I bought some maple seeds from Herons Bonsai. I know ideal time to plant them 'naturally' without stratification in the fridge would have been heading into autumn but I wasn't going to bother this year. I'd tried a couple of times stratifying in the fridge and had no luck. However after watching Peter's YouTube video on growing them outside I thought I'd give it a go. I gave Herons a call first to see if the seed would still be fresh enough - He said there would possibly be a little less viable seed but plenty would still grow and the next 2-3 months of cold and fluctuating temperatures should be long enough for them to break out of their dormancy naturally.
Beni Shidare, Ao Shidare, small leaf palmatum and Nomura. I think maybe they sell less at this time of year because the website said approx 50 seeds but there was easily 200+ of the small leaf and 100+ of the others! Planted them in seed trays in a mixture of bonsai soil and leaf mould I collected from the woods. I lay them out on some gravel and put a sheet of clear perspex over the top weighed down with bricks. I'm hoping trying it allowing nature to take it's course naturally might yield better results this time!
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