Gingko saplings

HoneyHornet

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
310
Location
New Jersey
USDA Zone
7a
20210922_141403_HDR.jpg
Today I came across a baker's dozen of Ginkgo saplings was just toying around with what would be the best route to go with these should I attempt a fusion or let them get some size on themselves individually
I'll take some pictures later but they all have nice root structure
 
Messages
337
Reaction score
1,023
Location
Tokyo Japan
USDA Zone
9b
My experience is still pretty limited, but they will fuse. I've seen some twisted together palm tree looking fusions.
I bought about 30 of these guys earlier this year and am trying a fused base clump and a fused trunk upright. Your's are probably a little older than that.
Time will tell if they'll turn out well or not.
 

hinmo24t

Masterpiece
Messages
2,480
Reaction score
3,165
Location
Dartmouth Massachusetts
USDA Zone
7A
View attachment 399362
Today I came across a baker's dozen of Ginkgo saplings was just toying around with what would be the best route to go with these should I attempt a fusion or let them get some size on themselves individually
I'll take some pictures later but they all have nice root structure
where you get those? great find
 

HoneyHornet

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
310
Location
New Jersey
USDA Zone
7a
where you get those? great find
In philly there are some here n there right in the city..just looked under a big old one.. there usually aren't any saplings under they're just strong General foot traffic and I guess occasional Landscaping but this one was behind construction fence at a giant job site that has been under way for quite a while so I guess gave them a chance to grow
I was on site few blocks away so i was already wearing hi viz n hardhat ..strolled right round the fence n wiggled them free

I almost got super excited because there was one about two feet high and had really good thickness but it turned out to be a sucker off of the main trunk
 

hinmo24t

Masterpiece
Messages
2,480
Reaction score
3,165
Location
Dartmouth Massachusetts
USDA Zone
7A
In philly there are some here n there right in the city..just looked under a big old one.. there usually aren't any saplings under they're just strong General foot traffic and I guess occasional Landscaping but this one was behind construction fence at a giant job site that has been under way for quite a while so I guess gave them a chance to grow
I was on site few blocks away so i was already wearing hi viz n hardhat ..strolled right round the fence n wiggled them free

I almost got super excited because there was one about two feet high and had really good thickness but it turned out to be a sucker off of the main trunk
work hard, play hard


that was a nice move, i did similar for my maples lol


i never saw any growing under the local one, but i think its nutless
 

Shibui

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
7,545
Reaction score
15,211
Location
Yackandandah, Australia
USDA Zone
9?
i never saw any growing under the local one, but i think its nutless
Or maybe it is the one with the nuts. Ginkgo have separate male and female trees so only female trees will fruit. Yours is likely a male.
Ginkgo fruit have a very strong smell so nurseries usually only propagate male plants which means that females are reasonably uncommon.
Add to that ginkgo fruit is used medicinally so many residents of Asian descent and alternative medicine types know all the female trees that bear fruit and collect fruit in season.

Finding fruit is hard enough, finding actual seedlings is even more rare.

Ginkgo are slow to heal so probably quite slow to fuse too. They do sucker readily so multi trunks are relatively easy to produce without the need for fusion.

I do not envy the loooong road ahead with gingko seedlings. They are one of the slowest developing trees I have ever tried but the result is worth the years.
 

HoneyHornet

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
310
Location
New Jersey
USDA Zone
7a
Any suggestions on keeping these guys going should I get small individual cups to have them in or probably just do a planter tray.. wondering if I should keep the roots separate from each other and how deep of a container to allow them to get some grow room I understand it takes a long time but just trying to figure out how to set these up for maximum potential

I read something about saying the whole should be as deep as and twice as wide as the root.. so maybe a shallow and wide grow tray?

Should it be a more organic soil while they're in the stage or closer to a bonsai mix with at least some organic I would imagine
 
Last edited:

HoneyHornet

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
310
Location
New Jersey
USDA Zone
7a
Thumbs up for conservation lol there was so much drop cuts of Steel and debris laying around that tree it was only a matter of time before they are all smashed up anyway

The guys are always trying to bust on me lol they just don't get it

And leave your scraps of copper wire everywhere and you can find me wiring something up I found around the corner
 

Attachments

  • 20210924_100523_HDR.jpg
    20210924_100523_HDR.jpg
    177.9 KB · Views: 61
  • 16324924740961161268720403466823.jpg
    16324924740961161268720403466823.jpg
    153.3 KB · Views: 72

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
Messages
11,337
Reaction score
23,254
Location
on the IL-WI border, a mile from ''da Lake''
USDA Zone
5b
@Shibui is right, Ginkgo trees have separate sexes. In the USA, trees brought in from Asia before WW2 were often just seedlings. In older cities like Milwaukee and Chicago (I'm mainly familiar with these 2 cities) there are a scattering of big old female Ginkgo trees. In fact, you Chicago area BNuts have a great source of Ginkgo nuts - the Frank Lloyd Wright Studio in Oak Park. Between Nov 1 and Christmas, every day a few hundred gingko nuts fall from the massive female ginkgo in the courtyard of the Frank Lloyd Wright studio. During the day the groundskeepers are meticulous about sweeping up and discarding the nuts. At night they accumulate on the ground under the tree. The courtyard is open to the street at night, just walk on in and collect nuts to your hearts desire. If you are only able to visit during the day, just ask a groundskeeper where they dispose of the nuts, I'm pretty certain if you are polite, they will show you and again you can have as many as you want. If you are in Milwaukee, there are quite a number of female ginkgo trees, in particular, along Oakland Ave, within 3 blocks of Lake Michigan. Also if you know your Milwaukee history, in 1924 the US Ambassador to Japan retired to Milwaukee, where he planted a female ginkgo in front of his huge, brick bungalow on the south side. I forget the address, but ask anyone in the Milwaukee Bonsai Society and the location of several female ginkgo trees are "common knowledge" in the group.

By the way, the use of ginkgo nuts is not just medicinal, they are EDIBLE. Delicious in fact. Preparation for planting and or for eating is the same. Collect the nuts you want to process and put them in a small bucket, cover with cold water. Important, perform all cleaning outdoors. The soft seed coat contains butyric acid and related compounds, which essentially smell like rancid butter. Not the vague smell of rancid butter that makes theater sold popcorn smell so good, but the deep, heavy pungent odor of rancid butter with "notes of vinyl" that will churn the stomachs of those with weaker constitutions. Tumble and scrub the soft pulp away. It won't all come away the first try. Change water. Allow to stand overnight in cool to cold water. Tumble and scrub the second day, discard water, replace with cold water. Third day tumble and scrub - if most of the odor is gone, they are clean enough. If odor is objectionable, repeat the process until odor of drained nuts is mild enough to not offend the nose. Seed are now ready to stratify or to cook.

I stratify seed in plastic bags with damp sphagnum, placed in the refrigerator over winter. Plant them out in spring the same time one would plant out acorns for oaks or other hardy tree seeds. I place pots in a wire cage to keep squirrels from absconding with the nuts. Squirrels and other critters love eating ginkgo whether stratified outdoors in autumn or in spring. Leaving the stinky seed coat on and just planting out in autumn works well too, but squirrels with eat them even with the stinky seed coat, so wire cages are mandatory.

If you want to use ginkgo nuts for a delicious treat, you can crack the cleaned nuts like hazel nuts with a nut cracker. The meat is a single kernel, and it is pretty easy to extract. I actually usually boil the whole nuts in water for about 20 minutes. Drain and allow to cool. They crack more easily after boiling. I then store the cooked kernels in the refrigerator. I sliver them and put them in soups, stir fry, stews and anywhere you want to add a little different texture. Flavor is mild. I use them much like one would use chestnuts.

Ginkgo trees do not begin producing nuts until about 30 years of age. The first "common" use of them as landscape and street trees did not happen until about the 1910 to 1930's. So by about 1950 most nurseries suddenly realized that planting seed to obtain ginkgo was a bad idea. That's when they began propagating ginkgo by grafting or rooting cuttings. When looking for female ginkgo trees, don't bother looking at trees planted after about 1960, as these will almost always be male trees. Find the older ginkgo trees, that is where the female trees will be.

So go nuts, collect ginkgo nuts.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
Messages
11,337
Reaction score
23,254
Location
on the IL-WI border, a mile from ''da Lake''
USDA Zone
5b
Ginkgo propagate from cuttings reasonably well. Take cuttings after leaf drop in autumn. Wrap lower half of cutting in damp sphagnum. Put in plastic bag and store in refrigerator for the winter. In spring after frost danger has passed, plant out in flats, outdoors in bright shade. Only a few tiny leaves will emerge. Roots won't actually form until July or August. Once roots form, full size leaves will sprout. Leave the cutting grow until the following spring. Transplant and grow as separate trees. This technique is similar to the way blueberry cuttings are rooted, in that the cuttings are harvested after leaf drop.

Ginkgo are slow growing. Fusion projects will take years, at least 5 years and as much as 10 years. If you go that route, don't be impatient.

Ginkgo trees tolerate extreme root work if you want to collect ginkgo. The collecting was done May or June. All the collected trunks were reduced to leafless "stumps". I have a large 4 inch diameter trunk that was a 20 foot tall tree when collected. It was dug and chopped all on the same day. The trunk was shortened to about 8 inches and the roots were cut back to the point where it fit in an Anderson flat. Essentially there were no more that short stubs for roots. The tree sat, looking much like a giant cutting for a year, only a couple buds sprouted, and they did not sprout until August. It was the second spring that the trunk began to show life. Then about 6 buds sprouted and grew normal branches with a few dozen leaves each. This was from a group dig, the Milwaukee club had gotten access to a yard with dozens of ginkgo seedlings up to about 40 years of age and 10 to 25 feet in height. All reported similar results with the dig resulting in about 75% success rate. Trunks up to 6 inches in diameter survived the process. So if you are lucky enough to find "unwanted" ginkgo trees, you can dig and chop with a fair degree of confidence.
 

Gabler

Masterpiece
Messages
2,357
Reaction score
3,181
Location
The Delmarva Peninsula
USDA Zone
7a
In philly there are some here n there right in the city..just looked under a big old one..

I’ve been trying to grow ginkgoes from seed to get some genetic variation, but I’ve had no luck with the seeds I’ve purchased from Sheffield’s. Where have you found these seedlings? I live nearby, so I might have to drive in and try to gather some fruit in order to collect my own fresh seeds for next year.
 

_#1_

Omono
Messages
1,025
Reaction score
1,274
Location
Houston, TX
USDA Zone
9a
There's this tall old Ginkgo near the Shofuso Japanese House and Garden. If you walk toward the Horticulture Hall that tree is right around there.

Check it out in Autumn and you can't miss it. There's TONS of stinky fruits on the grass. Take em all!

There's also other old trees in the area too
 

penumbra

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
9,379
Reaction score
15,844
Location
Front Royal, VA
USDA Zone
6
BTW, I collect my seeds off the ground in late winter. I put them in promix in seed flats. I get about 80% germination or better.
 

Newish in Oregon

Yamadori
Messages
67
Reaction score
42
Location
Portland, OR
I’ve been trying to grow ginkgoes from seed to get some genetic variation, but I’ve had no luck with the seeds I’ve purchased from Sheffield’s. Where have you found these seedlings? I live nearby, so I might have to drive in and try to gather some fruit in order to collect my own fresh seeds for next year.
Pre-pandemic, I was taking 'Bonsai for Seniors' classes [you don't want to think about that for too long]. One of the projects we did was growing gingkos from seed. I think the instructor had purchased the nuts from an 'oriental grocery'. I planted a few and I think germination rate was 25 - 50%.
 

HoneyHornet

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
310
Location
New Jersey
USDA Zone
7a
Current stash
In the individually cupped situation I lost 3 out of the 12
And in the Bucket-O-Gingko I think they all made it, I think it’s like 30 or something -don’t mind the clovers lol. I honestly can’t remember if it was 30 total brought home or in the bucket alone .
I have a small space to work with and it’s loaded lol so I set em up and let em be, I don’t even think I fished out the leaves that fell in from the fall (from tall surrounding trees just general leaf fall, oak n maple)- I been meaning to tend to that bucket by now but they were so strong and proudly popped I let it be at the time
id like to get them individualized but honestly I’m so dang busy - I’ll get around to it eventually————
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    320.8 KB · Views: 32
  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    247.6 KB · Views: 29

HoneyHornet

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
310
Location
New Jersey
USDA Zone
7a
The green planter is drilled out with tons of holes and so are the bottoms of the cups
Gravel layer in bottom of planter and in the bottoms of cups

organic forward house mix (id say about 60x40 but then spiked the punch bowl with perlite)

Organic component consisted of a real nice bagged compost brand bumper crop (blue bag) I like it so much,it’s sphagnum/ composted bark/worm casings / hen manure/perlite and some other stuff probably I’d have to look at bag or look it up— it’s so expensive online I get allllot cheaper at the local nursery
And the inorganic components are safe-t-sorb ,chick grit whatever lava I had at the time,
And then at the very end i added more perlite to lighten the mix n increase drainage etc

I don’t know why I filled the surrounding space in the container with pea gravel lol like the cups are surrounded by it in all the negative space - actually I think I was trying to make the end product almost visually appealing so my fiancé wasn’t like “your not putting a tray of plastic cups with twigs in them on the deck that looks rediculous “
 
Last edited:

HoneyHornet

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
310
Location
New Jersey
USDA Zone
7a
I’ve been trying to grow ginkgoes from seed to get some genetic variation, but I’ve had no luck with the seeds I’ve purchased from Sheffield’s. Where have you found these seedlings? I live nearby, so I might have to drive in and try to gather some fruit in order to collect my own fresh seeds for next year.
Right on broad street on the south side of William Penn they are kind of all down that strip — I got mine behind a construction fence during work hours .i also was an iron worker down the street so I was dressed like them anyway no one even thought anything of it lol walked down the block on lunch break and snagged em. the fencing had to of been up for few yrs which also explains how they made it without the foot traffic since it was in a construction zone for so long
 
Top Bottom