starting maple from seed advice

[Dave E]

i put this on the grafting,layering and propogating forum but i figured i'd put it here as well.

as i continue to look for a trident,amur,and a paperbark at a price i can afford i decided to purchase some seeds

so i got the following seeds:
FLAME AMUR MAPLE Acer Ginnala Flame
SNAKEBARK MAPLE Acer Grosseri
TRIDENT MAPLE Acer Buergerianum
PAPERBARK MAPLE Acer Griseum
MANCHURIAN STRIPED MAPLE Acer Tegmentosum

could anyone give me advice on starting these from seed-type of soil,do i plant now,in spring,in the fall,do i need to stratify or not-for how long.

thanks for the advice

 

[JoeR]

You do need to stratify them, then plant early as possible which just depends on your vlimate. I start mine early, and I just bring them inside during cold snaps. But I have a good grow area inside though that you may not have.

 

[Dave E]

thanks
i have a nice sunny window with a large sill-that's the extent of my indoor grow area.
how long should i stratify them for.
plant as early as possible-do you mean as soon as i can this season-or as early as possible next spring

 

[0soyoung]

I would just keep them in their packages until ca. November (Thanksgiving time). Then stratify in the frig until March. Then plant.

A little stratification trick I learned from J.L. Hudson is to place the seeds on a little piece of polyethylene (e.g., ziploc bag, visqueen) approximately 1" x 2". Place the seeds on one side and fold over (into a 1"x1" square). Fold this inside a damp paper towel and etc. It is then easy to pick up and plant each germinated seed. This arrangement is also great if you are applying GA3 to the seeds, say.

 

[Dave E]

so put the the seeds in the folded poly and than wrap the folded poly in paper towel.1 seed per towel?

i've heard of ga3 before and from what i'm learning it helps hard to germinate seeds but can have a reverse effect on seeds that are not hard to germinate-so should this be safe to use on the seeds i'm using?

 

[0soyoung]

so put the the seeds in the folded poly and than wrap the folded poly in paper towel.1 seed per towel?

No, you can easily put 6 or 8 in the suit pattern of playing cards.

i've heard of ga3 before and from what i'm learning it helps hard to germinate seeds but can have a reverse effect on seeds that are not hard to germinate-so should this be safe to use on the seeds i'm using?

For maples, in general, you don't need GA3. Sorry that I veered sharply off topic - I just wanted to point you at Hudson in case you really get into growing from seed (get GA3 there, plus ideas, plus a seed source). My last dalliance was Stewartia pseudocamellia - GA3 plus 1 year in the frig. = near 100% germination.

Have fun!