This will be our last batch of Giant Redwoods to germinate this year. As always, we will be using our own seed lots that we sell in our shop.
It’s also a first. A first attempt at sowing the seeds directly into 15cm deep root trainers.
The plan is the trees that germinate can stay in their individual trays for about two years. Sequoiadendron giganteum hates root disturbance so not moving these trees at all should increase survival rates hugely.
It does mean we waste space if some seeds don’t germinate or some trees die in the first few months, however I think the pros of not disturbing the roots will far out weight the cons of the wasted space.
Previously we’ve expected about 30% success rate for the first year with the traditional tray germination methods shown here.
These are great for large volumes of seeds, unfortunately I believe they are also responsible for large losses during the transplant phase.
I look forward to following up with further posts on the success of this batch.