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Germination of Sequoia and smoke
It is widely stated that Sequoia seeds have poor germination. Or does that mean that we haven't found the trigger for germination? Last Wednesday I was shown round The Moorbank Botanic Gardens of the University of Newcastle by Prof. Richards(Retd). He showed us a Sequoia wellingtonia about 6ft high and told us its story. As a final-year project, Emma Morebank, a student had studied whether "smoked water" promoted the germination of Sequoia and found that it did. She died died tragically young in 2007, and this tree, one of the ones she had grown, was planted in her memory. Searching Google for "smoke", "Sequoia", and "Germination" I find anecdotal reports suggesting that smoke from the fires which are so important in California promotes germination of Sequoia and this must have been what Morebank was investigating. It makes some kind of sense. For temperature alone to be the trigger, there could only be few degrees between the temperature that would trigger and the temperature that would kill. The chemical products of burning in solution in water would be a much better trigger If so, this is something we could use. We could char or burn wood shavings, sawdust or cut and dried grass in an oven (preferably electric, gas-heated ovens are ventilated) and pop in the seeds when it has cooled down. Or. "Liquid smoke" is available, it seems to be mainly aimed at giving that "Smokey tang" to cooked meats, but it is suggested that it might help germination of Sequoia seeds. Does anybody have any knowledge of these? Michael Bell -- |
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Germination of Sequoia and smoke
On 19/05/2012 08:55, Michael Bell wrote:
It is widely stated that Sequoia seeds have poor germination. Or does that mean that we haven't found the trigger for germination? Last Wednesday I was shown round The Moorbank Botanic Gardens of the University of Newcastle by Prof. Richards(Retd). He showed us a Sequoia wellingtonia about 6ft high and told us its story. As a final-year project, Emma Morebank, a student had studied whether "smoked water" promoted the germination of Sequoia and found that it did. She died died tragically young in 2007, and this tree, one of the ones she had grown, was planted in her memory. Searching Google for "smoke", "Sequoia", and "Germination" I find anecdotal reports suggesting that smoke from the fires which are so important in California promotes germination of Sequoia and this must have been what Morebank was investigating. It makes some kind of sense. For temperature alone to be the trigger, there could only be few degrees between the temperature that would trigger and the temperature that would kill. The chemical products of burning in solution in water would be a much better trigger If so, this is something we could use. We could char or burn wood shavings, sawdust or cut and dried grass in an oven (preferably electric, gas-heated ovens are ventilated) and pop in the seeds when it has cooled down. Or. "Liquid smoke" is available, it seems to be mainly aimed at giving that "Smokey tang" to cooked meats, but it is suggested that it might help germination of Sequoia seeds. Does anybody have any knowledge of these? I believe that smoke treatment was first used in South Africa for restio seeds. Restios had proved very recalcitrant to germinate under most other successful regimens. The idea was then taken further with Proteaceae (also difficult to germinate) and then picked up and developed by Australian botanic gardens (notably Kings Park in Perth) for their Proteaceae - and other families - seeds. I have use it in the UK for Australian seeds, but developed my own method. Pots of seed are placed in a propagator, with space for the smoke generator. I use dried leaves of Australian plants I already grow (Eucalyptus mainly, but also some Banksia, Dryandra, and Hakea). As the leaves don't keep burning for long, I have tried using them soaked in potassium nitrate (sometimes with the addition of tissue paper given the same treatment) which usually keeps them glowing a bit longer. I put them in a fireproof container on top of a metal grid, which is about 5 cm off the bottom. An old terracotta pot or a tin with a hole in the bottom will do as the container; that allows air to circulate. A tea light underneath gets the leaves going (you can try a gas lighter, but the leaves soon go out). Put a fine metal grid over the top so flames can't get through (I forgot to do this once and melted a seed propagator lid!). After the smoke has dispersed, spray the pots to get the smoky water into contact with the seeds. You can repeat the treatment once or twice if you think it might help. Two points to be aware off. Firstly, don't burn your greenhouse down! You don't need that much smoke in such a confined space. Secondly, it might not make any difference to the germination; some seeds have their germination inhibited by smoke. -- Jeff |
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