Re: Propagating Oak & Elderberry
- Subject: Re: Propagating Oak & Elderberry
- From: J* R*
- Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 22:12:35 -0900
Most Oak acorns have a short viability, and need to be planted immediately
when ripe. If kept moist, they germinate fairly quickly. They may not
send up a stem and leaf, though. I have seen acorns still on the tree that
have already sprouted. By the time they fall off and hit the ground, they
are already too dry. Most of the acorns dry out too much, and drying out
kills the embryo.
Elderberry has been very difficult in my experience. I think it must need
to pass through the digestive tract of an animal or something. I have
harvested the berries, cleaned them of pulp, and sown them outdoors and
not had any germination in three years. I have not yet tried gibberilins
(GA-3) or an acid wash, yet. I suspect greenwood or semi-ripe wood cuttings
are going to be easier than starting them from seed. They grow wild here,
but I haven't even seen any baby plants around the base of well fruited
parents, so I don't know what the mechanism is to get them to grow. That
is why I suspect they need to pass through some animals stomach to break the
germination inhibitors.
Jaime Rodriguez --------------------/\-------------/\-------
P.O. Box 871394 / \ /\ / \
Wasilla, Alaska, 99687 / \ / \/ \
USA /v^v^v\_/v^v^v^v^\
USDA Zone 3-4 / / \
(907) 357-2747 / / \
jaime@matnet.com / / \
http://www.matnet.com/~jaime/ / \
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