GIANT SEQUIOA

i have several giant sequioa pinecones i brought back from yosemite, and i have saved 3 seeds. they have been sitting around for months. if anyone has ANY information on how to germinate these seeds, please contact me at:
meir[remove this, there is no space here]bank[at]gmail.com

- meir

I used to have this twentyone years old postcard from some park north of S.F., it contained a small disc of compressed soil, some seeds and instructions, but cannot find it now. I had once (1993) used another one I bought on the same occasion, and if I remember well it said to soak the soil in water and put a seed or two in it, then put the whole thing in a covered dish and in a fridge for a month. It germinated, and then the second seed germinated and killed the first seedling... Well, this second plant grew until 2005 in a large vase in my garden in England. It was eventually transplanted, and for a year it grew in open soil, gaining a metre or so in that timeframe. Finally in the summer of 2006 I dug it up as the land was undergoing development and gave it to a friend who had a clearing to fill, but he left it too long out in the air, and I wasn't there to check, and it died... It still makes me sad.
If I can find that postcard... I think I'll try again, even if it's 20 years.

Propagation
Seed - sow early spring in a cold frame in light shade. Seed can also be sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse. Germination rates are usually very low, two months cold stratification might help. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots once they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter, planting them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer. Plants will require some protection from cold and spring frosts for their first year or two outdoors. If there are sufficient seeds, they can be sown in a lightly shaded outdoor bed in late March. Grow them on for two years in the seed bed before planting them out into their permanent positions in late autumn or early spring.