Re: Juniperus brevifolia

    I believe that many conifers can produce a large percentage of seed
coats with out embroyos.  The theory is that a large number of seed coats
without the nutritious germ inside leads seed eating animals to shy away
from a certain species due to the excess work of finding good seeds worth
eating.  Ultimately the smaller number of truly viable seeds have a better
chance of not being eaten.

    This presents a challenge to the grower, as identifying the empty seed
coats can potentially change what looks like a 5% germination rate into a
95% germination rate.  Looking through Dr. Deno's books I'd hazard a guess
that for temperate junipers it might be worth a try to subject the seed to
oscillating temperatures (12 hours at 40F, 12 hours at 70F, back and forth)
or try sowing them in early spring outdoors.

     JL Hudson's catalog suggest for the genus that the seed is quite long
lived, and that seeds should be sown in sandy soil, and kept for several
years, with some seeds germinating in the 2nd and 3rd year.  JL Hudson also
suggests that 1-4 months cold treatment (damp, 40F) should be followed with
70F temps, and germination can occur in 1-2 months.

Hope this helps,
Glider


At 10:43 PM 3/30/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>I'm sure I haven't seen that one...I've never been to the Azores...geesh.
>I'll do some checking though.  Take care...Sin
>
>Sindy Schalon ~ St. Joseph, MI
>Brookside Nursery
>"Knowledge is knowing about the fire.
> Wisdom is remembering the burn."
>
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