Free seeds

[johng]

Tupelo blooms in May here, The rain trees bloom in October here.

[tsmullins]

On a side note, the golden raintree is quite pest free. It is one of the few trees on our property the deer will not eat or scrape. I have not seen any Japanese beetles or other bugs on that tree as well.

Shane

[kilocharlie]

I'll be saving seeds and studying bee plants all year. Anybody from the midwest / east have Osage Orange (a.k.a. Bowdark, or Bois d'Arc) maclura pomifera? I'd like to grow some of it for making hive parts as the wood is very durable and weather resistant. I'm happy to trade seeds. Some other good contacts are Seed Savers and Native Seeds Search. I'll Google them and post addresses / phones, etc.

[KevinR]

Some of hives sit in the shadow of a orange osage tree.. If I remember, I'll pick up one of the green horse apples... I suppose the seeds are in there.

[kilocharlie]

Thank you, Kevin! Don't try to eat them - that white goo inside is pretty sticky as I recall. Let me know if you have any West Coast seeds on you grow list. I've got giant Moreton Bay Eucalyptus, which feed our bees from November through March and make great honey. They take a while to grow, but it's a good investment in the future.

[ptwat]

yes, sometimes fungus will grow on the peat pellets before the seeds come up. Just give them a little more time. I have always had good luck getting them to come up.

Johng,
I have potted the tupelo seeds in peat pots for about a month now and nothing has emerged. How long does it take for them to germinate from your experience? I have had them inside under grow lights so the temperature is about 70 degrees. I am wondering if they need more heat to germinate. We are supposed to have 80 plus temps today and tomorrow so I will put them outside. Also, do you keep them moist, dry, wet?

Thanks!

[johng]

They should have came up by now. You can go ahead and dig up a few of the seeds and see if any of them are starting to sprout. They do need a little bit of warmth to germinate. They also need to stay moist. I have not planted any this year so I don't remember exacty how long it took for them to come up. But, I had better than 80% germination rate.

[ptwat]

Interesting. I dug one up and it had not started to sprout. I took the raisin-like cover off the see and replanted. Do you start them with to cover on or off? We have kept them quite moist since I believe that is where tupelo grows - right?

[ptwat]

My beebee trees are finally beginning to sprout this week after about a month in the peat pots. Still no tupelo though. Hoping hot weather will get them started.

[bradley39482]

hey pt
had my seeds planted and came home from over seas and my little boy,2yrs old, had dug all the dirt and potting soil out, boy was i mad! but i will try again, still have some seed's left! glad to see your seeds came in and are growing!

[ptwat]

Sorry to hear about that. I still have some more raintree seeds if you need more. Mine are about 5-6 inches tall now. I have about 16 beebee sprouts.

[ptwat]

Johng,
Just got around to planting those last seeds you sent to me, thanks again. Someone asked what type of Tupelo they are and I realized I do not know, so I will ask you. Do you know what type of Tupelo trees those seeds you sent came from?

Thanks,
Tom