Siberian Pines from seeds

I started a lot of Siberian Pines from seeds last year and a LOT more this year. I bought a lbs of seeds this past Winter and it seems like there must have been over a thousand seeds.

It was really cool, because it came the seeds came into a cotton bag.



I then soaked them for 12 hrs and stratified them in the fridge until a lot of them were showing signs of sprouting. I would rinse them every second day to avoid mold from growing on them.



I had seeds left over from last year that stratified in a bucket burried in the ground over the winter. They pretty much all came up. Hopefully the new seeds will be the same.



I think it is way easier to get them to stratify in a bucket. Ideally, it would be better to plant them directly where we want them, but squirrels and other rodents seem to be very fond of them, so protecting them until they sprout is very important.

Any pictures of your 2 year old seedlings Adrien? I don't have a camera or cell phone to take pictures of some 2 year olds that I have. Seedling growth for me is painfully slow. It will likely take at least 4 years before my seedlings are large enough to plant out in the field.

Where did you get the seeds?

Denis Huel wrote:Any pictures of your 2 year old seedlings Adrien? I don't have a camera or cell phone to take pictures of some 2 year olds that I have. Seedling growth for me is painfully slow. It will likely take at least 4 years before my seedlings are large enough to plant out in the field.

They are indeed really slow. After the snow had melted, I looked at the trees and thought they were dead, that is until they started a new set of needles.

Kate Muller wrote: Where did you get the seeds?

They are from Lawyer Nursery.

Wow, these are such awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing!

I did a Permies search on Siberian pines last week and nothing came up.   I wish I had seen this post.  Having issues with my Blue spruce (there is a fungus that's going around.)

Planted five of these, they did so well I decided to use them throughout the food forest.  The trees were planted last year and they are already producing cones.  Pulled some cones off last week and started stratifying them in the fridge.

I didn't soak them so they may not sprout!  We shall see.   They are a beautiful and healthy tree.  They put on two feet of new growth this year.


I'd love to see some pictures of your trees.

Cheers Scott

The two little trees in the center are Siberians, the larger trees on the side are Blue Spruce.  (The Spruce are dying from the bottom up.)  

Scott Foster wrote:
The two little trees in the center are Siberians, the larger trees on the side are Blue Spruce.  (The Spruce are dying from the bottom up.)

I don't think those two in the center are Siberian stone pines, or any kind of pine; looks more like a spruce. I've got Siberian stone pines and they don't look anything like that, nor do the photos online. The pines have needles which are much longer, and a more upright growth habit. Did you buy them as Siberian pines? Or are they Siberian spruces?

Victor Johanson wrote:

Scott Foster wrote:
The two little trees in the center are Siberians, the larger trees on the side are Blue Spruce.  (The Spruce are dying from the bottom up.)

I don't think those two in the center are Siberian stone pines, or any kind of pine; looks more like a spruce. I've got Siberian stone pines and they don't look anything like that, nor do the photos online. The pines have needles which are much longer, and a more upright growth habit. Did you buy them as Siberian pines? Or are they Siberian spruces?

I just wrote Serbian in my garden log (good reason to start using the Latin Description.)     I looked up Serbian Spruce and I think you are correct,  these are spruce and not pine.   I didn't realize there was a Serbian spruce and a Serbian pine!  Thanks for pointing it out.

Victor,      I dug up the receipt they are Serbian Spruce.  (picea omorika)

Regards, Scott

So I just ordered a couple of hundred seeds. Does anyone know much about the inoculant that a lot of people online seem to write about?

I live in the Canadian boreal forest, so I suspect that some soil from around some spruce/fur/pine/larch mixed in with the conifer wood shavings would likely do the trick.

Thoughts?

Edit: So I looked up the species lists and found that Eastern White Pine is a very close relative. I think I'll go looking for a stand of these trees.

I think I gathered the seeds at the wrong time, maybe too late.  I only had one germinate but I bet he/she is going to be a tough tree.  Siberian Spruce

I think I gathered the seeds at the wrong time, maybe too late.  I only had one germinate but I bet he/she is going to be a tough tree.  Siberian Spruce