At 03:27 AM 2/16/04 +0000, peter wrote:
brent, thank you for the thorough advice. i have always looked forward to
reading your postings for the past few years. although now i have a couple
of more questions:

have i destroyed these seeds by overwintering them in my freezer? even if
they were in a plastic bag?

Peter
Not necessarily. Keeping seeds in the freezer is a common method of long
term storage. In general, seeds need to be somewhat dry before freeze
storage, but this level of dryness is often a problem for some species,
particular some Acer species which are best germinated fresh. Acer rubrum
cannot be dried or stored at all, but must be sown fresh or it dies. I
don't know where A. griseum lies in this spectrum. In general, there is not
a lot of solid scientific evidence in this area. Norman Deno's work on seed
germination is very good if you are interested in persuing it further.

Keep it there for 3 months. Take the seed out and sow it. The medium doesn't
make a lot of difference as long as doesn't stay too wet. I sow Acer seed
in my regular bonsai mix. Do this outdoors under bright light, but not
direct sunlight (if you have sunlight up there). I place the see on top of
the soil, lightly press it into the mix, then just barely cover it with a
little bit of finer mix or vermiculite or peat moss, enough to keep the
seed moist.



should i begin this 3 month process right now or wait until next year with
another batch of seeds that have been properly prepared?
if i place the seeds in the fridge for 3 months i will not be sowing them
until almost june which seems rather late in the year to me. i can always
collect some more seed next fall and begin the process in the manner you
recommend, but i would still like to attempt with the seeds i have.

I would do it now. I only started the pretreatment of all my seed a few
weeks ago. I am expecting to sow in early May. It's difficult to get last
season's seed any earlier than this from most commercial seed suppliers.
Fresher is always better when it come to Acer seeds. You won't have
invested much by starting now with the seed that you have and seeing what
happens. Do check the seed to make sure they aren't empty before you start.

btw, i have never had any success with propogation from cuttings with acer
griseum and i was wondering if you had any advice for rooting from cuttings.
thanks for all the help.

I haven't tried any cuttings of A. griseum. Dirr and Heuser state that it
is extremely difficult and perhaps impossible, so that doesn't sound too
good. On the other hand, some folks do get fairly good results from seed.
It is a matter of learning the tricks. All species have their little
excentricities. You just have to figure them out.

Brent in Northern California
Evergreen Gardenworks USDA Zone 8 Sunset Zone 14

http://www.EvergreenGardenworks.com

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