seed propagation

[jarryd]

wow struggling to get a reply and i come back to this

jamie all seed was purchased from ebay off the seller that has pine seeds available at present. she is a nice lady the first batch i bought just under a month ago and have had in the fridge for under a month just in barely moist bonsai mix, they were white and red seeds. i only bought 10 white as i wasnt to sure how well they would go but purchased 30 red. i have bought i think 30 seeds of the mikawa and 20 dwarf black they are in moist diatomite fines. the seller also sent me about 30 free zelcova seeds as a thankyou for a repeat purchase which was a nice surprise. they are also in moist diatomite fines.

after reading what brett has posted i will plant out the red at the end of this month and the black half way through next month. i am unsure what to do with the white pine. i may give them another month after the black then sow.

brett thanks heeps for your reply the information provided has been very helpful.

[Bretts]

Oh just thought this might be a good place to rant about my uncovering of wrong doing unto me. Some may remember I have been trying to germinate seeds of Carpinus orientalis. After searching around I found a place to supply me with some and bought three packets of 25. Not cheap as thay are not common. They arrived from Europe I think and I thought it was a bit strange as the seeds were less than 1mm in size and other carpinus seeds are almost 5mm in size. Thought it must just be this species of carpinus and continued on. No germination. Since the seeds where several years old and I skimmed a little on the stratification I figured they may germinate the year after but I wanted some new seed to also try again.
I have some seed on order from the same place that the Canberra 100 forrests sourced thiers (they are still waiting on a supply ?) But I recently sourced some freebies from the wife of one of the guys collecting this species in Croatia. She is from a university attached to a botanical gardens so when the seeds turned up I had a "New it " moment when the seeds looked just as other carpinus seeds and almost 5mm.
The seeds I got last year were either infertile or not even carpinus seeds.

The place I purchased are above board and after contacting them about it they tell me they are organising a refund but I would have just ratherd that I got the seeds I paid for a year ago.
Collecting your own is always the best way to go. Visit your botanical garden and ask permision to collect some seed. Fresh is always better. Pine cone collecting season is almost here. Find out where the good pines are and organise some collecting. They are always in high demand.