Here in Marin county California, October has come in with blustery afternoon winds, just in time to blow the leaves off the trees. This is my 2nd year of collecting and immediately sowing samaras from my maples. I planted 216 seeds of which 53 germinated (25%). I still have the 163 that did not germinate so we will see how many come up year 2. I collect many volunteers each year that have germinated on their own and many are as healthy or healthier than the 53 my seeding got in 2005 which is right cause Nature has had a great deal more practice at this than I ever will, so when I hear the wind rising to blow off the leaves I figure it's time to collect samaras. I collected 15 or so paired samaras from my Katsura and Higasayama trees today Oct 2 (and have planted them today) because the wings are solid brown and I did not want to lose them to the strong winds, but my question is:Are the seeds mature and ready now even if the wings are still red or green with only a touch of brown on the edge of the wings? I have searched back on this Forum to read other "samara" postings and learned a lot, but since the season is right now upon us, maybe we could discuss samaras, fertilized seeds and sowing right now? Would love to learn more from my colleagues on these boards. Thanks.
My understanding is that germination is much higher if maples are sown soft and fresh, rather than hard and brown.
Hmmm... I haven't tried any direct seeding in the past. So, I can't comment on your approach. If you get all the trees you want, I'd say you were accomplishing your goals. I usually collect A.P. samaras after the leaves have all fallen. Around here, that's probably late October or early November (leaves haven't even started to turn here, yet). I start the stratification process in January and sew sprouted seeds in March. I can't say that I've kept track of germination rates, but I'm thinking its much higher than 25% -- maybe 70 or 80%?. All I know is that a handful of seeds gives me two or three times as many sprouts as I want to sew. The only downside is that I have to convince my wife that the baggie of dirt in the fridge is ok. I should mention that I've only collected from older species trees -- not named cultivars. Bryan
Has anyone collected samaras/seeds from Shishigashira or Shaina? I have never seen a samara on either cultivar. Also, with the exception of Higasa yama, why are seeds so rarely found on variegatums? I find many of the dissectums and linearilobums (except for Atrolineare, Linearlobum and Red Pygmy) give very few if any samaras. What have been others' experiences?
