Planting Pine Seeds

[Fluffyyyzzz]

Good day all,

Hope everyone is having a good day.

I got a bee in my bonnet the other day and bought some seed:

5 seeds for Japanese black pine
5 seeds for dwarf mugo pine
5 seeds for Scots pine
5 seeds for Japanese red ceder
5 seeds for Japanese larch.

I know two aren't technically pine trees but just want to see if you can help me as well.

I live in South Africa and just want to know if it's two late to plant these, the price was not bad at all, but I am still worried that they just don't grow. We are currently at the start of summer and it's been quite hot. I am hoping the seeds had a cold spell in storage or something. I have a nice spot under my bonsai bench that I want to put some shade cloth on it so I can stop the sun beating down on them if they take. Is there anything I can do to help this process or is it wishful thinking that I can still get these to grow at this time of year. When our rainy season starts it does cool down a bit.

 

[gschup]

Different pine species have different cold, wet stratification requirements to improve the germination rate quite drastically.

I am no expert, but in my experience scots pine has a decent germination rate even without a cold, wet stratification phase.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Scots pine, larch and JBP don't require cold stratification. Mugo does sometimes, but soaking them in water and putting them in the fridge for 10 weeks should be fine.
Planting them in summer should not be a problem, if you watch the watering.

I do recommend though, to get more seeds. A 60% germination rate is pretty decent for most seeds, 100% is rare. So starting with just five seeds of each is kind of putting all the eggs in one basket.

 

[Fluffyyyzzz]

Different pine species have different cold, wet stratification requirements to improve the germination rate quite drastically.

I am no expert, but in my experience scots pine has a decent germination rate even without a cold, wet stratification phase.

Okay, that is very good news. It's very hard to get these types of trees in SA so I just wanted to try it out.

 

[Fluffyyyzzz]

Scots pine, larch and JBP don't require cold stratification. Mugo does sometimes, but soaking them in water and putting them in the fridge for 10 weeks should be fine.
Planting them in summer should not be a problem, if you watch the watering.

I do recommend though, to get more seeds. A 60% germination rate is pretty decent for most seeds, 100% is rare. So starting with just five seeds of each is kind of putting all the eggs in one basket.

That is awesome news then I'll try and do a cold stratification.

Is the amount of seeds just germination success rate and the success rate of staying alive once germinate. I was thinking about getting more but I was worried about having 20 of each tree in a limited space. But if it's the above I will go ahead and buy some more seeds.

 

[Aaron S.]

Don't worry about getting 20 or more of each tree. The first few years you will lose some, if you still end up with more than you want, it shouldn't be hard to find them new home, especially if they aren't common in SA

 

[Shibui]

I have no problem germinating JBP without any cold treatment. I would sow all your seed now and cross fingers.
If you think any really need stratification, maybe hold off until winter then stratify for sowing next spring. Stratifying for 10 weeks now will take you through to mid Jan which does not leave much growing season unless you are in a warm part of SA. Adding a location to your profile helps us make better guesses about your specific climate so advice can be adjusted accordingly.
Next time that bee turns up, set it to making some honey then purchase your seeds at a better time of year.

 

[Fluffyyyzzz]

I have no problem germinating JBP without any cold treatment. I would sow all your seed now and cross fingers.
If you think any really need stratification, maybe hold off until winter then stratify for sowing next spring. Stratifying for 10 weeks now will take you through to mid Jan which does not leave much growing season unless you are in a warm part of SA. Adding a location to your profile helps us make better guesses about your specific climate so advice can be adjusted accordingly.
Next time that bee turns up, set it to making some honey then purchase your seeds at a better time of year.

Yes, I am going to sow and hold fingers. Unfortunately certain circumstances did allow me to get earlier but if it doesn't work it wasn't expensive so I'll buy again in winter.

I live in a warm summer and quite a cold winter so I'll just need to sow.

I can definitely agree with buying seeds at a better time.