Ken’s Trees

Giant Sequoia Seeds

Before I can sow the Giant Sequoia seeds I need to put them through a period of cold stratification to trigger germination.  Essentially I am simulating the cold weather that the seeds would experience during Winter in a natural environment.  What I will do is put the seeds in a ziplock bag with a paper towel, then put this into the refrigerator for about a month.  The first thing I did was separate the seeds into two equal groups, this is one of those “don’t keep all your eggs in one basket” type of project.  There is always a risk of mold growing with any type of stratification, so splitting the seeds up into smaller groups to put into separate bags is a good idea.

Giant Sequoia seeds separated into two groups

Next I prepared the paper towels for the seeds by soaking them and then squeezing the excess water out.  You want the paper towels to be damp, but not soaking wet.  Most nurseries or seed stores will recommend vermeculate or perlite in place of the paper towel, however in my research I have found that most people who are not trying to make a sale find most success using paper towels.  There are a couple other reasons I prefer the paper towel method.  The paper towels make it much easier to check for mold and to change out if mold does happen to develop.  Even if everything goes correctly having there is an advantage to paper towels because they make it much easier to find your seeds at the end of the month, than searching through the vermeculate.

So once the paper towels were damped, I folded them half and spread my seeds out on the top quarters of the paper towels.  Again this is a percaution to avoid mold destroying too many seeds, keeping them spread out will provide a little bit of a barrier.

Giant Sequoia seeds in damp paper towel

Next I folded the bottom quarter of the paper towel over the seeds, and prepared the ziplock bags.  With a permanent marker I labeled each bag with the tree species and the date that I need to remove them from the refrigerator.  Working with a couple different types of seeds this makes it much easier for me to keep track of which bag contains which seeds and when they need attention.

Giant Sequoia seeds in ziplock bag

Once the seeds and paper towels have been placed within their ziplock bags and sealed up, I placed them with in the refrigerator.  Try to find a place within your fridge where the seeds won’t be crushed or accidentally thrown away, the sandwich drawer is a fairly safe bet.  Now all I have to do is wait 28 days and I can sow them in soil.

Coast Redwood Seeds

Yesterday right after I received all of my seeds in the mail, I was pleased to discover that the Coast Redwood seeds were ready to get planted immediately.  I had already picked up some seed starting soil and seed trays from Lowes last weekend so I had everything that I needed to get started.

I bought a total of 50 Coast Redwood seeds, but they only have a germination rate of 20%, so I can probably expect 10 trees if everything goes correctly.  Even though I could probably save space and place a couple seeds within each slot, I prefer to give each individual seed their own slot.  This way I avoid any possibility that two trees sprout in the same slot, and I can allow them to grow without disturbing them at a fragile age.  In the photo below I have counted out 50 slots in my seed tray and have started filling them with my seed starting soil.

When filling these make sure to tamp down the soil a bit, not too firm, but enough to ensure that you have a good soil base.  Coming straight out of the bag, this seed starter was quite fluffy and airy.  Watering the soil at this point makes it easier to work with when you are ready to sow the seeds which only need to be 1/8th of an inch deep.  I found a small stick to help make shallow holes in each slot where I will then place the seeds, this is pictured below:

One seed goes in each hole, and then they need to be covered with the surrounding soil and tamped down again, firm but not too hard.  My seed tray has a clear cover to keep the whole setup moist, the only step left is to find a warm place for the seeds and wait.

You’ll notice that I placed a label on the right most column with the letters CR to represent Coast Redwood.  If I run out of space for my other seeds I can use the remaining slots without getting confused about which seeds are which.  The wait could be as little as 21 days, but could take up to 70 to see any growth.

The Trident Maple seeds soaked overnight for 24 hours for the scarification step. During the scarification process the seeds that are viable for germination will sink to the bottom of the water, while the ones that float will most likely not germinate. Although I have not completely discarded the floating seeds, I did separate them so that I can plant all of seeds with the best chance of germinate first, and with any remaining space I can try the floaters. Now the seeds are ready for the next step, stratification.

What we are trying to do with stratification is to simulate the natural conditions that the seeds would experience in nature. In this case we are focused on the cold temperature of winter. The seeds are surrounded with a rung out paper towel (just barely damp), and placed within a clear resealable bag. Some people recommend using other mediums such as vermiculite in place of the paper towel, but I am trying to keep things simple. Once the seeds are sealed within the bag, it is placed in a refrigerator for 90 days. Thanks to the leap day this year, there are exactly 90 days from today February 17th until May 17th, in case I forget I marked the outside of the bag with both dates. The seeds should be periodically checked for mold or rotting at least every month, I will probably check weekly or biweekly. In three months Ken’s Trees will be growing with not only these Trident Maple trees, but also the European Olive that I planted the other day.

Due to my inability to do anything in moderation, I have one more tree species to start this year. The Trident Maple (acer buergeranum) is a species used more traditionally for bonsai than the other trees that I am growing at this site. Some of the features that distinguish this as a great bonsai species include a thick trunk, the ability to grow in most bonsai formations, and ability to grow small leaves. The leaves on these trees are very distinct for their three points and bright colors, especially in the fall when they can be bright red, orange, or yellow. These are brilliantly vibrant trees for most of the year, and really a staple of bonsai collections everywhere.

I ordered 100 seeds, so I’m really stepping it up here as I also bought a 72 cell seed starter kit. Like the European Olive seeds, the Trident Maple has to undergo a scarification process. The recommended method is to soak them in hot water for 24 hours. My seeds are currently soaking over night to complete this step. These seeds require an additional step that we have not yet had to worry about. This is called Stratification and what we will do is essentially simulate the natural conditions the seeds would be exposed to in winter. To learn more about Stratification click here to see how I prepared these seeds for this step.

My second set of seeds have finally arrived and I am wicked excited to add another type of tree to the site. This time I am trying to grow European Olive (olea europaea) bonsai trees, a different choice when considering typical bonsai. However, growing European Olive as bonsai is not as uncommon as one might think. Pictured on the left are the seeds next to a US dime as a size reference (the coin is 18 mm in diameter).

As I am preparing to grow these seeds I am realizing that my first selection of Dawn Redwood seeds was a very lucky choice. All that was required for the Dawn Redwood seeds was to sow them in soil, water, and wait less than two weeks. The European Olive seed has a much harder shell and requires a little more work to help improve success in germination, and a lot more time. In fact the instructions that were sent from Whatcom Seed Co. with the seeds say that germination may be delayed until next year, but most sources place it within three months. One trick to help the process is call scarification, this is making it easier for water to get into the center part of the seed. There are a couple of ways this can be done, the instructions that came with the seeds advised cracking the seed coat. To do this I tried using an exacto knife to slice a little into the seed, however I did not think this did too much and I found another suggestion to file the ends of the seeds. The next step in the scarification process is to soak the seeds in warm to hot water for 24 to 48 hours. This soaking is currently taking place overnight.

Hopefully everything works out and in about three months I will have another tree to add to the daily photo blog. I certainly won’t be posting three months of dirt photos (the site started this way to help get me into the habit of posting every day), but I will post a couple updates between now and then.

What you need:

1 Florescent Shop Light Fixture

2 Plant Light Florescent Tubes (I am using the ArgoSun Full Spectrum tubes)

12 Beverage Cans (for the full redneck effect I recomend the Bud Light variety, and the act of emptying them right before you take on this project should really put a nice touch on the finished product)

1 Roll of duct tape

3 - 4 Large books you’ll never read

Most joking aside, it’s not a pretty solution but it gets the job done. My seedling is propped up on the right side of the photo to a point where it is somewhere between 3 1/2 to 4 inches from the light. The daily photos are a bit misleading, because I do adjust the tray for a minute so I can get a clear shot. As you can see the clear dome still covers it, but for the past two days I have propped it up so it only rests on the edge and a little more air can circulate. While we are on the subject of air, I should mention that I also keep a small humidifier in my studio apartment to help keep the humidity up.

Unfortunately I believe that I accidentally over watered the seeds for my first attempt at growing a dawn redwood tree. However I’m not giving up hope on my first try, I’ll be keeping an eye on it and hopefully I am wrong and something will grow, in which case there will surely be plenty of more photos posted. I think that I’ve learned from my mistake and my setup is improved for this next go, I have a good feeling about this try.

The first thing I wanted to do to improve my setup is separate each seed into it’s own space, so I took a trip to Home Depot and bought a Burpee seed starting kit for just over $5. There are 36 slots, but I don’t want to rush into this in case I make another mistake. So I am starting with nine slots and three different soil setups. The seed starting kit comes with grow cubes, just add warm water and the disks expand into soil for your seeds.

Three seeds will use just these grow cubes, three will use the grow cubes with the seed starter that I originally bought for the first try to cover the seeds, and the final three will use just the seed starter. With the seed starter, to prepare it you need to mix it with water, once it has absorbed the water the excess water needs to be squeezed out so it is damp and not water logged. I took special care to make sure I did a good job with this step so that I don’t saturate my new seeds. Note: the tray shown below was rotated 180 degrees from the previous photo, so now the grow cube soil is on the right side.

With one seed per slot I covered the two columns on the left with the original seed starter, and the column on the right with soil from the grow cube. Then it was topped off with just a small amount of water to get the germination process started.

The seed starter kit came with labels, although I don’t think I’ll forget which column holds what, it is a nice touch. Finally, the kit came with a clear cover to create a small greenhouse and to keep the humidity high. Now we wait and hope for the best!

Ever since visiting Boston’s Arnold Arboretum and seeing some of the most amazing bonsai trees, I have wanted to start some of my own. I did some research online and decided that I would like to start the whole process straight from the beginning with seeds. The only thing left was to decide on what type of tree to get started. The website seedrack.com sells an excellent variety of tree seeds for potential bonsais. This is where I came across the Dawn Redwood, a tree that was thought to be extinct just over 60 years ago. Once re-discovered in China, it was the Arnold Arboretum that helped to distribute the tree around the world for re-population. Being one of the trees in my top choices anyway, it was only fitting to start with this since it was the Arnold Arboretum bonsai collection that inspired this.

I ordered seeds, seed starter, and pots from seedrack.com, and they sent instructions to help me get started. The Dawn Redwood was surprisingly straight forward, sow the seeds, water, give it some light, and hope for the best. The only curve is the seeds have a less than 50% germination rate, so I placed four seeds in the pot for this first attempt. I should have a pretty good chance of getting something to grow. Follow along with this daily photo blog, and hopefully we can learn something about the Dawn Redwood and Bonsai trees in general as we watch this thing grow.