My parents have an Acer Palmatum Atropurpeum which is covered in seeds. I have never noticed mine at home producing them. When and how would I go about sowing them? Have visions of a mini acer forest
Wait til they're completely ripe and starting to drop off. sow them in good draining compost. cover with grit and leave outside all winter. They will germinate in the spring.
Cultivars won't necessarily produce offspring like the parents
Thanks nut - it's certainly worth a try - free trees. Now the admission - a lot had fallen off so I was very helpful and swept the path and threw them away in the compost bin and then thought about growing some later. There are loads more on the tree so I have a good chance
They need to be sown fresh Lesley and Hostafan. I do all my cold germinating outside or in a cold GH. With no winter this year I tried the fridge eventually but they'd probably rotted by the time I put them in there with all that warm wet.
I have had some success using Nuts method. The slight problem is that many of the seeds fall off before they are ripe, you need them to be brown rather than red. I have also found a fairly low germination rate, so sow plenty.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
Most seeds don't do well, if they've been allowed to dry out. I know you think most seeds you buy are dry, however, they might look dry but they've been kept in sealed pouches to stop the moisture levels dropping too low. Home collected seed can dry out too much but you usually have more than enough seed to compensate. As nut says, sow fresh, leave them in a shady place in the garden until they come up. Many tree seedlings need one, two or more winters to break their natural dormancy and if the seeds have been badly stored that can induce a secondary dormancy. Lettuce is the best known example of this kind which is why you sow lettuce when it cool.
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Wait til they're completely ripe and starting to drop off. sow them in good draining compost. cover with grit and leave outside all winter. They will germinate in the spring.
Cultivars won't necessarily produce offspring like the parents
In the sticks near Peterborough
I kept them in the fridge for 3 months ( Jan - end March) then sowed them, but , do date, not a sausage.
Thanks nut - it's certainly worth a try - free trees. Now the admission - a lot had fallen off so I was very helpful and swept the path and threw them away in the compost bin and then thought about growing some later
. There are loads more on the tree so I have a good chance
They need to be sown fresh Lesley and Hostafan. I do all my cold germinating outside or in a cold GH. With no winter this year I tried the fridge eventually but they'd probably rotted by the time I put them in there with all that warm wet.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Sorry to hear that Hostafan but you may do better to go to a supermarket for your sausages
I'll get my coat.
LesleyK, you're funny. tee hee.
I have had some success using Nuts method. The slight problem is that many of the seeds fall off before they are ripe, you need them to be brown rather than red. I have also found a fairly low germination rate, so sow plenty.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Most seeds don't do well, if they've been allowed to dry out. I know you think most seeds you buy are dry, however, they might look dry but they've been kept in sealed pouches to stop the moisture levels dropping too low. Home collected seed can dry out too much but you usually have more than enough seed to compensate. As nut says, sow fresh, leave them in a shady place in the garden until they come up. Many tree seedlings need one, two or more winters to break their natural dormancy and if the seeds have been badly stored that can induce a secondary dormancy. Lettuce is the best known example of this kind which is why you sow lettuce when it cool.
The seeds that have fallen off now will be the ones which weren't pollinated properly. My acer has also flowered for the first time this year.
Do you just put the whole thing into compost or do you need to remove it from the wing first?
I never bother to remove anything for that sort of sowing Fleurisa. It doesn't happen in nature.
If I'm collecting and storing any seeds I just keep the seed.
In the sticks near Peterborough