jeanluc83
Omono
I figured I would try the most foolhardy thing I could and start pine trees from seed (I'm still a beginner so I don't know any better). To make things even more interesting I decided not to do Japanese black pine (like everyone else), but Pitch pine (Pinus rigida). I have seen very high quality collected pitch pine bonsai but, to my knowledge no one is starting them from seed. I think in many ways they are equal to or better than JBP they just need to be given the chance.
Before I get people telling me "don't bother with seeds it will take too long". I understand. I figure if I do everything correct and luck smiles down on me I might have something presentable in 10 to 80 years. I also think back to how many times I've read "I wish I had planted some seeds when I first started out".
The main references I used are the "Growing pine from seed" article in the "Pines" book, this post over at the Bonsai study group and various posts at bonsai tonight.
Seeds
I figured the best place to start with growing seedlings would be with to get some seeds. I could have collected seeds but purchasing them saved me some time and effort. The seeds I used came from DA Tree store. It was about $6 including shipping for 100 seeds. I figured that wasn't too bad.
Stratification
The card that came with the seeds recommended approximately 30 days of cold stratification. In mid February I soaking the seeds at room temperature for about 3 days. Any floaters were discarded. I then wrapped the seeds in a damp (not wet) paper towel, put them in a sandwich bag and placed them in the fridge.
Most books recommend damp sphagnum moss or sand for stratification but using paper towel is easer and cleaner.
In the beginning of April the seeds were removed from the fridge. It ended up being a little more than the 30 days recommended. If anything I think it is better to go longer than shorter. There were a few spots with mold when I opened the bag but nothing major.
Sowing
I used a standard 72 cell seed starting tray. For a substrate I used a 50-50 mix of stall dry and oil dry with about 20% pine bark. This was then topped with approx. 1/4" of play sand. I'm still working out my mix so this is what I had on hand a the time. I think next time I'll go with pool filter sand rather than play sand. The sand I have is too fine I think something a little more coarse would work better.
At this point I'm not sure if I'll try seedling cuttings or work with the original roots. For seedling cuttings I don't believe the substrate really matters at this point. I wanted something a little better if I ended up using the original roots. I will probably end up doing a some of each.
I planted 1 or 2 seeds per cell just deep enough to cover the seeds and placed the tray with the dome in the upstairs of my garage. I was still getting big temperature swings so I was reluctant about putting them outside. The garage is unheated but insulated so the temperature is much more consistent.
Germination
At about two weeks I started to see some of the seeds start to sprout. After three weeks I had about 50 seedlings with some more just starting to poke up.
At one month I moved the tray outside. I also sprayed the seedlings with Daconil to prevent damping off. I removed the dome when I moved them outside to improve air flow and it would have blown away anyway.
If I'm successful I'll update this post periodically. If not I'll quietly delete it and never speak of it again.
This is as they stand today. I will update this post when it comes time to do seedling cuttings.
Before I get people telling me "don't bother with seeds it will take too long". I understand. I figure if I do everything correct and luck smiles down on me I might have something presentable in 10 to 80 years. I also think back to how many times I've read "I wish I had planted some seeds when I first started out".
The main references I used are the "Growing pine from seed" article in the "Pines" book, this post over at the Bonsai study group and various posts at bonsai tonight.
Seeds
I figured the best place to start with growing seedlings would be with to get some seeds. I could have collected seeds but purchasing them saved me some time and effort. The seeds I used came from DA Tree store. It was about $6 including shipping for 100 seeds. I figured that wasn't too bad.
Stratification
The card that came with the seeds recommended approximately 30 days of cold stratification. In mid February I soaking the seeds at room temperature for about 3 days. Any floaters were discarded. I then wrapped the seeds in a damp (not wet) paper towel, put them in a sandwich bag and placed them in the fridge.
Most books recommend damp sphagnum moss or sand for stratification but using paper towel is easer and cleaner.
In the beginning of April the seeds were removed from the fridge. It ended up being a little more than the 30 days recommended. If anything I think it is better to go longer than shorter. There were a few spots with mold when I opened the bag but nothing major.
Sowing
I used a standard 72 cell seed starting tray. For a substrate I used a 50-50 mix of stall dry and oil dry with about 20% pine bark. This was then topped with approx. 1/4" of play sand. I'm still working out my mix so this is what I had on hand a the time. I think next time I'll go with pool filter sand rather than play sand. The sand I have is too fine I think something a little more coarse would work better.
At this point I'm not sure if I'll try seedling cuttings or work with the original roots. For seedling cuttings I don't believe the substrate really matters at this point. I wanted something a little better if I ended up using the original roots. I will probably end up doing a some of each.
I planted 1 or 2 seeds per cell just deep enough to cover the seeds and placed the tray with the dome in the upstairs of my garage. I was still getting big temperature swings so I was reluctant about putting them outside. The garage is unheated but insulated so the temperature is much more consistent.
Germination
At about two weeks I started to see some of the seeds start to sprout. After three weeks I had about 50 seedlings with some more just starting to poke up.
At one month I moved the tray outside. I also sprayed the seedlings with Daconil to prevent damping off. I removed the dome when I moved them outside to improve air flow and it would have blown away anyway.
If I'm successful I'll update this post periodically. If not I'll quietly delete it and never speak of it again.
This is as they stand today. I will update this post when it comes time to do seedling cuttings.
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