At 02:07 PM 5/4/03 -0500, Neal Ross wrote:
Last summer I purchased some Trident maple and Amur Maple seeds from
Angelgrove Seed Co. I followed the instructions that came with them for
stratification and planting. I now have over 50 Amur maple seedlings and
one Trident. Is there a slower germinating period for Tridents or did I
just get a bad batch of seeds? Also, all my black pines and lacebark pines
came up too, so I know I did something right.
Neal
This is not unusual. Trident maple, Acer buergerianum is just like Acer
palmatum with regard to seed germination. Once the seed is thoroughly dried
and stored, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible to get it to
germinate. Acer buergerianum is best collected fresh in the fall and
immediately soaked and stored in the refrigerator for the winter. I
understand that this may be next to impossible when buying seed from a company.
I think you are in N. CA. There are a number of larger Tridents planted in
the landscape in this area since the weather is mild enough for them. I get
my seed from a huge tree on the Santa Rosa Jr. College campus in Santa Rosa.
There is one thing you can try. Many Acer species need multiple
pretreatments to break down a series of germination inhibitors. Since you
have given it a cold moist pretreatment, proceed to a warm moist one. Keep
it at 70F for three months, or through the summer, then put it back in the
refrigerator this fall for another cold pretreatment. You should never
allow the seed to dry out during this entire process. If it doesn't
germinate after you take it out of the fridge next spring, it is probably
hopeless.
You can also check the seed for viability by cutting a few seeds open and
checking the kernel. It should be hard and cream colored, but not dry and
chalky, or dark, or mushy. A concave cutter is good for cutting them open.
Brent in Northern California
Evergreen Gardenworks USDA Zone 8 Sunset Zone 14
http://www.EvergreenGardenworks.com
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