Native Tree Seed Collecting

East Palo Alto, CA

I am very interested in collecting and growing seeds of native tree species in my area. What is the best way to get started?

Many thanks.

Newbie Tree Enthusiast
-Chris

Lake Lynn, PA(Zone 6a)

A really good source of accurate information on the germination requirements of many species is Sheffield Seeds (sheffields.com). Each plant page has the exact procedures, whether scarification, cold stratification, or warm stratification is needed, etc. Many tree seeds do best if allowed to dry for a while after collecting, but some like pawpaw must never be allowed to dry out at all, so it's straight from the fruit to either a pot outdoors, or moist peat moss in a heavy plastic bag in the fridge for cold stratification. Some of the Japanese maples can need both a cold and a warm stratification period. So a good start would be to look up the plants that you want to grow from seed on this website.

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