Silver birch/mugo pine stratification/germination

[Ferg91]

Hello I had tried the Mugo pine and Silverbirch stratification and germination before unfortunately with 0% success I was wondering if anyone has had any success and getting these little buggers to germinate. All info would be much appreciated thank you very much

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Birch grows like weeds here; they pop up in sidewalk cracks, rain gutters, rooftops, wherever.
But the protocol is about the same:
Soak in 1 cup of water with 1 tablespoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide (straight from the bottle) added to the water.
Soak for 2-3 days, change the water after day 1.
All sinkers can be sown, the rest can soak for a longer period if you want. Maybe there are a few late comers.
Put some pumice or perlite in a ziplock bag, make it damp. Drain all excess water. Make 3 bags for each type of seed, because if something happens to 1 bag, you'll have 2 left.
Add seeds, put in the fridge for 2-7 weeks at 5 degrees C. Check every 3 days if there's fungal growth. If there is: open the bag, let it breathe for a day or 2 at room temperature. Add a dash of peroxide to wet it again. If they aren't actively germinating, they can withstand a wet-dry cycle.

Then sow the pine seeds 0.5-1 cm deep.
Sow the birch on top of the soil, cover them lightly if you want so they don't blow away but 3mm of soil should be enough; they don't have a lot of storage in their seeds because they spread through the wind (with a relatively tiny wing compared to pines). They don't have the energy to burst through the soil like pines do.
Spray it down lightly with some water. Put it outside and cover it to keep birds away, screw humidity domes because they'll bake whatever is inside.

Or sow them all together in a tray at the beginning of winter. They let nature do its thing. I did a cold stratification this year outdoors by sowing in January.

 

[Ferg91]

Birch grows like weeds here; they pop up in sidewalk cracks, rain gutters, rooftops, wherever.
But the protocol is about the same:
Soak in 1 cup of water with 1 tablespoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide (straight from the bottle) added to the water.
Soak for 2-3 days, change the water after day 1.
All sinkers can be sown, the rest can soak for a longer period if you want. Maybe there are a few late comers.
Put some pumice or perlite in a ziplock bag, make it damp. Drain all excess water. Make 3 bags for each type of seed, because if something happens to 1 bag, you'll have 2 left.
Add seeds, put in the fridge for 2-7 weeks at 5 degrees C. Check every 3 days if there's fungal growth. If there is: open the bag, let it breathe for a day or 2 at room temperature. Add a dash of peroxide to wet it again. If they aren't actively germinating, they can withstand a wet-dry cycle.

Then sow the pine seeds 0.5-1 cm deep.
Sow the birch on top of the soil, cover them lightly if you want so they don't blow away but 3mm of soil should be enough; they don't have a lot of storage in their seeds because they spread through the wind (with a relatively tiny wing compared to pines). They don't have the energy to burst through the soil like pines do.
Spray it down lightly with some water. Put it outside and cover it to keep birds away, screw humidity domes because they'll bake whatever is inside.

Or sow them all together in a tray at the beginning of winter. They let nature do its thing. I did a cold stratification this year outdoors by sowing in January.

Thank you very much! Didn’t see anything about hydrogen peroxide. I saw one post about using ground cinnamon? For cherry blossom. Paper towel with a dash of cinnamon to prevent mold? Didn’t realize that was a thing, hope it wasn’t poison loool

 

[Backwardsvg]

I have a long written out way from how I did it. I had about 89% success with about 90% still living after 4 -5 months now. All died due to extreme heat and on me not them. PM me if you want more info

 

[coltranem]

I have never grown silver birch but planted some yellow birch over this asthma winter. After soaking and cold stratification for 60 days. I planted them and put in the sun. I was told birch need light to germinate. In fact I saw an article that said you can get them.to germinate in a bowl of water under a grow light.

For future reference add your location to your profile. It will help folks give you advice.