Seed collecting season, Acer and ulmus

Hack Yeah!

Omono
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Marietta, GA
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I was wondering how early I could collect some seeds from trident maple and Chinese elms. I think I took some near end of October last time and they germinated. I was just wondering if anyone had experience with grabbing them a little greener, like now in zone 7?
 

AlainK

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Orléans, France, Europe
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I'm in zone 8. Can't tell about elms, but for most maples species, you can collect them as soon as the wings and the enveloppe of the seed have turned from green to brown, even if the tree is still in full leaves.

But it depends on the species, the place where the seeds were collected, if the seeds are viable or not (isolated specimens are not so fertile, it's better if there are other trees of the same species around) : I've collected Montpellier maple seeds in mid-August (southern low mountains in France, hot dry summers and cold snowy winters), and other species like Acer davidii ou Acer tataricum in the third week of September (near where I live, much less contrasted seasons) with a high rate of gemination the next spring for instance.
 

atlarsenal

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You can get Chinese elm seed now. If you start them now, they should be coming up in about 7-10 days. If you let them dry out you will have to stratify them later. Same for tridents but they need to be outside if you plant them now. I just started 216 Chinese elms Friday.
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And tridents last weekend. Anything outside I would cover it with hardware cloth to keep the birds and squirrels out of them.
 

augustine

Chumono
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Chinese elm seeds - plant the seeds in a tray and leave them outside. They will germinate in the spring. No need to do anything else to them.

I'm in 7A and have grown them every year from local trees for the last 4 or 5 years.
 

atlarsenal

Omono
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Chinese elm seeds - plant the seeds in a tray and leave them outside. They will germinate in the spring. No need to do anything else to them.

I'm in 7A and have grown them every year from local trees for the last 4 or 5 years.
I've grown a few myself.
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GGB

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careful taking maple seeds while still totally green, i have found they don't sink after soaking. I know that's not the "end all" of seed viability but why not just wait a few weeks if you can
 
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