Critters eating my black pine seedlings!

[Bonsai Nut]

I planted 500 black pine seeds this Spring, and I am probably going to end up with less than 20 trees. I wasn't really paying close attention and something kept eating the seeds and pulling the seedlings out of the ground. I initially thought it was the wind, but since I have netted my planting trays, the problem has stopped. I am sooooo frustrated right now. Another year down the tubes. Of course, not sure what I would have done with 500 black pines, but it is nice to dream

 

[rlist]

I lost about 150 jbp and ponderosa pine seedlings to the birds this spring. So, I feel your pain...

 

[Gnome]

I too have had problems with something eating pine seedlings/buds. As I have noted here elsewhere, I have 30 Scots Pine seedlings that I started last year (I started with a lot more seeds than that). Late last summer/early fall something (chipmunks?) took a liking to the nice plump buds that were forming. Now about half of them have had the terminal bud removed. Luckily, most have low buds that should take over. It may even prove interesting as an inadvertent experiment.

Norm

 

[Brent]

Bnut

I discovered years ago that it was pointless to try to grow some species from seed, and Japanese Black Pine is one of them. Sure they germinate like mad and the seed is cheap, but do you get good product? In my case, the answer was no. In the long run, it was far better to buy 1-0 seedlings at 25 cents apiece than it was to grow them, and there was no way for me to grow seedlings as good as I could buy. I buy 400 every year from Brooks Tree Farm. I wouldn't do it any other way. See the article titled Where It All Begins at the blog for the whole story.

Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com
see our blog at http:BonsaiNurseryman.typepad.com

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I discovered years ago that it was pointless to try to grow some species from seed, and Japanese Black Pine is one of them.

I have never tried growing from seed before, so I was going to see what all the excitement was about This year I also planted 25 1-0 black pine seedlings that are all doing fine so I at least have those going for me. The seeds were just a disappointment given how long I kept them in the fridge, etc, plus the kids were really excited to see them pop.