stratifying conifer seeds

Hi all, I am looking for some pointers on how to stratify the some conifer seeds they are: western larch, Ponderosa pine, & Sitka spruce. Thanks for all your help. :)

 

For Western larch, Ponderosa Pine Fall is the best time to plant seeds. Pine seeds that cannot be planted at once should be stratified at 35F for two months. It is best to plant them in sterilized soil or an artificial soil medium, so damping off diseases will be less of a problem. Larch seed should be stratified at 40F for three months., and planted in a sterilized soil or an artificial soil medium. - Millet (1,433-)

 

A month at 2°C for all of them will suffice.

 

Would the same stratification process work for P. thunbergii and bungeana?

 

Yes, should do.

 

Michael F., should I put peat moss in the plastic bags while they are in the fridge?

 

Sterilised sand is better than peat, but neither is absolutely necessary.

 

I don't have any sand, but the peat moss won't hurt anything, right?

 

More likely to carry mould than sand, but there's a good chance you'll be OK. Inspect weekly and discard any seeds that go mouldy, or turn black (if not naturally black) and ooze liquid at all. Mouldy seeds can often be distinguished by peat / sand clinging to them, embedded in the mould hyphae.

 

Okay. I'll keep an eye out for the moldy ones. Thanks so much.

 

For what its worth, Arboretum de Villardebelle has a nice set of pictures with instructions on stratifying pines. www.pinetum.org
Worked pretty well for me.
Carl

 

Cool, Carl. Thanks

 

Here's the full url for the Villardebelle page: http://www.pinetum.org/advice.htm