Hi we have a 35 year old male and female monkey tree. The pods on the female tree are about 2 years old and 170mm in diameter. We would like to germinate the seeds but we not sure if we should wait until the the pods or seeds fall down or if we should cut them down in September, October and put them in a dry place for the pods to open. We live in Southern Norway. Any adivce would be appreciated. Thanks
The cones will disintegrate naturally in the next month or two. Here's what the seeds look like after falling; the plump, hard pale orange-brown seeds are viable, the thin, soft darker ones are empty and not viable. Note that the seeds must not be dried; they are very sensitive to desiccation and even just a day or two in a warm dry room will kill them. Store refrigerated over the winter in damp sand at +1° or +2°C. More photos: http://www.pinetum.org/kyloe4.htm (scroll just over half-way down the page)
Thanks for you advice. You were exactly right, the seeds fell down this weekend. Some were planted right away, some were soaked in a bucket for 48 hours in luke warm water some are in a zip lock bag in the fridge and the rest are in damp sand in the fridge for longer storage. I would like to show you our 'home made' propagator. We mixed 50% planting earth and 50% sand. We took a platic tray and drilled holes in the bottom for drainage (IMG_1028). The platic tray sits inside a platic storage box. The bottom of the storage box is filled with water with a heating element and a thermostat. The water is at a constant 28øc (82.4 degree Fahrenheit) inside the box its about 75.2 degree Fahrenheit. The tray with the seeds are not laying in the water but just above the water. The seed are planted with the pointed end downwards about 3/4 down into the soil We are hoping that in a few weeks the seeds will start to push themselves upwards and then we will plant them into new pots and keep them by a window during the winter. Please feel free to comment on this as we have no expeience in propogating seeds. Thanks David & Frode Mandal, Vest Agder. Norway
Nice collection! There's some useful info here: Growing Araucaria from Seeds I think it would be better to refrigerate the seed over winter, rather than trying to get it started now.
Thanks for the link and advice. The website mentions that they are not that easy to store but i am not sure if they mean that they are not easy to store if you don't have them in the fridge. They also say you can sow them anytime indoors but i guess its the lack of sunlight in the winter that is the problem. If we were to to germinate them during winter and then re-pot them could we give them some artificial lighting a few hours a day?
You could do that, but it would need to be very bright. Try a search of the forums here for suitable artificial lighting types.
Thanks again Michael! Germination only took 2 weeks, some of the shoots are twice as long as in the picture. I am supprised of the results were so quick. I have re-potted about 14 into an extra large bucket about 45cm deep for the winter. When would you recommend to use the lighting? when the the actual leaves start showing? I am also not sure if i should cover the bucket with some plastic. The bucket is in the bathroom which has a heated floor.
