blue spruce trees

[DEBBIE]

COULD ANYBODY TELL ME HOW TO GROW BLUE SPRUCE TREES FORM THE CONES? WE HAD6 TREES IN OUR YARD WHEN WE MOVED HERE AND WANT TO GROW MORE. THANKS DEBBIE

[The Helpful Gardener]

The good Dr. Dirr says the seeds need no pretreatment. Harvest them and plant them. Your species is Picea pungens 'Glauca'. Could be a cultivar of the species, but collected seed is likely variable in quality because of the recessive nature of the plant (the wolf comes out of the dog, so to speak and that tree gets greener). Nurseryman generally graft the cultivars to retain true genetics...

HG

[grandpasrose]

I started seedlings from my Blue Spruce last year, and about 3/4 of them germinated. It's early yet to see whether they hold true to their parent though.
These are the steps I followed when I did mine. You will probably find a million different ways for it to be done, but this worked for me.

1. Provide moisture - soak seeds 24-48 hours in room temperature water.

2. Cold stratify - subject the fully soaked seed to a cold moist period as closely resembling mild winter conditions as possible. Mix the seeds in a clean plastic sealable baggie with thoroughly moistened sterile peat and/or vermiculite. Use thirty or forty times the amount of moist sterile peat as tree seeds in the mixture. Err on the side of a bit drier rather than wetter.
Seal the baggie and place it in the bottom compartment of your refrigerator (not freezer) where the temperature is usually cooler.
Seeds will require up to 4-6 weeks of cold stratification.

3. Sow - remove the seeds from the peat mixture, and sow them in conditions that promote good germination such as good air circulation and being kept where there is a warm situation during the day and only slightly moist.
Always use clean/new potting soils and pots. Seeds should be planted 1/4 to a 1/2 inch deep and will take 2 or 3 to 8 weeks germination depending on the type of tree.

4. Seedling - The seedling does not need a lot of water. The soil should only be kept slightly moist, with the seedling placed in a warm situation where air movement around the pot and seedling is fair to brisk, and the pot and seedling are not frying in the sun.

Wish you the best of luck!

Val
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VAL (Grandpa's Rose)