Have you seen a Dawn Redwood sprout from seed?

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Don't worry, it may take sever dips below freezing to knock them into dormancy. Just leave them out, they are quite cold hardy.

 

[BrierPatch]

Thanks for the progression updates! They look to be growing very well, fast growing. I didn't go the seed route, I ordered some saplings which should be delivered some time in Dec. I may order some seeds after seeing yours for this spring to give it a try.

 

[cornfed]

Thanks for the progression updates! They look to be growing very well, fast growing. I didn't go the seed route, I ordered some saplings which should be delivered some time in Dec. I may order some seeds after seeing yours for this spring to give it a try.

If you do, follow the beginning of this thread and don't bury them too deep and watch out for damp off!

 

[jus.mcbride15]

I just felt like updating!

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I have seven of what I would call "pretty good seedlings" that are working on their second and third sets of leaves.

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And I have four sickly looking ones. They're having a hard time working out those second sets of leaves and have some brown tips on the first.

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And I have some volunteers that came from helicopter seeds. They had landed in my various containers in the yard and started growing, so I gently moved them to the recently vacant pots of my seed tray. Some sort of Maple maybe? I have four of them.

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And just yesterday I started to notice all these little guys growing in all of my containers. The seeds have just been "raining" out of my tall birch trees just to the west of my containers, so I assume these will be paper birch. Again, I just gently moved them from my various containers to this tray. There were a ton of them, so I put 5 to a pod for now. I have about 15 of those.

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Hi there, I also have a Dawn Redwood seedling that has brown on the tip of its leaves. Did yours survive?

 

[cornfed]

Hi there, I also have a Dawn Redwood seedling that has brown on the tip of its leaves. Did yours survive?
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Not all of them survived. About half (12) dozen did though. I have some photos in this thread where I up potted them.

Are they going to wake up when the spring comes? I am eagerly waiting to see!

 

[jus.mcbride15]

Not all of them survived. About half (12) dozen did though. I have some photos in this thread where I up potted them.

Are they going to wake up when the spring comes? I am eagerly waiting to see!

No, its my first time growing dawn redwood but I’ve successfully grown giant Sequoia from seed.
this is a picture at 1 year.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

No, its my first time growing dawn redwood but I’ve successfully grown giant Sequoia from seed.
this is a picture at 1 year. View attachment 419014View attachment 419015

Beautiful species, not the easiest in bonsai though

 

[cornfed]

Nine of them made it through the first year! No winter fatalities.

I think I'll just let them keep going in these one gallon pots this year. Maybe go up a pot size on a few of them.

Ultimately, hopefully looking at a forest.

 

[LittleDingus]

Nine of them made it through the first year! No winter fatalities.

I think I'll just let them keep going in these one gallon pots this year. Maybe go up a pot size on a few of them.

Ultimately, hopefully looking at a forest.

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Your trees, do what you like

My trees: I'd up pot them to at least 3 gallon but not fill full depth...I'd try to keep to ~5" depth. I'd comb and trim the roots to fit in that depth...it shouldn't take much moving from one gallon pots.

Why? 2 reasons.

1) When in the smaller pots, the tendency is to pack them tighter together. That stunts the lower branches which you want to keep to build taper and fuel overall growth. Wider and shallower also allows the roots to fan out and help flare the bottom...easier when you want to get into a shallower pot later as well

2) I've had dawn redwoods top 3 feet after the second season. Give them the room to run wild and you can expect this:

Redwood family progression

This is my redwood family from almost exactly 1 year ago. August 15, 2019 by the timestamp on the photo. The far left is a dawn redwood I had planted from seed back in January of 2019. The middle is a coastal redwood and the far right is a giant sequioa. Both were bought as plugs when the...

www.bonsainut.com

Constrain them and you get less.

If you're serious about a forest, may hedge your bets? Take a couple and up-pot with the intent of making a few larger trunks? I'm not too fussy on when I repot these myself. I've literally done it all times of year...sometimes multiple repots in a year! If you're up-potting, you can probably almost slip pot them...maybe comb the bottom to get down to ~5" and gently tease out some of the sides to break up any circling and to help them find their way into the fresh soil easier. Easy-peasy

Don't listen to me if you're at all worried about your trees...I don't play be the rules sometimes I'm just stating what I have done in the past with a link to my results.

I shudder every time I see these tall gangly several years dawn redwoods, though. Let them run! Vigorously growing dawn redwoods should be very bushy

 

[cornfed]

My trees: I'd up pot them to at least 3 gallon but not fill full depth...I'd try to keep to ~5" depth. I'd comb and trim the roots to fit in that depth...it shouldn't take much moving from one gallon pots.

Why? 2 reasons.

1) When in the smaller pots, the tendency is to pack them tighter together. That stunts the lower branches which you want to keep to build taper and fuel overall growth. Wider and shallower also allows the roots to fan out and help flare the bottom...easier when you want to get into a shallower pot later as well

2) I've had dawn redwoods top 3 feet after the second season. Give them the room to run wild and you can expect this:

Thanks for the input. I think it's good advice. I was worried it was too late to repot them with all the leaves out.