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Stratifying pine seeds

April 7, 2015 by Jonas Dupuich

If you’re looking to plant seeds this spring, now may be a good time to do it. Considering how warm this winter has been in Northern California, January may have been a good time to get started, but either way it’s not too late to start now – weather permitting.

Many seeds benefit from scarification – treatments designed to pierce, damage or otherwise weaken the seed coating – and stratification – any means of providing artificial cool and moist conditions conducive to germination.

Pine seeds can be scarified by applying hot water. Stratification can be achieved by refrigerating seeds before planting (see Pine seed prep and Pine seedlings for an overview; treeshrubseeds.com provides details and specific instructions for different varieties).

Missing from my previous posts on the topic are photos. Here are a few shots of how I pack up the seeds after soaking them for 1-2 days.

Pine seeds

Japanese black pine seeds – ready for the fridge

The moss is often sold as orchid moss or white sphagnum moss. I wet it and squeeze most of the water out before putting it in the bag. After a few minutes in the fridge, the bag fogs up.

Pine seeds

Condensation in the bag

This year I’m planting red pine, black pine from Shikoku, and Mikawa black pine seeds.

Pine seeds

Red and black pine seeds

After a full week in the fridge, I’ll plant them in a pot with bonsai soil and cover them with fine particles to keep them moist during germination. For details, see Planting pine seeds.

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Filed Under: Bonsai Care Tagged With: Black Pine, Pine Seeds

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Next Post: Cleaning up a black pine »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shawn Rogers says

    April 7, 2015 at 5:32 pm

    Hey Jonas, i was wondering where you purchased the red and black pine seeds? Did you source them straight from Japan? Shikoku?

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      April 7, 2015 at 6:34 pm

      Hi Shawn – I purchased the seeds from a variety of places in Japan, some in Shikoku and some in Tokyo.

  2. theperfectloaf says

    April 23, 2015 at 6:55 am

    Jonas, so after soaking, the seeds are put into the fridge just until the bag fogs? After which they are then planted according to your other post?

    I have some JBP seeds in their 3rd day of soaking right now following your guide.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      April 23, 2015 at 8:33 am

      Hi Maurizio – thanks for the question! You’re on the right track, they stay in the fridge for 1 week. I just updated the post, and I think the point comes up at the link: http://bonsaitonight.com/2012/05/11/pine-seedlings/

  3. theperfectloaf says

    April 23, 2015 at 11:48 am

    Jonas — thanks for the clarification! Into the fridge they go…

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