Trident Maple seeds

[digger714]

Hello all. I have several hundred trident maples seeds that i soaked, and have kept in the fridge for about 40 days now. Should i leave them in the fridge until spring? or put them in small pots and start under lights? I have room, and a very large light i could start them under. or should i grow them in containers until they get large enough to put into the ground. Thanks for any info on this. I plan on putting them in the ground at what ever stage would be the best.

[grizzlywon]

40 days is not that long. Most guys I have talked to say they need 60-90. I have had good luck with them after about 80 days. I would leave them in there for another month.



That's just me.

[digger714]

I was hoping that would be ok. The instructions said to put in for 30 days, then plant. Its still very cold here, so i would be scared to put them out yet. Thanks for the info.

[grizzlywon]

http://www.treeshrubseeds.com/details.asp?id=923238

60-90 days recommended.


Frost will kill the seedlings so sow them after the frost. I have never tried sowing inside, but that defeats the purpose if you are not keeping them in the fridge long enough. Maybe some other guys have experience sowing indoors.

[pwk5017]

Agreed, 40 days is not long enough. Last year i did 60-90 in the fridge and had poor germination rates. This year, i went the way of the outdoor sowing. Ill let you know how that goes. Ok, on to my experience growing indoors. Ive done it with red and black pines. I used 6 flourescent bulbs of varying coolness/warmness. That will give you a desired spectrum of light. Another element that i thought was key, growing on a window sill. My pines grew strongly from mid december-april, when i transferred them outside. So, give them plenty of light, artificial humidity(plastic covering etc.), and ventilation. If you do all those steps, you should be able to grow seedlings indoors. However, your tridents wont germinate with 40 days of cold stratification, so all my advice is pointless.

[digger714]

Thats what ive always heard, but when i got the seeds, the directions said to soak for 24 hours, put in fridge for 30 days, then plant. Im gonna leave them in the fridge for at least another month, unless any start sprouting, then will start to move them under the lights. I have a 1000watt HPSV light that came from a nursery that we did the demolition on. Its bright. Anyway, thanks for the help, ill definately leave them in fridge longer. Its a garage fridge, so isnt taking up any of wife's room, lol.

[grizzlywon]

Digger, I wish I had an outdoor fridge and so does my wife. I have about 5 lbs of seeds in our fridge right now. They take up almost the whole Veggie drawer. Oh well, I hate veggies, so my wife is the only issue, but she is very good to me so I can't complain.

[digger714]

Hey ill let ya use the fridge for some of those seeds. lol. If shes letting you keep that many seeds in the fridge, shes a good one. Wow, thats gotta be alot of seeds. What types do you have?

[BUBBAFRGA]

Put them in fridge with moist spagaum moss. After 30 -45 days check weekly and pull out the ones that have sprouted and plant in 4" pots keep them protected / above 34 degrees. I would keep them in pots for first year and keep them protected. Second year put in bigger pots are in ground.

This works for Japanses maples so should work for Trident.

[digger714]

Do you put them into pots for ease of taking care of, or are they just too small to be in the ground? I have seen beds where they are just growing 18" apart, and different sizes. If i have a place thats protected, would it be just as good to put them outside? How big do they usually get the first year? Height? Trunk? Will they all eventually sprout from inside the fridge, or should they go into the ground in spring?