JWP - Pine Cone Growing

[montipirlo]

Tired of bad and already dead seeds, this year i decided to leave some "flowers" on my younger white pines hoping to growing some Pine Cone and seeds to plant in the next season.

I know the process will drain energy from the plant, but they are in good health, with dense ramification and needles. Only two Pine Cone seems to growing ( one in the picture )

For me is the first time.
What about your experience?
Do you ever collect seeds from your own plants?
I have to do something to improve the maturation process and the healthy of the future seeds?

 

[Nybonsai12]

I'm excited to see some cones growing on one of my JWP. I plucked off a few but left two to mature. If they work out, I'll reluctantly see about germinating and growing them so my son can someday grow them and his son can bonsai them.

 

[Adair M]

I'm not sure, but I think it takes two years for a cone to come to maturity.

 

[montipirlo]

I'm not sure, but I think it takes two years for a cone to come to maturity.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I believe Adair is coorrect, 2 years for pine cone to mature on JWP. Don't feell bad, some pines take even longer. The seeds will be ripe when the scales of the cone start to separate. Remove the whole cone and let it finish drying inside, on a piece of paper or something to catch any seed falling out. If left on tree to finish drying out, the birds and squirrels will harvest the pine nuts before you know it.

Plant seed immediately in a flat or tray. Cover tray with wire mesh to keep out birds and rodents, they can not resist pine nuts. Label with date planted. Set out in a spot suitable for JWP seedlings to grow, keep well watered. Don't disturb the tray or remove seedlings until the third growing season after planting. Reason is that as a strategy to survive a bad growing season, JWP seed does not all germinate the same time. Some will begin growing immediately even though it usually be end of summer. Some will sprout the followiing spring, and some won't sprout until the second spring. I usually don't transplant seedlings out of trays until they are 2 or 3 years old, sothat they are sturdy eeenough to tolerate the disturbance. I''ve tried picking out newly sprouted seedling, but I end up damaging them, and loose a fair number. So I just leave them until they have had a year with true needles in bundles. Newly sprouted seedling have single needles like a spruce for the first year or two.

hope this helps. It does explain why nurseries charge so much for a 5 year old seedling. good luck

Some seeds may germinate right away, some will need only a single

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

If you decide to store JWP, it does not store as well as JBP seed.. Stored dry and cold in the refrigerator, viability will begin to drop dramatically by 18 months. This is true of seed of most 5 needle pines, like P. flexilis and P. strobus too. Storing cold and dry does not count as stratification. To stratify seed it has to be moist and cold. Seed can be put in a plastic bag with a little damp sphagnum moss or a damp paper towel. Winter stratification for white pines is about 3 to 4 months.

JBP seed and seed of most 2 needle pines will be viable for 5 to 10 years or more when stored dry and cold.

 

[Adair M]

And to add to what Leo was saying, JWP does not breed true. Even though the cones may come from trees with attractive needles, the seedlings may or may not have similiar needles.

Most JWP used for bonsai are grafted. To assure they have attractive, short needles. Seedlings may produce trees with longer, curly, loose needles.

Just so you know what you're getting into...

 

[montipirlo]

Thank you Leo and Adair,
i appreciate your information very much.

I'm seeding pine from 2 year with alternate success.
I've got JBP, Scots Pine ( Silvestre in Italy), Aleppo Pine, Red Pine, just to know how difference kind of pine grow.

For the JWP I wasn't lucky. No one i ever planted seems a realy White pine. According to the vendor pine in the bottom of the picture have to be JWP.
They got 3 needle e not 5. I don't know which kind of pine they are.

Last year a tried to cut the taproot just right the first real neddles was beginnig to became mature, put in trasparent plastic bag
and let them produce a new root system. I've lost some plants but lucky in some case it works.

This is a March 2016 picture. Now they are a lot bigger.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Nice, I like the color of your seedlings. I would not ''give up'' on your possibly misidentified JWP seedlings. It may take 3 or 4 years to get the bundles of 5 needles to develop. My 3 year old Pinus bungeana still have not produced adult needle bundles. They are beginning their 4th growing season. After new growth hardens off I'll check the number of needles. It takes time for seedlings to switch from juvenile to adult foliage.