Sequoia from seed

I bought sequoia seeds because they were there when I was buying other seeds from Experimental Farm Network, and I thought, yeah, I need that. Have any of you permies started sequoia from seed? If I put it in a gallon pot with potting soil this fall and keep it where it will get rained on, is that enough to get it going?

Most seeds of native West Coast plants need to experience forest fire.

See if you can get your hands on some wood vinegar. Or Liquid Smoke, which is basically the same thing. Use a dilute solution to soak the seeds and this will simulate rainfall percolating through recently burned forest duff.

Phil Stevens wrote:See if you can get your hands on some wood vinegar. Or Liquid Smoke, which is basically the same thing. Use a dilute solution to soak the seeds and this will simulate rainfall percolating through recently burned forest duff.

Wait.... the "liquid smoke" stuff I've used to make jerky before is wood vinegar? As in one of the byproducts of wood combustion, I keep hearing/reading about as I research biochar? And can be used to trick seeds into thinking there's been a forest fire?

That is interesting... 🤔

So, going the other direction, if I collect wood vinegar when making biochar, I could use it to flavor my jerky?

Indeed. Wood vinegar is pretty amazing stuff. At minute dilutions, it's a germination enhancer, especially for seeds that come from places with a natural fire cycle. Go a little stronger and it's antifungal. Stronger still and you can deter (or even kill) lots of invertebrate pests. Once you get into 5-10% rates it can be used as a weed killer. I am starting to wonder about whether it would make a timber preservative at this level.

Wow interesting! In was hoping it could be less complicated, but it’s better if I have to work for it

If possible, I’d put them in the ground in a permanent spot so they can establish a tap root and symbiotic fungal inoculation of the roots. This will also help them get the cold of winter they are used to at over mile elevation in the Sierras. If thats not possible, use an air pruning bed or felt pot to air prune the roots, which will outgrow the pot far before the tree looks too big for it. In my observation, standard plastic pots are the worst thing to start trees in. Even a 12-18” section of perforated corrugated 4” black pipe with no bottom, heeled into a raised bed, has worked much better than pots with the many hundreds of trees I have started in various ways (no giant sequoia though). I bet a call to a ranger at the Sequioa National Park visitor center could help connect you to their restorationists and their recommendation of medium. I am betting its going to be resembling composted coniferous forest material and pumice or decomposed granite, which is what the soil there looked like to me when hiking through.

I've been looking at these forums for years, saw this post and figured I'd chime in. I also saw the sequoia seeds at EFN and decided I had to have them. I cold stratified them in the fridge in a moist paper towel for 3 months. I then planted them under grow lights in Fox Farm Happy Frog potting soil. Out of the 30ish seeds, I had 8 sprout. These ones are around 3 months old.

When séquoias where all the rage in Europe a century ago propagation from seed turned out impossible until someone brought soil from around the trees from USA.
Turned out they need a certain mycorhizal fungi to start.

Ian Gardener wrote:I've been looking at these forums for years, saw this post and figured I'd chime in. I also saw the sequoia seeds at EFN and decided I had to have them. I cold stratified them in the fridge in a moist paper towel for 3 months. I then planted them under grow lights in Fox Farm Happy Frog potting soil. Out of the 30ish seeds, I had 8 sprout. These ones are around 3 months old.

Are they inside?

Yeah, they're still inside. They seem a bit too small to transplant at the moment, plus I'm looking for a new house so for now they have to stay in their pots.