heavy Samara's on Osakasuki and Suminigashi, been picking most of the day off these two varieties. curious question of you experten on raising JM's from seed is it suitable to even just place them individually in small peat pots with bark and overwinter and "try" to grow them in this fashion or do they need to be bagged and placed in the frig ? E ~
Yes, I have had decent success with just planting the seeds in pots to overwinter outdoors, especially if the seeds are fresh, as they would be in your case. I use regular pots rather than peat pots though. If you have mice or other critters in the garden they may need some protection, and if you get no germination the first spring keep them for another year and you may see success the next spring.
Like maf, I have germinated seedlings but I used individual tray cells (like 72 cells/tray) and I used a good seed starting peat moss mix because of the fungicide properties of peat. I am too warm to leave them outdoors so I need to cold stratify in the fridge which increases germination rate DRAMATICALLY. If you do leave them outdoors, you MUST protect them from mice, squirrels and other critters who LOVE maple seeds and will eat ALL of them in 1 night, trust me. Good luck!
maf/Katsura many thanks for the helpful information. yes we do not so much have the mice/rat probs as we do red squirrels which hit the maples during the summer usually so will have to protect the little ones this winter......not to mention the over-wintering bird populace at the property. E ~
Just one thing to add, peat pots dry out very quickly, so I prefer 8x8x8 plastic. I don't know how to protect from mice who ate my entire crop last winter. :( This year I will germinate in a fridge for the first time. -E
Emery my plastic pots are at the ready to employ the seeds, am mixing up soil today for planting and then protecting from the varmints...... thankfully I do not have the mice probs the local Cats have done their job(s) quite well, it's the squirrels as my main concern or the birds. E ~
