Larch Seed germination

[SpencerI]

Hello all! I’m still very new to Bonsai and horticulture in general. Last year I purchased and germinated many larch seeds. They didn’t fair well due to poor soil (miracle gro seed starting soil) and only fertilizing a few times. I say they didn’t fair well because I had very minimal growth. I plan to transplant the starts to perlite and coco coir in a few weeks. I was also thinking of using an Anderson flat.

I still have larch seeds left. My plan for this year is to cold stratify the seeds and plant them in a perlite coco coir mixture around the beginning of march.

Can anyone provide feedback on this approach? Or should I just plant the seeds in a few weeks and let nature doing the cold stratifying? Should I use an Anderson flat or will normal pots work?

 

[Berra]

I successfully grew larch from seed a couple of years ago. I put perlite in a pot and planted the seeds, then placed it outdoors during fall and winter. Come spring they sprouted. I had to protect from hungry birds though

 

[RoadManDenDron]

I suspect slow growth could be from restricted growing space, and shared resources

Transplanted to better conditions you are likely to see growth spurts from the same starters

If you have plenty of seeds I like to try different methods so you can see what works best for you. Be sure to keep good notes as it's easy to forget as time goes on!

Best of luck!

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Plant seed in a flat placed outdoors in full sun. Larch must have full sun for healthy growth. All larch species are cold climate species, seed flats are often put out in late winter. Seed will sprout fairly early in spring. Cover with wire mesh to keep out birds and squirrels. Sprouting larch seed indoors almost always results in weak and or dead seedlings. Indoors they die of damp off and other diseases.

 

[Shibui]

Seed starting soil is usually very low in nutrients. It is designed to start seedlings that will be transplanted to good potting soil or into the ground. It is not designed for the plants to grow in for an entire year. I suspect you would have had better growth with more regular fertilising. Crowded conditions also has an adverse impact on seedlings growing in community pots/trays.
Surviving seedlings should recover and grow better when they are potted into individual pots and looked after properly.

I'm very much in favour of natural outdoor stratification. Less work, less problems with mould and seeds germinating at the wrong time.
Normal pots are fine for starting seedlings. Deeper pots don't dry out so quickly so less chance of losing seedlings if you forget to water. Roots can always be pruned when you transplant so deeper roots are no problem.

Coir/perlite seed mix also has no nutrients so make sure you fertilise regularly after they germinate.
I find I get much better growth by transplanting seedlings into individual pots soon after germination. Disturbing roots of seedlings does not hurt them.