AusBonsai

hey all, i made a purchase of 100 trident maple seeds on ebay the other night, i will be receiving them this week sometime. i want them to do an experiment of trident maple fused trunk around a frame. so i am going to need a lot of whips, i figured i might aswell get the seeds and do it myself because it would cost a mint trying to get the whips.
now my questions are, has any one propagated tridents from seed? what sort of results did they have and the processes they used to get them to germinate??
advice on the overall process of it would be great as this will be my first attempt at growing from seed!

i probly should of posted this in the propagation section but the propagation section is in the native section. what a conundrum

jamie111 wrote:i probly should of posted this in the propagation section but the propagation section is in the native section. what a conundrum

Hi Jamie , --IT HAPPENS just through them in the ground sprinkle sone good soil over them and if they grow they grow .I threw 2000 seeds into a garden and i recon there is 1999 sprouted , mind you i planted them like sowing grass seed down the drive way and they were sown around 3 months ago . Cheers

awesome, so i should have a good strike rate. any advice on position? like sun water etc. just keep it damp? i have big plans for them!

jamie111 wrote:awesome, so i should have a good strike rate. any advice on position? like sun water etc. just keep it damp? i have big plans for them!

Yes i read your request for whips .Grow in full sun keep moist but not over wet ,spread the seeds well or they tend to rot . i will post a pic tomorrow .Cheers

Hi,

I am down here in Victoria, for two years in a row, I planted the seeds in mid-June and early-July.
They usually come up in August-September. By October they can cope with the heat, but require
shelter. My last year crop was burned off in Feb this year.

Cheers.

alpineart wrote:

jamie111 wrote:awesome, so i should have a good strike rate. any advice on position? like sun water etc. just keep it damp? i have big plans for them!

Yes i read your request for whips .Grow in full sun keep moist but not over wet ,spread the seeds well or they tend to rot . i will post a pic tomorrow .Cheers

appreciate that mate! look forward to seeing it.

daiviet_nguyen wrote:Hi,

I am down here in Victoria, for two years in a row, I planted the seeds in mid-June and early-July.
They usually come up in August-September. By October they can cope with the heat, but require
shelter. My last year crop was burned off in Feb this year.

Cheers.

interesting this helps, my climate is a bit different, i dont have as an intense heat here during the summer.


will i have to put the seeds in the fridge or anything like that, i have read that some maple variety seeds need frost to germinate???

Hi Jamie , The first lot i planted were stratified in the fridge the second lot were picked and thrown onto the ground, covered and sprouted in 6 weeks .I usually stratify 80% and leave 20% unstratified to test the results .I don't believe if its viable seed Tridents need stratifying if collected correctly , as they should be chilled on the tree from frost ,some may disagree but you may miss the season if left to much longer .I will have plenty of whips if needed , i intend to twist , plait , wrap and tie knots in them where they are sownIcan hardly tell the difference between the 6 week gap or stratify process . The garden bed is 40 foot by 4 foot full of trident .Cheers

Another trick with Trident Maple seed is that just as many if not more germinate the second year so if you leave the seedling tray unmolested for the extra year you can get many more seedlings.

Also I never stratified trident seed. Just harvest them and plant them around May or so. Don't plant in February as they may germinate prior to autumn and get damaged in their first winter.

thanks guys, this is helpful! i will be recieving the seeds probly wednesday at the earliest. is it to late to try and get them to germinate now???
as i said i havent had any experience with growing from seed

Jamie, I read somewhere that Trident seeds can be ground sown IF you happen to be somewhere that there is an actual winter. I acquired some Taiwan Trident seeds(6 ) last year and stratified them. I ended up with 4 viable seedlings which dropped to three as a result of natural selection and/or survival of the fittest.

BB

righto... well i have 100 seeds as you probly already read the post, but my winter here isnt exactly a winter, these seeds will have to be sown in trays,
pots etc. whatever i can find to do this with, i am probly gonna have to have at least 50 whips to do what i want. so i am hoping with the 100 seeds i get atleast a 50% strike rate...

alpineart wrote:Hi Jamie , The first lot i planted were stratified in the fridge the second lot were picked and thrown onto the ground, covered and sprouted in 6 weeks .I usually stratify 80% and leave 20% unstratified to test the results .I don't believe if its viable seed Tridents need stratifying if collected correctly , as they should be chilled on the tree from frost ,some may disagree but you may miss the season if left to much longer .I will have plenty of whips if needed , i intend to twist , plait , wrap and tie knots in them where they are sown

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Ican hardly tell the difference between the 6 week gap or stratify process . The garden bed is 40 foot by 4 foot full of trident .Cheers

i appreciate the offer alpine, i dont know if you will have enough. my plan is to make/design a fused trunk maple. and the reason i bought the seeds is because i didnt want to pay a mint for whips..

Cheers Jamie , you should end up with a 80-90%strike rate .Let us Know how the go .

alpineart wrote:Cheers Jamie , you should end up with a 80-90%strike rate .Let us Know how the go .

no worries mate that sounds good, i will let ya know, if i have no luck i might have to take you up on the whip offer if i cant get any where with the seeds.
i am still unsure wether i can sow them this week or if i am running out of time????

Stick them in the ground and have a little faith in mother nature.Cheers