Mountain hemlock (tsuga martensiana)

[Mickeyjaytee]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has any luck germinating seeds here in Australia and what method did you use? While I guess they probably want high altitude to help with germination, I won’t write it off considering I did get a Rocky Mountain juniper to sprout and has been going strong all summer.

I tried some this spring just gone and had no luck. Considering another go. I did cold strat them.

I find them to be an awesome shaped fully grown tree and, I like that a lot of artists recreate that with their bonsai.

Any help would be awesome!

[Patmet]

I've tried before. I went through a phase of buying seed of all sorts of species I could get my hands on. Never had any luck with these. I also had success with the Juniperus Scopulorum germinating. I have too many of them now I think somewhere between 25 and 30 as tubestock. The other non native species that have been successful germinating for me in WA have been; korean hornbeam, swamp cypress, a couple of coast redwoods, one norway spruce and a couple of dwarf japanese quince. Also a whole bunch that were labelled as chinese juniper but by the looks of it are actually some variety of thuja

I'm probably not going to bother trying again with alpine or really cold climate species as it's just not practical for me here and I already have my hands full with so many great species that grow super well here.

Hope that helps a bit.

Cheers, Patrick

[Daluke]

Reputable seed suppliers are hard to come by especially for exotic species.

Where did you source the seed from? Aussie supplier? I’ve tried all sorts online and have had little to no success.

[Mickeyjaytee]

Thanks for the replies guys.

The source was seeds of plenty. I have purchased seeds off them before but, they didn’t germinate. I’m in WA too and seem to have success with redwoods, pines and Norwegian Spruce. That said the spruce never survives past the seedling stage. They seem to slowly die back from the tips. From what I gather they don’t like a lot of water and are susceptible to fungal attack.

Has anyone had luck with that specific seed store before? So far I haven’t. Can’t seem to find the specific seed anywhere else.

[Daluke]

Seeds of Plenty - I haven’t had any luck with them.

I bought ten or so varieties over the years.There’s so many variables involved in could just be a bad batch, poor potting up on my behalf etc.

Have you tried conifer gardens?

[Mickeyjaytee]

I’m in the same boat with them. Sifting through the reviews it seems people have positive reviews of the vegetables, not so much the bonsai material.

I had a look at conifer gardens but, I don’t think they do seeds? I can’t import plants over to WA sadly. Thanks for the suggestion though! I might flip them an email and ask if they can supply seed.

[Patmet]

The seed I have used have come from a few online sources from Australia. From memory I think it has been seeds of plenty, the seed vine, and living green and feeling seedy. I can't remember exactly which seed came from which seller anymore, but I think from memory I have to agree that seeds of plenty has been the lowest success rate for me also. The other two I have had moderate success. Their seed seems to be more viable. But I'm also no expert when it comes to germinating seed so there's my own error involved there too.