Pine nut stratification

Siberian cedar is a symbol of health and strength, it is a tree of life, which you can try to grow at home. There is nothing complicated in growing.



For the germination of cedar nuts, stratification is needed.

For example, two methods of stratification of cedar seeds.



For the first method, we will need:

This is a common stratification method, which can be used in principle for all your conifers.

First, moisten the sand and mix it well. The sand must be calcined so that all the microbes in it die.



Then pour sand on the bottom of the jar, put the nuts on top and fill it with sand again, and so on to the top of the container.

Remove the cracked nuts immediately, since they will definitely not sprout. Add more seeds.

Cedar germination is about 40 percent, well, 50% at best.



The jars need to be signed, the date must be indicated, so that later we know when it was all laid.

Now we set the jars with nuts aside for an average of 3 months. There is no need to moisten them later if your container is airtight. The jars can be stored either in the refrigerator at a temperature of +5, or in another convenient place where the temperature is around +5 (for example, I store them in the cellar). Lighting is not required. You will need to open the container 2 times a month to ventilate and check for mold.

Then we take out the nuts and plant them in trays, cups or pots. As soon as the seedlings sprout, grow a little, we thin them out, leaving the strongest ones. So the seedlings remain until the soil outside warms up more or less and you can plant them in the ground.

The second method is fast.



You need to take regular napkins or a cloth, in general, any material will do. Carefully place the seeds on the napkin, it makes no difference how you do it. Remove the defective nuts immediately, since there is no point in them. Put another napkin on top of the nuts and put the nuts on again. And repeat again - you will get three layers.

The nut is not necessary, but it is better if it is fresh, since this greatly affects germination. The longer it lies for several seasons, the worse its germination will be. Therefore, if possible, be sure to buy fresh planting material.



Then wrap it all in a tube, throw the nuts that fell out back, no big deal. We take another napkin so that all this does not tear, and wrap it around the tube.

Cedar grows very slowly in general, probably one of the slowest. Yews also grow very slowly, but they are probably even slower than cedar. On average, it grows about 5 centimeters per year. Well, naturally, with each subsequent year, growth accelerates a little. Conifers, in principle, do not grow very quickly.

Now we thoroughly moisten the seed preparation with ordinary water so that everything is soaked. Squeeze it well with your hands, and we will get a small lump that needs to be placed in a bag.



Let it lie for two days at room temperature in this state so that the nuts soak up some moisture. After that, put it in the freezer for a day, they freeze completely.

Then we take it out of the freezer and for another two days the nuts lie again at room temperature. Then you can plant the cedar in the ground.



In the seedling container, we make small depressions, you don’t need to deepen them too much, literally about one and a half centimeters.

We take the seeds and send one nut at a time into the depressions. So, the nuts are planted.



We level the soil a little and slightly moisten it. You can cover the tray with a film, or you can not cover it, it is not important, the main thing is that the soil is always moist.



We leave the container for 2 weeks somewhere on the windowsill, or under lamps and observe.