Seeds germinating

Hello all!

I sow some seeds of sequoia sempervirens and samanea saman and now they are star to germinate. Should i put them in a sunny place or protect them in a shaded place??

thanx

I would give them a fair amount of sun. I presume its cooling down a bit in Portugal? Dont expect you get frosts either?

Yes it is cooling down and some frosts will be expected soon. Ok I'm going to put it in sunny place...

thanx

It is the wrong time of year to be starting seeds really. You are better off sowing them in spring so that they get going with enough of a growing season to allow them to get large enough to survive their first winter. Dappled shade is probably better than full sun and be ready to give them a bit of protection if you get any stormy weather over winter.

Guys, have we made an assumption about how Capo is growing these seeds here?

Capo, are we right in assuming that you are growing these seeds oudoors in the open? Have they germinated entirely naturally because of the warmth still left in the weather? Or have you used heated propagators, glasshouse protection etc?

Might just make a difference to what he does next surely.

I'm a big believer in sowing seed at the time they naturally fall from the tree or are released from the fruiting body. For instance, I have had more success with Oaks when Acorns are sown as they fall in September/ October, than keeping them and sowing them the following Spring.
Some germinate straight away and suffer no ill effects during cold wet British winters, the rest pop up in the spring. Kept seed sometimes dries out goes mouldy or rots. Seedlings are a lot more robust than they appear.

I'm with Will here. Ma Nature knows best. If seeds fall in the fall, that's when I plant them -- and I'll keep 'em outside so the cold will get them as it would have without my "help."

Of course, I plant very few tree seeds any more. Not much sense in it for me.

Will you are absolutely right for the seeds you mention. Oak are particularly prone to reducing their viability if dried at all. I've found that Maples and Hornbeams also rapidly lose viability if stored dry.

When I said wrong time to be starting seeds, that is what I meant, but I should have said "these seeds", germination for these now is too early.

Once it is cold, then stratification can be started for optimum germination rates in the species that require it.

Sequoia, Sequoiadendron, Pines and many others don't need stratifying to break germination inhibition and so are best sown in spring. Samanea saman is a compound leaved tropical and will also need no cold stratification, so spring sowing would have been better.

Jim, don't give up growing trees from seed. I remember reading an article on a Japanese master who was still growing from seed in his mid 80s
I still get as much exitement seeing the soil start to rise up as Idid growing cress on the window sill as a kid! Don't know what to do with all these little trees though.

Well, that "master" probably had 30 apprentices to carry them on. Except for those few of mine that the NC Arboretum may want, mine go with me when I go.