seeds to plants...

crackcrack30

Went around my land today and collected about a thousand sycamore and ash seeds from the branches, read online somewhere last night to store them in a cool & dry place until spring.....that's no problem ......what is the easiest and most efficient method of getting these from seed to miniature plant ,......preferably done where I want them i.e in the ground.

From "google" last night someone was removing the seeds from the wings....seems like a lot of time & work, is this necessary?

Out of a thousand odd seeds how many plants are likely to make it ? .....

Appreciate any knowledge on this..

mountainy man

I grow trees from seed all the time although I have not bothered with either ash or sycamore as they manage all too well on their own. I have done sweet chestnut, Norway maple, horse chestnut, oak and alder.
I would not wait for spring as some seeds need a period of cold to get them to germinate so do it now, I sow in pots, fill pot with some compost and sow your seeds thinly on the surface and then barely cover with some more compost and water lightly then put pot in a shady place like behind a garden shed and forget about them till spring when they should start to grow, they won't get very big the first year(3-6inches ish) so they could stay in the pot and you can pot on into individual pots in the next year. you should get about 80%+ germination rate all going well. Don't bother with the removal of the seed wings life is too short! You could do this scaled up in a garden bed too to get a lot of trees.
Good luck.

crackcrack30

That's just what I wanted to hear, the garden bed scenario would be right up my street, was considering putting them in the freezer to mimic winter...then planting in pots (or something) in spring...

Recon myself that the sycamore would take off with a light covering in the field now but would slugs and lack of weeding wipe them out come next summer?

Read today that ash require 2 years, as in one year dormant prior to germination......didn't know this but as you can see I don't know a whole lot bout seeds:)

mountainy man

Ya the dormancy can be tricked, found this:

As ash tree plants have a long germination period, it is important to speed up this process by stratifying them. This replicates winter-summer-winter cycles, and hastens the production of hormones which encourage germination. Place your ash tree seeds in a plastic bag, and cover with peat moss to replicate soil. Keep them in a warm room for a few days, and then place the plastic bag in the fridge. This should be left there between 4 weeks and 3 months. Take the seeds out of the fridge, and place in a warmer area, such as a linen closet. Repeat until signs of germination are visible.

Read more: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/3-ways-to-propagate-an-ash-tree#.UpuKE0avkcA#ixzz2mFhS1S7N

As for slugs, I have never had much problems with them as regards tree seedlings I don't know if this is pure luck or not but they eat everything else on me lol. Weeding would be important until they reach above the height of the weeds and also for competition for nutrients.

crackcrack30

Would putting the sealed bag of seed/peat immersed in cold water outside for a couple of months be a substitute for the fridge?

gk5000

crackcrack30 wrote: »

Would putting the sealed bag of seed/peat immersed in cold water outside for a couple of months be a substitute for the fridge?

Be careful they dont rot.

You could just leave them in compost, flower bed or compost for 18 months.

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/INFD-7FABFQ

crackcrack30

Gathered a couple of thousand seeds, placed about half in clear bags covered in damp mosspeat & put them in a plastic container box.


left them inside for a month near radiator, outside for a couple of weeks and back inside for a few weeks. When placing them back outside again today I noticed a bit/start of germination thru the clear plastic bags...


Thinking of digging a few shallow trenchs on the waste/scrub land and shaking them in or should I wait a little while more? maybe give them another week/or two inside while preparing the ground? which is only going to be a rough drag of a mat-axe.

Chisler2

Given the cold, dark, wet of the past months is seed dormancy likely to be delayed this year and the growing-season set back?

crackcrack30

I wouldn't have thought this year any worse than others......no snow yet at least...

crackcrack30

Above withdrawn....