Pine Parenthood
Posted by karen brunecke on April 1, 2006
Q: how do you start seedlings from a Pinus Eldarica pine?Trees are in Arizona.
State: Pennsylvania
A: I wasn't familiar with your pine species so had to look it up. This is the Afghan Pine, found in central Asia. Germinating these seeds is probably much like those of pines in the temperate areas of the U.S. Your seeds will need to be stratified (spend 6-10 weeks at about 4C (39F) before planting. If you already have seeds and they were left outside in the cold over the winter, they should be ready to plant. To give them a bit of a "boost", I often soak seeds overnight in water and then plant where I want them. The soak simply ensure the seeds will get plenty of moisture to initial germination. Good luck with your pines.
John Wiessinger ( April 1, 2006)