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Anyone sown Rowan seeds successfully?

young codgeryoung codger Posts: 543
in The potting shed

I've had an interest for a little while  in having a go at sowing Rowan seeds. I went in to the park yesterday evening and collected a quantity-about a 3rd of a carrier bag.

I've seen one  method domonstrated to access the seeds.  Mushing the berries up with a mortar & pessle.

Planting the berries in  course sand to rot the fruit off the seeds over winter was another.

Anyone have a method that has achieved reasonable success?

I've got enough berries to try various  methods  :)



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Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I expect you’ve seen this link.
    I haven't  grown them from seed but have had them germinate in the gutters. It can’t be difficult,.
    https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-extract-seeds-from-berries/
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    I've never bother extracting seed from fruits. When they drop off i put a few in a pot of gritty compost and leave them outside somewhere. They germinate in spring but they don't like it here in the dry alkaline soil so they die when I plant them out


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The birds usually leave them as a gift - they don't require much assistance, as @Lyn indicated. They grow in the sides of burns and streams up  here   :)
    I think you could just bung 'em in a pot, and providing it stays moist, they would just get on with it themselves. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I think they do need slightly acid soil though, they grow wild on the moors, very acid. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Pheobe33Pheobe33 Posts: 20
    Hi
    I'm not sure about rowan but I was watching this about hawthorne seeds the other day as I am trying to sew from seed and may be useful:


  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Lyn said:
    I think they do need slightly acid soil though, they grow wild on the moors, very acid. 
    They certainly thrive in acid, peaty conditions, but we have fairly neutral soil here, and they're more than happy.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    I have a self-sown rowan, and my soil pH is about 8.0.
  • young codgeryoung codger Posts: 543
    Thanks for the replies.

    I think I will  squash half of them, and sow the mush without picking the seeds out. I'll sow the remaining half without doing anything.

    A variation on method. I feel there will be quite a few that germinate from all the berries I have.

    Will keep the acid  soil in mind.


  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    They don't mind alkaline soil as long as it is relatively deep.  Being a 'pioneer' species, they can grow and self-seed in most conditions, staying small or bushy if exposed to weather or browsing fauna and growing large when happy.  They don't do well at all with constant wet feet or in very dry or nutrient-poor soil though.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • GWRSGWRS Posts: 8,478
    Hello , I have grown 4 Rowan Trees from seed , they are currently planted in the Hedge at my allotment , however , I got the seeds , I think from the woodland trust 
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