Re: southern magnolia question
- To:
- Subject: Re: southern magnolia question
- From: M* T*
- Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 01:08:30 -0400
Well, Pat, I'm no expert here, but did - successfully - germinate a
handful of M. grandiflora this year...so, FWIW.
I'd take them out of the fridge and pot them up in a decent potting
compost that's on the acid side and drains well, can be soiless or a
mix containing some pine bark fines...gently. If you use a bagged
soiless potting mix, you'll need to add some fertilizer once they
start making leaves, but not before as they won't be able to use it -
I used Osmacote.
Leave the pots in the house in a bright spot a few days so they can
get used to not living in the fridge. If they start putting out
leaves while in this phase, then move the pots outdoors to a shaded
spot for a week and then into a bit more morning sun...like, harden
them off to the heat like you'd harden an indoor grown seedling off
to the cold in spring....reverse hardening:-) If you don't have
leaves after a few days, just little sprouts, you can move them
outside to morning sun right away. I wouldn't put them in full sun
as the pots will dry out too fast. Mine are on the south edge of a
covered walkway where they get pretty intense early to mid day sun
but not from directly overhead and they seem quite happy.
Put them in at least a 4" pot and the deeper the pot, the better, as
they will put out a lot more root growth than top growth. Check your
pots after a few weeks - once they have leafed out - and if you see
signs of roots at the drainage holes, pot them on to a larger size,
but be very careful with the root ball as they have fragile roots and
resent them being handled.
If your sprouts are stem sprouts and very tiny, simply plant them so
the tip of the little sprout is just about at the soil line in the
pot. It will grow on up to the light as it probably thinks it is
underground at this point, being in a dark fridge. If they are root
sprouts, then plant the seed about twice as deep as it is large, just
like you would normally.
My lil' guys are about 4" tall and have two or three leaves and
that's all that will happen this year. You will probably get the
same before cold weather hits. You'll need to think about how you
plan to winter them over.
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
-----------------------------------------------
Current Article: Deciduous Flowering Shrubs - Part 4, Hydrangeas Part
1
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/222
------------------------------------------------
Complete Index of Articles by Category and Date
http://mtalt.hort.net/article-index.html
------------------------------------------------
All Suite101.com garden topics :
http://www.suite101.com/category.cfm/gardening
----------
> From: pat.schuster <pdanielak@bluecrab.org>
> Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2000 8:57 PM
>
> Hi,
>
> I haven't written for a very long time, but a question comes up
today about
> southern magnolia seeds. I had put some in the fridge some time
ago in
> damp paper towels in a zip-lock bag. Well, I forgot all about them,
and
> when I found the package today and opened it, they were all
sprouted! Now
> I'm not quite sure how to handle them.
>
> The sprouts are quite cold (I've left them in the fridge for now),
and it's
> quite hot and humid here in Maryland right now. Will they get a
shock
> coming out of the cold? When I plant them, do I just barely cover
the seed
> itself with soil ( or a soil-less medium such as vermiculite or
peat moss).
> I don't want to damage or destroy them. Any advice will be greatly
appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Pat
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PROPAGATION
