Re: Dogwood Propagation from Seed

If you are in an area that goes below 40F for a min. of 140 days, just
plant them outside in a nursery row or in pots and leave them for Mother
Nature to take care of - not letting them dry out, of course.

 If you don't have that min. period of cold, clean the outer pulp from the
seed and lay them on damp paper towels; fold the towel over them to make a
little packet - I space them out so they aren't touching each other - and
put it in a zip lock plastic baggy and put in the fridge for 140 days. 
Then, remove and plant and either keep the pots at room temperature or set
them outside or plant the seeds in the ground.  You may find the seeds have
begun to sprout when you remove them from the fridge.

Deno is right...they have to have that cold period.  In nature, of course,
the temperatures fluctuate and I suppose you could mimic that by removing
them from the fridge periodically and then putting them back, but I have
not found this necessary.

You can also plant them in pots or flats and store them in the fridge, but
that takes up a lot of room.

Best and easiest if you have the right temperature conditions is to plant
them outside and let Nature take her course.

Also, if you want to send dogwood (Cornus florida) seed to anyone, be sure
to remove it from the outer pulp (red coating) because that can heat up
enough to kill the embryo.  I've read this and also  found it out the hard
way.  I have sent seed as far away as Australia just in a plastic bag and
they have germinated, but I wouldn't leave them around to dry out first.

I find removing the coating  easy by using a thumbnail to pierce the coat
and slide around the seed until the outer coating falls off, the large
seeds pop out quite cleanly.  You do have to do a bit of rubbing sometimes
to remove all the pulp or it will mold in the fridge.  

You can plant in the ground without removing the pulp....that's what Mother
Nature does :-)

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
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----------
> From: taint@omegabbs.com
> Date: Wednesday, October 14, 1998 10:37 AM
> 
> List members,
> 
> Does anyone have any helpful hints at growing common Eastern Flowering
> Dogwood trees (Cornus florida) from seed? Dirk
> The Omega Line BBS
> http://www.omegabbs.com
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