Korean Fir from seed

[mikepellerin]

I love Korean Fir trees (the classic Christmas tree shape and the lovely blue cones), and decided to try and grow some from seed.

I was told that in around November (I live in central Massachusetts), I should soak the seeds in warm water for 12hrs. Dry them off, put them in pots filled with soil, put the pot into a large zip-lock baggie and just stick them outside to naturally stratify. (Keeping them away from the chipmunks and squirrels of course.)

I'm assuming I'm not wetting the soil the seeds are going in. They'd probably rot over the winter. Do the seeds need freezing temps? I'm wintering my 1st bonsai (a Dwarf Boxwood) and a Venus Fly Trap on an enclosed front, west facing, porch. (It does get cold on the porch, sometimes going down to freezing for short periods, but I can cover the plants during those times.) The VFT is not a bonsai, I just love them as much as bonsai, so they are living together.

So, what do you think of the naturally stratifying method? Anybody tried this? I don't want to waste my seeds, even though they were cheap. I just want some of this endangered plant in my yard and in a pot.

Thank you for listening to my rambling 1st post.

 

[tmmason10]

I've never done it quite like this, bu it should work. It's replicating what the seeds would have done naturally. When I do my Jbp from seed I put them out in February and they usually sprout in May.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

The plastic bags keep the small pots from drying out. If you use a larger "flat", or large shallow pot, it will hold enough water that it won't dry out too quickly. So no need for a plastic bag. Your porch may be too warm to stratify fir seeds. They do need at least 90 days of temperatures below 40 F to germinate. I would try to put them outside. Below freezing will not hurt the seed.

My system is to use a large 15 x 15 x 4 inch deep flat, plant it, and then winter it outdoors with my hardy trees. I do cover it with 1/4 inch mesh hardware cloth (coarse window screen) to keep squirrels out. The mesh is wide enough that the seedlings come up through it, I leave it in place until late summer or the second summer. Then cut it with my wire cutters, to remove the screen. I have many busy squirrels, so it is helpful to keep the screen in place. Small pots, in plastic bags could go into the refrigerator as an alternate.