Giant Sequoia Cultivation

[[DHT]Osiris]

So I got a bee in my bonnet last week to start cultivating trees. Decided I wanted something absurd, so I bought some Sequoiadendron giganteum, or Giant Sequoia seeds from a seed vendor online (JL Hudson Seeds). Hilariously, they sold by weight, not volume, so I've got a few thousand seeds now.


40 seeds, in coffee filters in the fridge for a month.


Will continue to post with my updates.

 

[lxskllr]

That was how I got into dawn redwoods. Was reading about a giant sequoia in England, and thought it would be cool to grow one myself. Never considered they'd grow outside PNW. Reading around, it sounded like dawn redwoods grow a good bit faster, and are still giants, so I'll hopefully get to see them look impressive before I die.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

That was how I got into dawn redwoods. Was reading about a giant sequoia in Englend, and thought it would be cool to grow one myself. Never considered they'd grow outside PNW. Reading around, it sounded like dawn redwoods grow a good bit faster, and are still giants, so I'll hopefully get to see them look impressive before I die.

Yep, dawn redwoods were my number 2, but from what I could tell were considered less threatened than the Sequoias are, so decided to go for them. It's interesting because these things actually have a pretty large range that they can grow in as long as they avoid super frigid winds early on, there's just no real natural way for them to extend outside their primary habitat.

For reference, I'm in upstate NY, finger lakes region. My specific microclimate has some pretty intense winter winds (and winds in general) but we also get a butt-ton of snow, so I'm hoping I can bury it in snow/box it in during the winter and get them to last long enough to survive the winters.

If I can repeat that I'll probably be able to spend the rest of my life planting these suckers around the area, given how many of these seeds I have now.

 

[mxnerd]

So you plan to park your car under giant sequoia in the future?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

So you plan to park your car under giant sequoia in the future?

Not sure what you mean by this, my car's in a garage and I wouldn't plant a tree that can get that large that close to a structure. Plus Sequoias aren't exactly known as shade trees (unless you count the trunk).

 

[Ichinisan]

Not sure what you mean by this, my car's in a garage and I wouldn't plant a tree that can get that large that close to a structure. Plus Sequoias aren't exactly known as shade trees (unless you count the trunk).

He's talking about the famous sequoia tree with a tunnel and a road through it.

Of course, I don't think a human lifespan is currently long enough to ever see your tree get that large.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

He's talking about the famous sequoia tree with a tunnel and a road through it.

Of course, I don't think a human lifespan is currently long enough to ever see your tree get that large.

Oh, that makes more sense.

Not at all, I'd also not cut a hole through it for the pleasure of moving a vehicle through it. I'd rather just have a grove of bigass trees/co2 sinks.

 

[mxnerd]

Can't believe giant sequoia can grow as tall as Statue of Liberty.

 

[PowerEngineer]

One of my father-in-law's brothers gave him a evergreen sapling as a house warming gift back in the 1950's. His brothers were all loggers and the gift was actually a prank as the sapling turned out to be some sort of sequoia. The tree is now easily 150 feet tall with a trunk diameter of at least four feet. Not a particularly harmonious player in the landscaping of their small backyard, and its prodigious root system is a regular bone of contention with the neighbors. Happily the tree was not recognized as an issue when it came time to sell the house. I hate to think what it would take to deal with the tree should it become a threat.

 

[lxskllr]

A giant sequoia would add value for me looking at a house. Left alone, it would likely outlast the USA existing as a country before it became a problem.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

The day after the first post, it occurred to me that I've got so many of these seeds, I can experiment a bit with them. The guide I found recommended a month in the fridge for proper germination, so I took three additional batches and labeled for 1 week, 2 weeks, and 3 weeks. If they require less than a month for proper germination then I can speed up this whole process. Week 1 out, and in a mostly dark closet, will see what the results are.



Unknown what the weird brown splotches are, they don't show up on the other seed bags. Possibly some contaminates from improper handling, or maybe just some weird fungus/bacteria on the seeds as they came. Doesn't appear to have affected the seeds in any way.

 

[zinfamous]

So I got a bee in my bonnet last week to start cultivating trees. Decided I wanted something absurd, so I bought some Sequoiadendron giganteum, or Giant Sequoia seeds from a seed vendor online (JL Hudson Seeds). Hilariously, they sold by weight, not volume, so I've got a few thousand seeds now.
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40 seeds, in coffee filters in the fridge for a month.
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Will continue to post with my updates.

Awesome. I'll be sure to return to this thread in ~300 years when those things start taking off!

 

[zinfamous]

Can't believe giant sequoia can grow as tall as Statue of Liberty.

what's really impressive is how they were able to get the blue whale to stand up on it's tail like that in order to take the photo.

 

[BoomerD]

what's really impressive is how they were able to get the blue whale to stand up on it's tail like that in order to take the photo.

Training...it's not just for SeaWorld...

I planted 3 redwoods (2 different cultivars, soquel and aptos blue) in my backyard in Modesto in 2000. The tallest one was about 6'. When we moved in 2012, they were all well over 30' tall.

 

[Greenman]

Watching your Redwood grow could be a long term hobby.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

First seed batch, 0% germination rate. Threw those 20 back in the fridge with a fresh coffee filter to sit for a full month.

 

[EXCellR8]

certainly not a hobby for those who require instant gratification, however planting ridiculously large trees is something I can stand behind.

everyone should be legally responsible for growing/planting least 1 or 2 trees new every year.

 

[zinfamous]

everyone should be legally responsible for growing/planting least 1 or 2 trees new every year.

would it count if I just don't rip out 2 of the dozens of oaks and maples that plant themselves every year?

 

[mxnerd]

Maybe laws should just require Americans to plant large trees instead of maintaining a meaningless lawn to save the earth.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

certainly not a hobby for those who require instant gratification, however planting ridiculously large trees is something I can stand behind.

everyone should be legally responsible for growing/planting least 1 or 2 trees new every year.

That'd be a wonderful policy. I'd vote for you on that alone.

would it count if I just don't rip out 2 of the dozens of oaks and maples that plant themselves every year?

Try relocating them! You'd be surprised how resilient trees are, I relocated like four walnuts from about 3' in front of my house (previous residents weren't diligent about them). Potted them, everything fell off and they became sticks, since then they've started new growth. I'll toss 'em in the garage or my work room in the house come winter time to keep them from dying off, hopefully. Repeat until large enough to replant somewhere relevant!

Maybe laws should just require Americans to plant large trees instead of maintaining a meaningless lawn to save the earth.

Agreed! No reason to not have a few beautiful trees dotting every single yard. Drives me up the wall that every new development just clear cuts an entire forest to support like five terribly built new houses and their terrible fake lawns.

 

[lxskllr]

Drives me up the wall that every new development just clear cuts an entire forest to support like five terribly built new houses and their terrible fake lawns.

And they never change! There's cornfield subdivisions around here that still substantially look like cornfields decades after development. People don't like trees anymore. I think some people are afraid of them.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

0% germination rate on week two's bag. Re-filtered it, back in the fridge for a month. Week three is out and warming up.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

First sprout on Week 3's bag! 3 weeks in the cold, 6 days out. Going to let this group sit out for 10d rather than 7, and re-fridge whichever don't sprout after that (unless I get close to expected 50% germination by that point).


Mixed up some seed munch, 50% loamy soil I've got out back with 50% potting soil, along with a sprinkle of fertilizer and antifungal. Here's hoping he takes!

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

5% germination from 3-week bag, no remaining seeds germinated. Threw them back in another filter, letting them fridge for 4.5 weeks before next germination attempt.

I also put another filter full of 20 seeds in the same bag, so I'll have a larger data set (and cultivation rate) moving forward.

Brought my two original 4-week bags out on Friday, nothing out of them just yet.

 

[Homerboy]

what's really impressive is how they were able to get the blue whale to stand up on it's tail like that in order to take the photo.

More impressive is that they resurrected a brachiosaurus.