ground for a bit.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Two types of crab. The space to the right has pitch pine in it. You can see them germinating.


Some more pitch pine. Also Osage Oranges. The front container is some weird type of cryptomeria.


Pitch pines.


Mixture of crabapples, osage orange, some more pitch pine


Japanese maples. All of these are seedlings I plucked from the front flower beds under my japanese.


The remaining pitch pines. Seeds collected from NY.

 

[Starfox]

My surviving Banksia occidentalis, I believe.

 

[Shibui]

and another euphorbia weed to keep the mealy bugs alive and happy.

 

[Starfox]

lol, gone.

The struggle is real.

 

[Lou T]

Surviving Monterey Cypress started in December 2018. Doing all right so far in this Florida heat and humidity with nearly daily rains:

 

[BonsaiNaga13]

Anyone have any experience with field maple from seed? I found a local source for seeds but the internet says they need warm stratification before cold stratification and I'd be collecting these directly off the tree so I'm wondering if this still goes

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Anyone have any experience with field maple from seed? I found a local source for seeds but the internet says they need warm stratification before cold stratification and I'd be collecting these directly off the tree so I'm wondering if this still goes

Yes, it would still apply. Just plant them in a flat, in the yard now, they will germinate next spring.

That is how I handled Ostrya virginiana, hop flowered hornbeam. Hardest part is remembering what you put in the flat.

 

[Shibui]

Yes, it would still apply. Just plant them in a flat, in the yard now, they will germinate next spring.

That is how I handled Ostrya virginiana, hop flowered hornbeam. Hardest part is remembering what you put in the flat.

This is also my usual strategy. Seeds will germinate when conditions are right for the species.
For any seeds in pots in the yard be aware that mice, rats and other seed eaters have evolved for many thousands of years to be able to locate food, including your seed, and are very efficient at hunting out seed in their territory so protect from critters as needed.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

By the way I tie with aluminum wire a 1/4 inch piece of hardware cloth as a cover to protect the seed. Especially when I started hazelnut and chestnuts. The seedlings will sprout through the mesh. Take the mesh off late winter while the seedlings have no leaves. Works nice. BUT tie down All 4 sides, squirrels will pry their way in if they can.

 

[BonsaiNaga13]

By the way I tie with aluminum wire a 1/4 inch piece of hardware cloth as a cover to protect the seed. Especially when I started hazelnut and chestnuts. The seedlings will sprout through the mesh. Take the mesh off late winter while the seedlings have no leaves. Works nice. BUT tie down All 4 sides, squirrels will pry their way in if they can.

I thought of a similar idea Yesterday with chicken wire and zip ties. So to be clear when is it okay to collect field maple seeds? Do they fall in autumn like Japanese maple?

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I thought of a similar idea Yesterday with chicken wire and zip ties. So to be clear when is it okay to collect field maple seeds? Do they fall in autumn like Japanese maple?

I really don't know much about field maples.

I know for Acer palmatum and Acer rubrum, that they have a unique adaptation. Seed that has matured, but is still green or fresh, moist, a small percentage will germinate immediately. The rest will germinate in spring with a single cold stratification.

Any seed that hangs long enough to dry below some % ( I think 70% moisture) will require a warm moist stratification followed by a cold stratification. So dry maple seed planted spring 2019 won't germinate until spring 2020. It is possible a few won't germinate until spring 2021. This is an adaptation to have a percentage of seed in the soil "seed bank" in the event of a bad year.

So with your field maples you will have to experiment or hit reference books. Harvest some green seed that looks plump, harvest some seed that has begun to change color, and some that has dried out. Plant them in well marked flats with anti squirrel wire mesh tops. Leave the flats out for the winter. See what happens. Chances are good that the green seed, not quite ripe will germinate immediately. Don't worry about it being a short growing season because of the late start. Just let it get cold and go dormant in autumn. It will be fine.

Many maples follow this pattern, it makes sure that a portion of each year's crop of seed will germinate at 3 different times, spread out over 24 months. In the hopes of having good weather for at least part of the seed crop that year.

 

[Shibui]

Field maple seed matures in autumn same as most others. I have sown fresh seed from the tree and had good germination the following spring. Seed picked off the tree as leaves were falling.
Most seed is viable a bit before they change colour but usually better to wait until fully ripe to get. Many species with seed dormancy the dormancy factors are the last thing to be included in the seed so mature but green seed can often germinate without the usual pre treatments.
Mature but fresh maple seed usually germinates the following spring without pre treatment. As Leo points out, they develop dormancy when the seed dries out and then it becomes increasingly difficult to germinate.