here are some photos of Black spruce (picea mariana) seeds germinating after 5 days, no cold stratification. this paper towel method works really great for germinating plants with small seeds. you can see them as they germinate too! the seed source is New Brunswick, Canada. lets see how this boreal species fares in southern california. id love some advice! @Ron B @wcutler
At least they wont feel overwatered here. very dry similarly to their native climate in colorado albeit much milder winters. but i dont see any problems in these spruces that would otherwise occur in maritime climates
Mild winters are very bad for spruces, they get damaged or killed by various pests that can't survive cold winters, but overwhelm the spruces in mild conditions.
Is there any way I can mitigate the damage? What's Wrong with My Blue Spruce? | American Conifer Society
Unfortunately, as your link says, "once a tree is infected with a fungal disease it is very difficult to halt the decline, much less reverse it", not really, no! Other than finding some way of freezing the tree to -8°C or lower for a couple of months in the midwinter :-) If it is the blue foliage you want, try Single-leaf Pinyon, or perhaps Arizona Cypress, they're a nice blue and much more heat tolerant. For the shape, it's much more difficult to replicate with something else.
You are right. hopefully these trees survive though. I will also plant the cypress and the singleleaf pinyon. possible picea abies could work. ive seen large ones in the bay area
Yes, growing from seed gives somewhat better acclimatization. According to my experiences P. pungens has relatively slow growth at young age, that's normal. They speed up significantly after 10 years or so after planting. Unfortunately they loose a lot of their nice appearance soon after that, as they start loosing needles from their lower branches because of shading from their own top growth.