Giant Sequoia Cold Seed Stratification

Giant Sequoia Seeds

Before I can sow the Giant Sequoia seeds I need to put them through a period of cold stratification to trigger germination.  Essentially I am simulating the cold weather that the seeds would experience during Winter in a natural environment.  What I will do is put the seeds in a ziplock bag with a paper towel, then put this into the refrigerator for about a month.  The first thing I did was separate the seeds into two equal groups, this is one of those “don’t keep all your eggs in one basket” type of project.  There is always a risk of mold growing with any type of stratification, so splitting the seeds up into smaller groups to put into separate bags is a good idea.

Giant Sequoia seeds separated into two groups

Next I prepared the paper towels for the seeds by soaking them and then squeezing the excess water out.  You want the paper towels to be damp, but not soaking wet.  Most nurseries or seed stores will recomend vermeculate or perlite in place of the paper towel, however in my research I have found that most people who are not trying to make a sale find most success using paper towels.  There are a couple other reasons I prefer the paper towel method.  The paper towels make it much easier to check for mold and to change out if mold does happen to develop.  Even if everything goes correctly having there is an advantage to paper towels because they make it much easier to find your seeds at the end of the month, than searching through the vermeculate.

So once the paper towels were damped, I folded them half and spread my seeds out on the top quarters of the paper towels.  Again this is a percaution to avoid mold destroying too many seeds, keeping them spread out will provide a little bit of a barrier.

Giant Sequoia seeds in damp paper towel

Next I folded the bottom quarter of the paper towel over the seeds, and prepared the ziplock bags.  With a permanant marker I labeled each bag with the tree species and the date that I need to remove them from the refridgarator.  Working with a couple different types of seeds this makes it much easier for me to keep track of which bag contains which seeds and when they need attention.

Giant Sequoia seeds in ziplock bag

Once the seeds and paper towels have been placed within their ziplock bags and sealed up, I placed them with in the refridgarator.  Try to find a place within your fridge where the seeds won’t be crushed or accidentally thrown away, the sandwich drawer is a fairly safe bet.  Now all I have to do is wait 28 days and I can sow them in soil.