How to know which seeds need to be stratified?
By iDivision
@iDivision (1412)
Latvia
October 14, 2011 1:07am CST
I am confused again about matter of seed planting in pots at home. I bought few american persimmons seeds from eBay, received them, some planted in pots, other placed into cold to stratify.
What was the result?
Those seeds in pots simply died while those which i wanted to stratify i am now trying to germinate after keeping them in cold for more than 2 months.
I tried to understood what did i made wrong with those seeds and what is correct technique in order to plant them, so i contacted two different ebay sellers who sell persimmon seeds worldwide.
Here is answers from them.
First seller: "These seeds have not been stratified, and do not need to be stratified to germinate; although stratification does increase the germination rates of a seeds."
Second sellers answer: "These will need the 30 to 60 day cold stratification prior to planting them."
So someone is lying here or i am just keep receiving bad seeds which cant be germinated here.
1 person likes this
1 response
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
14 Oct 11
Persimmons are one plant where the seeds need a period of cold to bring them out or dormancy. All of the instructions for growing persimmons which I have come across on the web give the advice that the fresh seeds should be wrapped in moist tissue or mixed with damp sand and kept in the refrigerator for three or four months.
In the wild, the fruit would mature and be eaten by birds who would excrete the seeds which would then lie in the leaf litter all winter, exposed to frost and snow. When spring comes, temperatures will rise and the seed will germinate.
This period of dormancy is the tree's natural 'clock' to ensure that the seed germinates at the right time of year and that the tender shoot will not be killed by the cold or eaten by browsing animals.
I found many good instruction pages which are listed here: http://search.mylot.com/search.aspx?t=web&k=growing+persimmons+from+seed All of them are careful to state that stratification is essential.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
14 Oct 11
You should note that persimmons are not self fertile. You will need a male tree and a female tree and so you should sow and plant several. It's a native of the south eastern states of America so, while you may grow the trees successfully in Latvia, it's possible that the climate may not be right for them to produce edible fruit.
If you know of anyone in your country who is growing persimmons, it would certainly be best to obtain fruit from them and try growing the seeds from those.
1 person likes this
@iDivision (1412)
• Latvia
14 Oct 11
as i had read there is some kinds of persimmons which are self planting trees, so there is no need to plant near another tree. Strange indeed, who to believe now :D
