White pine 'Zuisho' from seeds
MIKandCOL
I have obtained seeds from the cones of my japanese white pine. The pine is of
a special bonsai cultivar named zuisho. I need to know if there is anything
special I need to do to have these seeds sprout. Also, does anyone out there
know if these seeds will result in a tree that is true to the variety? The
tree does not show any sign of a graft.
Thanks,
Mike
Brent Walston
Mike
Pinus parviflora requires a full three month cold moist treatment in order to germinate.
Soak the seed overnight then place in moist (not wet paper towel) inside a thin unsealed
plastic bag and put the works in the refrigerator for three months, then sow. Check each
week for moisture and germination. If they begin to germinate before the period is up,
take them out and sow them immediately.
It is very hard to describe the level of moisture necessary to keep the seed from
getting moldy. The contents of the bag should be ALMOST DRY. The seed contains enough
water internally (after it has been soaked) to germinate, you only have to provide
enough moisture inside the bag to keep the seed from drying out. If the paper towel
feels DRY then it is time to add a few DROPS of water. This will keep the mold at a
minimum. Most mold spores need at least a surface film of water to germinate. So if you
can see water, it is too wet.
Recently I have switched from paper towels to fine (medium) vermiculite. I take the seed
still wet from its soak and place it in the plastic bag with a about an equal volume of
vermiculite and shake it up. If the vermiculite still feels dry, I add a few more drops
of water. If the vermiculite starts to fee at all slimy or slippery, you have added too
much water. The vermiculite doesn't seem capable of supporting molds, as paper does.
This doesn't work for very fine seed however, as it will get lost in the mix.
For more information on Seed Germination see the article at my website:
http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/seed.htm
Pinus parviflora 'Zuisho' is a very special cultivar of Japanese white pine. It is one
of the few that can be readily grown from cuttings, so indeed, your specimen may not be
grafted. The offspring from your 'Zuisho' may be very interesting, but they will not be
genetically the same and cannot be called by the cultivar name. Please make sure that
you do not call them 'Zuisho', this is one way that cultivars get mixed up in the trade.
--
Brent Northern California USDA Zone 8
mailto:bon...@pacific.net http://www.EvergreenGardenworks.com
Please note that you posted to the rec.arts.bonsai newsgroup. There
is a broken link from the Internet Bonsai Club to the newsgroup. You
will find more responses to your post at the IBC archives:
http://home.ease.Lsoft.com/Archives/bonsai.html
JRA BONSAI
Mike,
plants grown fom seed are almost never exactly the same as the parent plant.
They may exhibit some or none of the desirable characteristics of the parent.
The seeds from Zuisho may yiueld interesting plants but they will not be the
same as Zuisho. This can only be accomplished by asexual reproduction such as
airlayering or rooting cuttings.
Julian Adams
Adams' Bonsai
Lynchburg, VA
Werner Emberger
Zuisho is a variety. So normaly trees from seeds will not come out true to the
variety but true to the wild form. If you want to get some new plants true to the
varity from your Zuisho pine try some cuttlings. i read a article about Zuisho in
Bonsai Today (dont remember what issue it was), but it said that it is easy to
obtaine zuisho from cuttlings.
good luck :werner