Whitebark Pine — Propagating from Cones

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Do you ever use any of the mycorrhizal inoculants? I know there's a lot of controversy(it'll come on its own etc etc).. I think in the case of young seedlings and damping off prevention that might be the scenario where it really does make a difference.

You know, I forgot with that batch of seedlings. I have inoculant from Paul Stamets, a blend of spores from 17 potential mycorrhizal fungi and 6 or so beneficial bacteria. I just forgot to use it. If anyone wants a good inoculant search the Fungi Perfecti web store. It is about the same price as less diverse inoculants sold by some bonsai shops.

Yeah, I'm never sure it works, but it makes me feel better when I use it. When I have used it, it never seemed to be the cause of failure, so I can say it doesn't hurt, and indeed it may have been partly responsible for my success.

You can have success without inoculants, local mycorrhizal fungi spores are ubiquitous. Not all species are compatible with all trees, but for most parts of the USA, there are diverse enough native mycorrhizal fungi that most species can find a compatible fungal partner. But I feel better about it when I add my inoculant from Fungi Perfecti.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@Leo in N E Illinois I collected JWP seeds last year. I kept only the sinkers after soaking for 48 hours. Of the 60+ that I collected only about 8-10 sank. Of those 4 grew this spring. Is sinking an indication of a viable JWP seed or just plant them all and see what you get?

Sinking is a sign the seed has absorbed water. So yes, it is a sign that those seeds are possibly viable. You can plant the sinkers, and leave floaters soak another day or two. If I don't have a lot of seed, I plant them all and don't worry about it. You normally don't want to leave seed soaking more than 48 hours, as the water can loose oxygen, and low oxygen can kill the seeds that have sunk.

You can scratch or score the seed coat of floaters, to help them absorb water, normally not needed for pines, but something you need to do for certain deciduous trees like sumac.

 

[Potawatomi13]

You can scratch or score the seed coat of floaters, to help them absorb water, normally not needed for pines, but something you need to do for certain deciduous trees like sumac.

Sanding maybe better.