In mid September I gathered up some Acer samaras and put them in the fridge. Now they're starting to sprout! I collected seeds from the following varieties: A.p. 'Osakazuki' A.p. 'Ichigoyagi' A.p. 'Wou nishiki' A.p. 'Burgundy Lime' A.p. 'Green Elf' I potted up each sprouting seed in a 4" pot with my favorite organic potting soil. Then I topped each one off with about 1/8 inch of sand. I heard this makes things a little cleaner when the seedlings start to come out of the soil and helps prevent fungal diseases. Now I guess its a wait-and see game!
Yes. They have been in moist peat-moss (in a refrigerator) for over 4 months, and now some of the seeds have roots sprouting out. Those are the ones I put in pots. :-)
Isn´t it better to wait until cotyledons are fully sprayed? Besides, why the seeds you sent me, from the same cultivars doesn´t sprout yet?? What, is there something wrong with my refrigerator??
cafernan, I don't know why you don't see sprouts, but I only have seen 1 or 2 sprouts from each batch of seeds. Maybe they are just slow... K4
Ok, so I won´t change my fridge!! And what about to wait untill cotyledons are sprayed as the time to place seeds sprouting in pots?? How do you prevent fungal disease?
I don't know anything about cotyledons. Fungal diseases - I planted these seedlings in organic soil with micorrhizal fungi. We'll see if this helps protect against the nasty types of fungus. The sand on top of the soil is also supposed to help once the seedlings break the surface.
Try these links: http://www.mycorrhizas.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=91&lang=en http://www.mycorrhizalproducts.com/index.php?cid=45
The seedlings are now prgressing to the stage of getting their second pair of leaves. These are the first "real" leaves.
How often do you water them? Do you water from the top or from the bottom by adding water in the tray with grava??
I should check my seeds. I leave them in the garage over winter so they get very cold, and usually do very well, but sprout later. This year I collected only from japonicum. It is really exciting to see them grow.
Cafernan, I water from the top, but I don't get the foliage wet. Poetry, I see Ed sent you a bunch of seeds too!! I think I have enough Japonicum seeds to provide every man woman and child in America their own tree! LOL! But hey, it is a hoot...
K4 Any germination action with the japonicums and shirasawanums? jacquot, Have you germinated many japonicums in the past?
No, I just got them a couple of weeks ago, so they haven't been in moist stratification long enough for anything to sprout. Are any of your sprouting? How long have you had yours? What method are you using to sprout?
K4, No sprouts here at all so far. Since it's still Winter in Philly, and this year I left all my seeds outdoors in pots for stratification, I'm expecting to see some sprouts in April-May. Last year a bunch of AP and a few AS sprouted radicles in March but nothing above ground for another month or more. This year I am trying about 25 different types AP and a few AJ, AS and an AG. I have high hopes because of the nice range of samaras Ed kindly shared and the few I collected. Has anyone taken samaras from an "Aeken le's'?
OK, sometimes I think Mother Nature does a better job with all this than we ever could. I'm planning on mass-sowing Ed's seeds in large pots after I've wet-stratified them in the fridge thru the end of March. I'm going to leave a large gap between the top of the soil and the rim, so there's space for little seedlings to pop out, and then cover the pot with screening to keep out the critters. As the seedlings germinate and peek up out of the soil, they'll be transferred to individual pots for growing on. I figure this will be an advantage three ways - First, the larger pot (3-5 gallon size) won't dry out quickly like the smaller pots or trays. I can put these 'seed pots' in with my other potted maples and let them get watered with the rest of the crowd - no special attention required. Second, with the screen on top I can leave the seeds out all year without undue concern for varmits - especially squirrels - going crazy in the pots. And third, its a heck of a lot easier to mass-sow than to put each seed in its own little pot! I would need serious psychaiatric attention if I did it the way you're doing it! When they sprout, THEN I'll give them a pot of their own.. :-)
Kaitain4, since I´m doing my first steps in germination, I put my seeds in cell trays and thus, I have the problem you mention about quickly dry out. My question then is, what would happen if I´ll put water in the tray where the cells are set? I saw in your pictures that you put the pots upon a tray with sand. If I add water instead sand may be I could avoid dry out. What do you think? Wouldn´t be too much water? Regards
I think that would make the soil really soggy and probably cause some fungal problems. Maybe if you covered the pots - made a little tent of plastic to create a greenhouse effect - it would help them not dry out as much. I've also heard of people using a mist system? Haven't looked at those yet. Keeping the pots on a tray of wet gravel keeps the air around the seedlings moist, but does not get up into the pots. Again, you don't want them waterlogged.
K4, Last Fall I removed the bottoms from some 1gal plastic containers and replaced them with screening. I sowed the samaras in those around mid October. I might just have had too much time on my hands but my theory was that it could encourage excellent 1st year growth being the seedlings weren't disturbed at all and getting excellent drainage and nutrition. The second batch of seedlings are in one of those peat cell things you can get at HD or Loew's. They come with a lid to help with humidity and they worked fine last year. I had no fungal issues at all.
I just planted my seeds in a min. greenhouse "always do" they are perfect for starting produce seeds "which is all I grow in them and occ flowers"... ;) I am currently trying to sprout produce seeds in them, the seeds have ben in the dirt for 2 days now " I have 2 min. greenhouses"
