Trident Maple seed sowing exercise

[bonsaiwood]

Finally went out TM seed collecting today and managed to fill two coffee jars.

The jar on the left (I’ll call it medium roast) contains seeds collected from a large +/- 40 foot tree planted in a neighbor's yard. The jar on the right (light roast) has seeds collected from a smaller 10' tree in a different neighborhood (with exuberant approval by each homeowner). Both trees seem to have put out more seeds compared to last year.

I picked three leaves from each tree at random just for kicks, and to remind myself how much variation in shape, size and color I see on each TM I come across.



I have tried @Lutonian method of sowing seeds straight into trays and letting Mother Nature do the rest. Had decent success a couple of years back with sowing JM's right after collection and letting the trays chill under my benches over the winter.
Will update the thread with eventual progress (or regress).

 

[Shibui]

Given the way fresh trident seed germinates down here I doubt you will have any problems at all. Just make sure the seedivores cannot get to them. Mice and other seed eaters seem to have an uncanny way of finding seed, even buried but I guess they have been making a living from that for hundreds of thousands of years.
I also prefer to sow and leave seed out through winter so they germinate naturally in spring.

 

[bonsaiwood]

Revisiting my TM seed trays near the end of winter.. I sowed them last fall and kept them outdoors under the bench. So far the tray containing seeds from the smaller size tree is pushing more seedlings
Rains have provided all the watering.. going to keep them netted and protected from spring frost.

 

[nuttiest]

Make sure to put at least a couple in deep soil, they like to grow fast if they know they have room for a tap root.

 

[bonsaiwood]

Late May update: there must be around 250-300 successfully germinated seedlings in the 'light roast' tray. I have kept them out all year since sowing last fall. The squirrels seemed uninterested and preferred to ravage my neighbor's garden beds.
Planning to keep them in dappled shade under the canopy of larger maples until I can get them potted up in late winter.

 

[PonderingSage:]

Wow. That is a good yield.
I sowed some JM in an anderson flat outdoors and was glad to get a dozen or so. Maybe I’ll try with grow a grow light next winter