huon pine seed

[de_keizer]

hi, ive just recieved some huon pine seeds and i was wondering if anyone has grown them before, what your results were and what do i have to do to get them to germinate. id also like to know roughly how long they take to germinate. ive done a bit of research and have read that "cold stratification may be beneficial for this species" does this mean that they will not germinate unless i do this. any help would be appreciated thanks.

[tanglefoot]

Wouldn't hurt sticking them in the fridge for 4 weeks, say in some moist sphagnum moss,then sow them in a clean propagating mix, lightly covered with the mix (say 2mm cover), and keep in a cool moist spot.

Can take a while, say 6-8 weeks or maybe more. The very tiny seedlings will grow very slowly! Because of the slow germination and then slow growth, there is a high probability of some problem occuring along the way. Good luck!

The absolute easiest way to propagate Huons is by cuttings. You can even strike them in a jug of water! I did it once (accidentally), by having a branch in with a display of native flowers. We kept changing the flowers and the water. After about 2 months we had roots!

[de_keizer]

thanks for that ill give it a try when i get some mix

[time8theuniverse]

I only soaked the seeds overnight, I didn't cold stratify them. There was abit of oil on the waters surface after 12hrs so I changed the water and left it another 12hrs. I didn't think they where going to sink like the coastal redwood do, so I sowed them after the 24hrs.

Its been 4wks and I can see some root buds starting to form but I'm being careful to keep the seed moist as they seem to be sensitive to that. I haven't planted them very deeply either. I'm not sure if that was a mistake or not.

[time8theuniverse]

I finally got a huon seed to sprout leaves as well as roots. It was more despite my efforts than because of them.

I will sew the seeds into a clear container with sand in the bottom next time. That way the seeds can do the work and I will just have to keep the sand moist.