Maple seeds sprouting early

[BrierPatch]

It looks like a lot of my Maple seeds are sprouting earlier than I thought they would. I planted all the seeds around the 1st week of Nov. 2021. I gathered all the seeds locally here in NW Washington and just sowed them and let nature stratify them.
The Vine maples I put in vermiculite and the other Acers I just put in a leftover mix of whatever I had of fine bark some peat etc...
It seems a bit early for them to start like maybe a month or so. I have them in an unheated greenhouse and now placed them on a heat mat between 70-75 deg F during the day and 65 deg at night. I don't want to get a freezing snap at this point which is still fairly likely.
I have about 30 sprouting now out of about 100 or more I planted.

Anyone else have starts coming up?

First pic of Vine Maple, they came up first a week ago. The other 2 are of some I gathered from a tree at the mall.

 

[penumbra]

Maples are known for that but in nature they are half hidden / buried in leaf litter. In you pots they are much more exposed. If you expect frost be prepared to move them or cover them with a frost blanket.

 

[Shibui]

All this worry is based on supposition rather than experience. In my experience seedlings can take a lot more than we give credit for. I'd just be leaving them in the green house and letting nature take its course but of course I don't have any experience with your climate.
Seeds here start germinating in the garden a few weeks before those in seed trays. We don't get really cold weather but they do cope with light frost.
If you are really worried just keep them protected for another couple of weeks.

 

[19Mateo83]

It looks like a lot of my Maple seeds are sprouting earlier than I thought they would. I planted all the seeds around the 1st week of Nov. 2021. I gathered all the seeds locally here in NW Washington and just sowed them and let nature stratify them.
The Vine maples I put in vermiculite and the other Acers I just put in a leftover mix of whatever I had of fine bark some peat etc...
It seems a bit early for them to start like maybe a month or so. I have them in an unheated greenhouse and now placed them on a heat mat between 70-75 deg F during the day and 65 deg at night. I don't want to get a freezing snap at this point which is still fairly likely.
I have about 30 sprouting now out of about 100 or more I planted.

Anyone else have starts coming up?

First pic of Vine Maple, they came up first a week ago. The other 2 are of some I gathered from a tree at the mall.

I have had trident maples sprouting all winter. I had to wait till the pot thawed out to remove one. It was frozen solid. They survived a good hard North Carolina freeze

 

[penumbra]

All this worry is based on supposition rather than experience.

I read all of your posts eagerly and they are well reasoned. But I don't think supposition was what froze all my maple seedlings when it was minus 14 F in February 5 years ago.

 

[Tbrshou]

if it helps I have a bunch of trident maple seeds in the fridge that I collected in November that has sprouted in the bag. The bag is still in the fridge and the little sprouts seem to be still alive. I'm sure there is a temperature of no return for seedlings idk that exact number but they seem to be pretty tough when young.

 

[penumbra]

if it helps I have a bunch of trident maple seeds in the fridge that I collected in November that has sprouted in the bag. The bag is still in the fridge and the little sprouts seem to be still alive. I'm sure there is a temperature of no return for seedlings idk that exact number but they seem to be pretty tough when young.

Maples sprout in the fridge during cold stratification frequently, and almost always if left in fridge too long. They are tough little buggers. But there is a big difference in fridge temps of about 43 degrees F and outside temps in single digits, teens or twenties.

 

[rollwithak]

We have buds popping here in central California already! I noticed the first ones on 2/11 !!!!