Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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- USDA Zone
- 5b
I have raised more than 5 batches of bald cypress from seed over the years, have not done any recently. Some I planted in the ground are over 30 feet tall. Easy if seed is fresh, meaning the current year crop. If seed is free, no need for any seed treatment beyond six or more weeks of cold stratification. I think I run about 50% without treatment and being pretty careless. Easy.
Let cones dry enough to break them apart, but don't over dry, leaving on a shelf for 6 months will lower success. (not kill entirely, just lower rate). Don't bother separating seed from cone fragments.
If you are south of Saint Louis, plant out in a flat in "normal" seedling or bedding plant mix and leave them over winter, they will sprout once you have several weeks of 80+ F days.
"Up in the cold North", put seeds in a baggie of wet peat or sphagnum and into the refrigerator until spring. After all frost danger is past, plant outside in flats. They need heat to get going, mine usually don't sprout until July, I'm in far north burbs of Chicago, zone 5.
They grow fast, usually by second year they compare well with purchased second year seedlings.
Note for northern growers:
Because seedlings tend to sprout late, because they need heat to "wake up", the summer often is too short to mature new seedlings. The first winter it is critical to delay time of first frost, and then protect them from freezing the first winter. This late sprouting of seed probably explains why the northern limit of natural distribution is where it is.
Trees in ground are hardy through zone 5, after seedlings are 2 or 3 years old. Trees in pots need some winter protection in zone 5 or colder areas.
Let cones dry enough to break them apart, but don't over dry, leaving on a shelf for 6 months will lower success. (not kill entirely, just lower rate). Don't bother separating seed from cone fragments.
If you are south of Saint Louis, plant out in a flat in "normal" seedling or bedding plant mix and leave them over winter, they will sprout once you have several weeks of 80+ F days.
"Up in the cold North", put seeds in a baggie of wet peat or sphagnum and into the refrigerator until spring. After all frost danger is past, plant outside in flats. They need heat to get going, mine usually don't sprout until July, I'm in far north burbs of Chicago, zone 5.
They grow fast, usually by second year they compare well with purchased second year seedlings.
Note for northern growers:
Because seedlings tend to sprout late, because they need heat to "wake up", the summer often is too short to mature new seedlings. The first winter it is critical to delay time of first frost, and then protect them from freezing the first winter. This late sprouting of seed probably explains why the northern limit of natural distribution is where it is.
Trees in ground are hardy through zone 5, after seedlings are 2 or 3 years old. Trees in pots need some winter protection in zone 5 or colder areas.