Japanese Maple Fresh Seed

[subie23]

Hi there,

Near my workplace there are couple of mature Japanese maple with fresh seeds on the trees. I thinking of plugging the seed of the tree and plant as seedlings but would like to know what do I need to do the following.

1. plug seed of the tree or wait for it to drop into the ground?
2. if plug fresh, do I plant straight into the soil or keep in the fridge to Stratification?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Subie

[Phoenix238]

If it was private property I'd put ziplock bags over the seeds so that when they're mature they fall into the bag instead of on the ground

[shibui]

I don't think there will be any ripe seed on maples at this time of year Subie??? You are probably seeing new seeds just starting to form. They will not be ready until autumn. When the leaves fall is about the right time to collect the seed. Ripe seed will be brown and dry.
It is easiest to pick the seed straight off the tree but seed from the ground can be ok too.
I sow fresh seed soon after I collect it and get very good germination. Stratifying in the fridge takes time and energy and you can get fungal problems with the seed so best just to sow fresh seed straight in the pots and wait for spring.