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October 16, 2005
Scarification of sugar pine seeds
I posted some time ago on my efforts to grow sugar pine from seed. The outcome of that first effort wasn't good: only one seed germinated, and it later died of damping off! But I vowed to try again...
I asked about my problems over at GardenWeb and was advised to buy new seed from a reputable supplier, in which case I might expect about 70% germination after 10 weeks stratification.
So I purchased new seed, but couldn't resist experimentation. I divided the seeds into three groups, to be treated as follows:
- Soak overnight, then stratify 10 weeks at 4C, then plant in soil
- Soak overnight, then stratify 10 weeks at 4C, then germinate in a baggy, and
- Scarify in 50% sulfuric acid for five minutes, then stratify 10 weeks at 4C, then (my plan was to) germinate in a baggy
Today the ten weeks of stratification finally came to an end! Ten weeks is just a ridiculous amount of time. Anyway, I took the unscarified seeds out and split them, half to soil and half to the baggy, as planned. But when I took out the scarified seeds, I found that 8 of 12 had germinated in the refrigerator! So I put them in soil instead of the baggy.
We'll see how this turns out. I'll continue the experiment and let you know. But, at first blush it would appear that scarification of sugar pine seeds worked out very well. At least I've been spared a week or two of waiting for germination.
Nice to have something work!
October 16, 2005 in Growing from Seed | Permalink
Comments
I bought a kit for growing Giant Sequoias when I went to Yosemite National Park with my family this past summer. Three of my seven seeds germinated and my tallest tree (now 16 days out of the refrigerator)measures just over 2 inches! (by the way, two of them have three "needles" and one has four...is that typical?)Anyhow, now I'm eager to grow some more! Who knew watching a tree grow could be so much fun!?
So where does one acquire this sulfuric acid?
Oh, and one question more: my three trees are growing in the same mini-greenhouse...at what point do they need to be separated into pots of their own? The directions were a little unclear on that...
Posted by: Joanna | Oct 11, 2006 11:05:36 AM
Good luck with your morning glories, i plant them every year and every year i get nothing, zilch, zip, nothing - not even a weed
any suggestions?
Posted by: Bextir | Mar 11, 2009 1:09:18 PM
would winter sowing work? This is where you put your seed in a vented container like an empty milk carton and then place outside in nature. It scarifies naturally and no damping off or having to acclimate. This works great with veggie and flower seeds, wonder if it would work well with your sugar pine seeds.
Posted by: betti | Mar 13, 2009 1:21:18 PM
