It happened again!

I think this is the fifth year in a row where I've collected Aesculus parviflora nuts, planted them out, and had them rot. I've tried dry container mix, really dry container mix in (unheated) poly houses, pots left outside, and I've never had any luck. In some cases I can see where a radicle emerged, but then rotted. What gives? Who has successfully gotten seedlings? BTW, some of my other buckeyes have done the same thing. I think I do still have some sound A. flava, but that might be all. Are they getting too cold, dying, and then rotting? These are hardy plants, so I assumed the seeds would do okay in containers more or less unprotected all winter, but the only thing I can think of that I haven't tried is seriously moderating the cold the nuts are exposed to.

Scott

Could a mix of hydrogen-peroxide dip before planting and a sterile mix make a difference? I've got Aesculus coming up all over the yard thanks to the squirrels so not sure where it's going bad.

This message was edited Mar 13, 2007 9:48 PM

You may have to move to Canada. :-)

You can have as many squirrels as you want.

ROFL!

When you find out, I want to know too! Although, I've only tried to grow Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra).
And the only person that I knew with that tree was trying to sell his seeds on Ebay. I had to beg for the few that I got and even then they may have already been dead. He may have had them sacked up for a while when I got them. He probably couldn't sell them on Ebay so he gave them to me. This old boy had half of them on Ebay and the other half in a basket on his dining room table. I don't think he ever sold any on Ebay. I guess you can't blame him for trying, him and his wife were convinced of the old tale that if you carry one in your pocket, it will bring you good luck. I think their supposed to help arthritis too, according to old lore.

Here is what my Dirr book The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation says about A. parviflora from seed. -

"No pretreatment is necessary and seed will germinate upon planting. Usually a large root develops with only limited top growth (1 to 2 inches). The senior author has grown A. parviflora in flats in the greenhouse but lost most to overwatering and subsequent "rot". Be sure to plant in deep containers or outdoor seed beds since the root system needs room to develop."
Will

Here's a bit of info from the National Seed Lab (pdf): http://www.nsl.fs.fed.us/wpsm/Aesculus.pdf
I collected some seed on a plant here but they seemed rotted right on the tree/shrub so I haven't gone back. It sounds like some sort of fungicide might make a difference. Isn't that what bulb dust is?

"The fewer Buckeyes on the planet the better. Well the ones at OSU anyway." Quote a MSU Spartan.

Scott,

I don't know when you're collecting them but try getting them as they are just to pop out of the capsule. I had good success collecting like this, then planting in regular soil in a pot sunk into the ground. Don't let them dry out! Sounds like too wet can be bad, too. A pot with regular soil, sunk into the ground won't fluctuate too much since it's getting cool by then. At work, we've planted them in rows in the ground with decent success. In a couple of years, dig them in early spring for potting. They take transplanting well.


Good Luck,
Ernie

Scott.... Don't know if this will help or not. When I collecte d mine. The first batch I had sittign on the table and they had all shrunk up to almost nothingness. Somebody on here told me to get them into the fridge. I took my second batch and put them in one of thos e brown Walmart shopping bags, folded it over and put it in fridge.

I checke d on them when I was looking at my PawPaw seeds and found moisture had built up in the bag and the seeds was still all nice and plump. I have mine out now and in pots in the sun. Haven't checked to see if my are sproutign yet. One of the professors at school ha d planted a bunch of them. he took one gallon pots, filled them with Farard 3b soil mix. He kept them watered, so that they was damp, but not soggy. Every seed he planted came up.

Just a wild guess, but since your radicle is dying, could it be that you've had just enough moisture in your polyhouses to start germination, but by not keeping them moist wih regular waterings that the radicles have just dried up.

I still have a few nuts in my fridge, if you'd like to give them a try.

I've had success Scott, as have my squirrels(but only one). I can't recall doing anything special. I have to nab them off the plant early, as you see the first hint of brown color. I have even taken them when they are soft and whitish colored. They germinate right away if I leave them out. I put them in moist potting soil and into the fridge. I pulled them out and potted them up when the roots got too long. Maybe 2 out of 20 rotted in the pots. What about sowing right into the ground?

I received 3 in a trade a couple years back. Read somewhere to just press the bottom 1/3 of seed in the soil. That's what I did and all three sprouted and todate they are about 3 ft. tall. I had them in pots in unheated greenhouse.

P

Great suggestions, all. I think I'll save this thread somehow and next year (I'm nothing, if not persistent) I'll experiment some more. I now recall that at a friend's house I pressed a good ten to fifteen nuts of the same collection into the loose topsoil where a patch of bottlebrush would really stand out. I'll be curious to see if they germinate okay.

Scott

Bigred, that's exactly what I have always heard. Leave at least half of the seed exposed with the "eye" turned sideways.

I have never started any from seed, but I look forward to the day when I can. I do have a A.parviflora, but it has been growing really slowly.