I think that 1000 ppm of GA3 for seeds is too much concentration, although I have not tried it with maple seeds, I have tried it with many other varieties of seeds and when very high concentrations are used the seedlings do not stop growing but when they grow so fast they are too tender and they are not able to stand on their own, that is, the seedlings are too weak, I would advise trying with various concentrations and checking which one works best, let's not forget that GA3 produces gigantism in many plants. Note: One thing to keep in mind is that GA3, even if it makes a plant grow a lot, does not increase the number of nodes, but the internodes get longer, it is the opposite of the effect of paclobutrazol.
Well zfritzz, I don’t want to be rude but, as i did try it with maple seeds, hundreds of acer griseum seeds to be more specific, and have very, very good results without any of the effects you describe i would advise to do EXACTLY what i have written as it seems to be so, that at the moment i am the only one here with real life, actual perfectly growing, acer griseum seedlings without any defect whatsoever... But off course everyone is free to do whatever he or she likes to do with their precious acer griseum seeds! Best wishes for you all, would be great to see good results in a few weeks no matter in which way! Tim
I am glad that you have had success with those concentrations, as I have said, I have not tested it with maple seeds of any variety, I only comment on the effects with other seeds and everything I have read in the studies that are published on the use of GA3 for break dormancy into seeds. Cheers
I understand, but the specific problem with the double dormancy of these seeds asks for a higher concentration. I have tried other concentrations but they just wouldn’t work. Greets
Fascinating stuff guys, will be watching this thread closely over the next couple of years. Such friendly intellectual discussions as always on this forum.
@Whachamacollit , I'm interested in what other maple seed you have germinated, with or without GA3? Or other plant genus? For the griseum seeds, over the long term how do they do? It is unusual to grow maples with growlights -- though not unheard of -- but any maple seed that germinates out of season and is kept inside tends to become leggy, and have a hard time dealing with regular dormancy afterwards; like coming out of dormancy in January, for example. How old is the oldest maple you've germinated in this way, and how does it behave? Traditionally we tend to discourage long internode growth in maples, which makes them vulnerable to all kinds of problems.
We have to see what the seedlings will do over the long term as this is the first time i do this with these seeds. I agree with you that seedlings out of their normal season can grow leggy especially when you use the light from a window. The led growlight technology has evolved tremendously the last years and it is perfectly possible to propagate almost any kind of plant indoors nowadays and for example there are a lot of people who grow special sorts of peppers indoors just for fun. The wouldn’t do this when it wasn’t very successful i like to think? We will see what happens and we can compare our results as we grow our beloved acer griseum’s and can learn from each other.
I finally received tha GA3 from PowerGrown.com It took a month to cross the atlantic, but it should be shorter for Canada - I hope ! Anyay, if we take in account "Wtachamacallit"'s tips, since according there's no need to stratify the seeds, it won't be a problem. I don't have enough Acer griseum seeds to make comparative tests, but I have 20+ seeds of Acer japonicum I'll try both methods (warm+cold stratification, and no stratification). I also found back this .pdf doc in my "Dendro" folder, about "Seed dormancy in relation to seed storage behaviour in Acer". It concerns mainly Acer opalus, but there's and interesting table comparing different methods that we could perhaps get some "inspiration" from : 1. no stratification + no excision; 2. no stratification + excised embryos; 3. cold stratification + no excision; 4. cold stratification + excised embryos.
:) No worries, it was an interesting thread to read as is. Thanks for the article above as well. I'll check it out. All my seeds are outside buried in a pot and going through the Canadian winter already...although it sure is mild so far! (but I just jinxed it) Thanks again!
@Whachamacollit my fingers are crossed that they all get past the 3 year mark. This is the difficult period. You will then have some wonderful trees to sell.
Well, only thing i can do is waiting and see what happens. I don’t need to sell them, maybe i make a little forest out of them and give some away.
Sure! There is a nursery in my neighbourhood and the owner of it has planted several acer griseum’s together 25 years ago. It’s a surrealistic scenery.
This is a picture of the acer griseum i bought last autumn. It’s 12 years old and one of the trees that had viable seeds
What a lovely tree and the setting is to die for. The gardens in Holland never disappoint. Great photo T.
A few weeks ago i seeded the last 125 seeds which i kept for myself. Off course i treated them like i did with all the seeds, but these i put in a regular potting soil and placed them in my tiny greenhouse. Now i have 120 more acer griseum’s which makes a total of 228 so i think some will survive the three difficult years... Very nice to see the different colors of the individual trees, there is one which is much more reddish than the others and i will keep that one for sure! I am very curious about the results of other members and hope that you all have great succes too! Please share it with us! Best regards, Tim
