Pine Parenthood
Posted by connie walls on May 25, 2003
Q: can you grow a spruce tree from its cone?
A: Absolutely! Each mature cone contains many small seeds that can be planted. The spruce cones are mature in the fall and can be collected at that time. You can either keep the intact cones in a cold place over the winter (a garage is a good place)or allow the cones to dry, making it easy to shake out the seeds which can then be overwintered (stratified) in "damp" sand until spring. It's important to keep the seeds from drying too much or staying too wet (they'll get a fungus). I'd recommend keeping the seeds in the cones until spring but it's essential that they spend several months at a temp below 40F to induce germination in the spring. You may even prefer to collect the cones in early spring and avoid the overwintering process.
In spring you can plant the seeds, put the pots/planting containers outside and allow nature to take over the rest aside from an occasional watering. Keep in mind that the small spruce seeds will also have very small seedlings so don't bury the seeds very deep.
Good luck.
John Wiessinger ( May 26, 2003)