Josh Warfield

June updates:

I ended up ordering some seed from Sheffield's, which said it was collected in Paradox which is pretty nearby. So far, only one of those seeds has come up, one that I direct sowed into a lightly mulched bed of native soil, a couple weeks before last frost. It took quite a while to pop up, so I was probably too early with that. I don't know if the other seeds in the same bed are still dormant, or got eaten by birds, or what. The seeds have a really hard coat on them so I doubt that they've rotted already. The seedling is a very generic looking monocot, growing very slowly, and I might have mistaken it for a weed or not even noticed it was there, if I hadn't marked the spot where I planted it.

I also took another cutting and put it in a pot with some "cactus mix" miracle grow stuff, and this time I've been watering it about as often as any garden plant. I read so many warnings about not overwatering cactus, and I'm sure that's a real problem when growing them in wetter climates, but I guess I don't need to worry about it too much in this case. I had it in full sun at first, and it very clearly got sunburned, so now it's in afternoon shade and seems to be doing alright. It's definitely still alive, not drying out and turning grey/brown like the others did, but the leaves don't appear to be growing at all. I hope that means it's putting energy into growing roots.

And finally... it seems that whatever is eating the wild ones isn't deer. Or at least, not exclusively deer. I put a circle of hardware cloth around one that was flowering, and I guarantee there's no way a deer got around that, but the whole flower stalk still got eaten. So it must have been a rodent or a rabbit, both of which could easily get under the fence that was only meant to stop deer. So the next time I try that I'll have to actually fence the thing all the way down to the ground.

Thanks for confirming, I definitely thought they were cooked but didn't want to give up on watering them until I was sure. I did dig up a couple of the larger seeds, they looked just like the day I planted them. They were probably all cooked within the first couple days and I just didn't realize. I'll have another go depending on the days-to-maturity numbers.

And thanks for all the tips on other methods, I've definitely been trying all the methods that make sense for me, and mostly learning all the ways each one can go wrong. Good to know about tomatoes propagating from cuttings, I'll see what I can find locally for that. I've shied away from plants in pots after I had like three or four basil plants immediately bolt and/or die within a couple weeks of being outside. But maybe tomatoes will do better, only one way to find out!

I'm living in a camper van on vacant land I'm developing, so keeping my seed trays indoors in temperature-controlled conditions is not an option at the moment. Indoor space of any type is at a premium, so I left my seed trays outside, figuring it'd be less than optimal but the seeds should still germinate eventually, right?

I left the covers on so I don't have to water them multiple times a day, but I didn't realize quite how hot it would get in there with the greenhouse effect. I had some seeds in wet paper towel in there, thinking it'd be nice to keep them a bit warm, but then I checked on them mid-day once and the paper towels were almost painfully hot to touch.

None of the seeds in the trays have germinated, and it's been like three weeks since I planted them. It's a mix of different plants, nothing that's supposed to be particularly slow to germinate. Did I just cook the whole batch?

Related question: is it too late in the season to start over with tomatoes and peppers and whatnot? Should I just save the rest of those seeds for next spring?

Oh, and I guess I somehow missed the notifications for a couple of the posts here in the thread. Whoops. I'll DM those of you above who expressed interest and then never heard back from me, sorry about that.

Hi Jermaine, yes I'm back at my place, I just re-messaged all the people I had PMs from, so I guess I accidentally skipped you because you had only commented here. But to anyone else following here, yes I'm back for the season and you're welcome to come visit. PM me (or email me if we've already exchanged emails) to arrange things if you want to come out!

Ryan Walker wrote:So my understanding is Pinon's take 20 to 30 years of maturity to start producing.

I've also heard that they're super slow to mature, but I've seen trees on my property that are shorter than me but already producing nuts. I doubt those are 20 years old already, if so they're absurdly slow-growing for a pine. Maybe what people mean is that it takes 20 years to get *full* production -- those little guys might only have a dozen cones on them; not worth your time to harvest as food, but plenty enough for seed. Or maybe there's significant variation between individuals for how long they take to mature (in which case I should maybe start with collecting seed from the youngest trees I can find)?

> Maybe their bad location was where the deer could not get to them?
Nah, it was out in the wide open, and it's possible that some of why they didn't look happy was because the deer also munch on the leaves during the winter (must be pretty desperate times for them to be eating a yucca leaf, wow)

> your plants look like they just didn't get enough water
Yes, it's certainly possible/likely that a couple of these might have done better if I'd watered them more. The thought was that this is their native environment, so they ought to be able to survive on just rain, right? But as I've learned a bit more about propagating plants in general, I guess some extra water might be what they need to get through the stress of transplanting. Next time I try propagating them, I'll definitely water them more than I did last time. I doubt that root rot is going to be a big risk, given how dry it is around here, so there's not really a downside.

Spring 2025 update: the offset cutting does not look happy, probably gonna dry out and die soon if I don't find some miracle cure for it. If that doesn't recover this year, I'd say my propagation experiments for this species have all failed. I bought seeds from Sheffield's, which are apparently sourced from a location pretty close by, and I'll see if I can get those to germinate, and hopefully grow to maturity. Also I'll try to protect any flowering wild plants from getting eaten by deer, and hopefully collect seeds from those to plant this fall or next spring.

I'm also very interested in this. I have about 50 acres of pinyon/juniper forest, likely old growth as far as I can tell, and I hope to maximize the nut production of the pinyons and possibly start a long-term breeding project if I can. I have not yet heard of anyone who has managed these trees using orchard techniques. The local indigenous people still carry the tradition of harvesting the wild nuts, and they sell them out of the backs of their cars on the side of the road every fall. So it's definitely a plant that's culturally valued, which makes me wonder whether the lack of attention from modern agriculture is due to bias, or actually because the trees don't take well to being cultivated...

Hi Matt, seems like you're dealing with a lot. I can relate to feeling disconnected from your family and the culture you grew up in. I'm not entirely clear on what you're looking for, but if you need a place to stay and don't mind roughing it, my place in SW Colorado is open. You'll need to bring your own shelter and be prepared to generally take care of yourself, but I'm not charging rent or anything. Please PM me if that sounds like something you're interested in.