Acquire the skill to be successful with your tree seed germination - collect and propagate your own tree seeds for free.



Germinating tree seeds is not as difficult as many gardening writers have you believe.

Tree seeds may need special treatment to break dormancy depending on the variety. Some trees seeds will not germinate in the first year and is best left for a further year to see if they will germinate during the second spring after being sowing.

Some trees seed have hard seed coats, and should be scarified, this allows the moisture to penetrate and soften the seed.

There are different ways to scarify tree seed. The most favorite method is to use sandpaper or a garden file to roughen up the hard seed coat, or to use a sharp knife to cut a nick in the hard seeds coating. Seed can be softened by placing them in a bowl of warm water and soaking them for 24 hours.

Chemicals that inhibit germination can be found in some tree seeds after they have ripened. This can be avoided by only collecting mature seed immediately before it has fully ripened and before the seed is dispersed from the pods. The seed should then be sown immediately.

Stratification is best used on tree seeds that respond well to either heat or cold. Stratifying seed is used to break its dormancy by mimicking the conditions the seed is normally subjected to; this is usually a spell of cold weather such as that which is experience during the winter.

By placing the seed in a clear plastic bag, ideally filled with moist peat or coir; another system is to use composted bark as this is more natural but it must be composted bark to work, this can be purchased from you local gardening store, before you fill to bag mix the seed well into the material and seal the bag.

Another excellent method is to chill seed in a home refrigerator, you must keep the temperature constant and below 5C, this method will take from 4 to 16/20 weeks, depending on the species grown.

Dont forget to shake the bag every 2 weeks, and if you see the seed germinating in the bag you should sow immediately.

Another method is to place seed in a clear plastic bag and keep it in a warm place at 18-24C, this method will take up to 12 weeks, if after this warm period the seed has not started to germinate, you must give them a period of cold treatment at 5c for another 6 weeks, and then sow them.

As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, dig them up and transplant where you want them to grow on. This is best done in late winter after all the hard frost have gone and before the seedlings start to grow again, this way they will grow into the warmer weather as opposed to transplanting them in the autumn and risking your seedlings dying during a wet cold winter.