I grew 1,200 Giant Sequoia trees on my balcony this year
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- I turned a little hobby into a giant experiment because I was disappointed with the amount of data available on growing your own giant sequoia trees from seed.
A written up guide is now available here: superlativetre...
If you live in the UK, you can now buy your seeds directly from me: superlativetre... Buying your seeds from me helps to support my research and guide production going forward. Unfortunately, due to legislation, I can only sell to people in the UK.
There's nothing cooler than somebody geeking out on nature. Here's to you, cool nerd.
Greetings from a fellow hobby tree grower. I grow oak and linden from local seed. It started with our children brought home a wool ski hat full of oak seed from the day-care yard. The survivors we planted in memory of grandfather and I just have continued from that year. Cheers from Finland
What a great tribute to your grandfather!
My childhood home may still have one majestic oak tree l planted as a 5 yo.
My Dad "complained" until he died at 93, he never did cut it down tho.
Thank you so much! I too have been frustrated by the anecdotal information on the topic so i was really refreshed to see what you did here and very appreciative that you posted it. I'd pay $10 for your published findings... you have to be considering it
Thanks for your kind words! Glad that this was so helpful! I’ve now posted some guidance (all freely available) on my website superlativetrees.com - hope that, along with this video, is of some help! Happy growing
Thank you for the info. You, and Will with the assist, are doing some good work doing all that research, experimenting and data collecting, and letting the people know! Good stuff!
I just got some seedlings myself from the Johnsteen company, here in the U.S. Planning to make a bonsai out of both my Coastal Redwood and the Giant Sequoia; however, after watching this, I probably will feel more comfortable in the future going through with germinating my own seeds. I kind of have my own anecdotes in the works right now though for stratification, 6 Colorado Blue Spruce and 5 Norwegian Spruce seeds I just got in the fridge this evening, hoping they both germinate at least 1 good one *apiece..we shall see...
It's a great research.
I'm from Brazil and it's a good guide.
Hope you include Maple trees in this research 😊
They are so so cute! I’m so happy they were born and I hope the ones you gave away go to good homes ❤ Thanks for sharing this is beautiful!
You are a true academic. Really impressed with your study design. Thanks for useful, data-based info!
Please write an article and publish. Research like this benefits us all - great work!
6:33 yes, it does. Thank you!
I found this video interesting. Thank you!
Excellent work, well done!
This is really cool thanks
What soil mix should I use when moving seedlings into bigger pots, can you buy a ready made mix, if not then what should I use thanks
That was amazing
Where do u get the seeds from
I've just planted 100 seeds, the company report they've cold stratified them already so fingers crossed my shady shelf as good success.
Who did you sell them to?
I'm hoping local schools will take some (for free) for an ecology lesson / climate change studies.
Otherwise I'm guerrilla planting them in woods where the recent storms have fallen old trees. Should be sheltered with a gap in the canopy.
Follow up?
FYI, your bedroom is haunted by a grey ghost dog.
lil lurcher!! Yay!
I hope you will have the time to write up your findings into a paper/instruction and publish them! Hopefully you’ll find a home for the rest of your sapling before they become too big to remain on your balcony.
Thank you! I am hoping to find somewhere I can plant them fairly soon.
@@GeorgeMaier good morning congratulations for the video and the commitment. I live in Italy but the internet sites you have proposed cannot be ordered for Italy. are there other sites to order sequoiadendrom giganteum seeds? a thousand thanks
@@nickromeo19861 if you can find one at a park somewhere, you can harvest your own seeds from the cones. I was able to get around 100 seeds from a single cone that a found in a park in Seattle, Washington - far from anywhere these trees grow naturally. Surely there’s a botanical garden or park somewhere in Italy that has grown one of these beauties!
@@lufe18 I have many little pine cones from a Dawn Redwood tree. How do I get the seeds from it? I have tried to do so without any luck.
@@GeorgeMaier hallo my dear friend thank you for this refreshing information I have tried to find information on how to plant trees from different continent I would love to talk to you could you give me number ore eney thing your face book pls let me talk to you I have bean waiting for years for this
This is great info. Would love to see a follow up video with a care guide for young saplings
I have grown oak, judas, wisteria, pinus radiata, all becoming larger trees in large pots. Still healthy . Love growing, strangely satisfying hobby all for future bonsai. Also have a 10year old sequoia doing great.
Excellent work with this experiment. YES, please put together a guide video on germinating and growing sequoia trees!
A small tip! Please leave an outtro on your videos. This enables us to like the video on TV's before it just dissappears at the end, unlike phones where it hangs around.
Great video. Thanks for your intensive work.
OMG!!!! I've also been doing this for years and I have also been developing my own methods. I honestly can't believe how you have managed to get such a high percentage rate, so much more difficult than people realise. If I try to germinate 100 seeds I can often expect to get 5 trees to a good enough size to plant outside. So weird that I follow you for your mountaineering content but you've dropped a video with the exact info I need for something else.
Same here. My rate was 3/100!
Hey everyone!!!
A written up quick growing guide is now available here: superlativetrees.com/pages/growing-giant-sequoia-from-seed
If you live in the UK, you can now buy your seeds directly from me: superlativetrees.com/collections/all Buying your seeds from me helps to support my research and guide production going forward. Unfortunately, due to legislation, I can only sell to people in the UK.
I'm working towards a full research report based on this experiment, it's not fully ready yet, but will be put up on the website once it's done :)
May i ask what you plan to do with any successful growing trees?
Ok
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they may never sit.
That website seems to contradict this video. It mentions 4-6 weeks in the refrigerator, but you had the best results with 1 week.
@@HyuLilium ah I think you might be getting a bit mixed up between the two different effect graphs. 4-6 weeks in the fridge yields highest probability of seed germination full stop. That’s the first and most important effect. Longer than that and I found fungal growth damaged some of the seeds. The effect second is: The longer they’ve been in the fridge, the faster the seeds that will germinate (i.e. the undamaged ones) do germinate. I.e. if they’ve been in there a long time you’ll get all the germinations you should expect within the first week. This is somewhat independent of germination probability. Speed of germination is not always massively important, probability of germination is more important. So I stand by the 4-6 week target.
Questions:
1. What was your overall budget?
2. Although it’s been over a year, do you still have any seedlings?
3. If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?
4. Would they be able to survive in the following United States locations? Elko-Nevada, Luna-New Mexico, Valencia-New Mexico, Hondale-New Mexico, Van Buren-Arkansas, Cheraw-South Carolina.
5. Is your guide only to be used in the UK?
Thank you for all of your help!
i've heard that these trees are pretty resistant and adaptative, you should be able to plant there where you wish though a lack of water may be dangerous for them, the regions you mentionned are quite dry, but considering they do fine California they should do fine where you want to plant them
I've been growing and planting sequoias and coast redwoods for some years now, and eventhough I live in the pacific northwest I can tell you it's no easy task, especially getting them to a point where they are mature enough to plant in a permanent location. just discovered your channel, thank you so much, I'm gonna try what you did. Hopefully I'm successful.
I love the scientific approach you've taken. It would be amazing if you could share your data with the rest of the community.
Thanks George for making this video
It helped me I'll also plant some sequoias for my future generations and as a symbol which would represent me and I'd live 3000 years via this tree 🌲 .
Hi George,
Thanks for all the work you've put in. It could definitely help me.
I've come up with a plan to increase the biodiversity in a young forest (15 years I think with only couple early species) by helping nature along. I'll try and use my knowledge of food forests and permaculture.
I will grow seedlings of local trees that are really big so they have proved themselves. There are two sequoias with two miles which I want to use seeds from. Your findings and possibly upcoming guide should help me along. Now I need to find some volunteers to help and offers growing space and get going.
We'll have a great forest by the time I'm ready for my wheelchair. :-)
I'm really digging this video! I've been growing Sequoia seeds for years now, indoors and out on my balcony... When I first started I had really low germination rates, but nowadays I toss the seeds in the freezer for a few days and that has bumped it up exponentially. My biggest issue up until today is transplanting the tiny trees into bigger containers. A friend of mine recommended seaweed fertilizer to stimulate root growth and so far I've managed to successfully transplant two seedlings, while still waiting on three to be transplanted. These buggers have plenty of obstacles to overcome when you first start growing them, however I find that it does become easier as you get more experience year after year.
How are your trees doing present day? I'm curious! Please share an update
Im from northern california and now live in seattle where some scientists are talking about encouraging assisted migration of giant sequoia trees: so this information is very helpful in preserving these trees within their native range and their potential future native range.
Are you sure they were "scientists"? Because it should be Botanists. It's suspicious hearing this stuff and manipulating the protected forests sounds like a bad idea.
@@kalidilerious Yeah look at what the scientists told us about COVID
Wow, how beautiful. Here’s a big hug and kiss to all of you who plant trees.
Hi George, I've been watching your channel since your PhD days. This episode helped me in the sense that it inspired me to think about a topic I never thought of before, and to consider dedicating some of my balcony space to grow them and plant them in areas around me. I look forward to your guide!
Thanks! Glad it might be of some help to somebody out there haha
@@GeorgeMaier: What's funny is that for my high school project (nearly 20 years ago...) I originally intended to also do an experiment comparing plant growth under different conditions, but by recommendation of my biology teacher it was reduced to investigating how to distill Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter from soil. It's surprisingly been of use later in my career 😅
Fabulous! Mr. Johnny Appleseed of Sequoias. You educate and inspire me and now let's get to the rest of the wold!
More advice please :) like what soil or environment does the seedling need? I am amazed by your patience and what a great work and an experiment. Thanks !
Hey. Thank you for information, it is really important. What kind of soil and fertilisers do you use ? Good luck on your way, and hello from Switzerland.
Thanks!
Glad you found the video useful!
The Giant Sequoia is an awe inspiring species, well done!
You and your teammate did something amazing science here. We need more of like you and wishing a widespread growth of those wonderful trees in your area.
Great video! I did exactly what you have done 20 years ago and found that all Redwood seeds, Coast, Dawn and Sequoia sprout extremely easy on a wet paper towel in a warm dark environment. No cold stratification was needed. I was able to sprout more seeds than I could possibly use. Unfortunately for me, I live in the wrong area, Charleston, SC and the only trees that would grow in this area are the Dawn Redwood. I tried really hard for a few years with the other two but they would all eventually die at some point. You should have much better success in your part of the world.
Plant them along coastal areas and large bodies of water. They will adapt and acclimate over time. Imagine 1000 years in the future where you’re 1200 trees number more than 12000,000 flourishing!
Coming home from nights out then checking for hours!! Dedication to the cause 🙌🙌🙌
I wanted to die haha!
🤣
Perhaps it's just the nature of seeds to sprout in the dark as this is the method when I sprout grains in a tray for my chickens. I'm from CA, but what would be the implications of feral populations of sequoias outside of their range? Could they outcompete your natural flora in the UK? Or would they contribute to your ecosystem like the naturalized parrots in CA are re-filling the niche of the Carolina Parakeet that was made extinct by early Americans.
My dude, colorblind viewer here. I have a problem with the colors you use in graph. Can i please ask them to be a bit more vibrant so i can rad it pls :)
Just start putting these bad boys in random spots where there is enough space for it to grow to full size.
People would be shocked lol.
what about cold climate zones?
Still hoping to get my hands on one!!!
Your a bad ass and should give classes for two hundred dollars and all the students get a free tree after the class is complete.
Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into this research, you're amazing! My somewhat estranged adult son just gave me a tiny packet of 40 sequoia seeds. There was something, maybe, profound about this. Wish me luck.
I'm in Oakland and just starting out. If you've got any tips......
I have ordered seeds and will try to grow at least one giant sequoia in Norway (64°N)
Awesome video! Keep up the great work.
I’m attempting to grow some myself, with the long term goal to purchase land for conservation and reforestimh
Would they grow well in barren Scotland?
Can't even beleave you put so much time and effort to proper collecting the data and watching this experiment. Great work! I hope you will publish your work with all data somewhere
Fascinating! Thank you for doing this, and for sharing your findings! Would love to grow some of these sometime. I’m not currently aware of other info out there so I’d be very interested in a guide!
I’d love to see a guide based on your findings! I have 5 baby sequoias myself and am hoping that they keep growing. The biggest struggle I have is knowing how much to water them
I’m having the same problem. I have experimented with about 20 seedlings now. I can’t seem to get them past the first cotyledons.
They like a lot of water, I have them as bonsai, they certainly have a lot of roots ,
@@lawrencemcnally3164 they like water but need to have the soil go dry before watering again
TRY bottom watering them instead of top watering. you may be surprised of the results
You need to speak to the seeds I know it sounds crazy they need to feel loved
Awesome! I too grow all three types of redwood. They are fascinating trees to grow. I have planted some out in the countryside near me. It's cool knowing I'm not the only one obsessed with these trees! Looking forward to any updates in the future.
What country are you in?
@@oiocha5706 UK, same as George.
me too. Have you any experience germinating swamp cypress as I'm trying to germinate my own collected seeds (England).
@andrewclack4881 Sorry Andrew, I've not tried swamp cypress before. I hope you manage to germinate some as they are awesome trees!
Wow.. Good job👍 can you show those trees on these days. Hello from Kazakstan👋
2 years later: help, the trees have taken over my home! 😂
They look good, but, I hope you won't come to tears over this, so to say. Where Sequoia is raised, they tend to take over. They have the ability to suffocate native plants and to create their own biosphere, a swamp. Family in the southeast US consider it a weed tree. When it begins to spread, it will do it fast. S. Africa and Australia didn't listen to us over mesquite, and look at the land now.
They’ve been in the UK for a couple of hundred years in large numbers and haven’t taken over. In fact they are well noted for how well they fit into the UK biology. There’s some good insights into this online - and I even wrote a post myself about how easy they are to manage as an introduced specie because their natural reproductive rate is so low. I do wonder if you’re thinking of coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) which has more of a tendency to take over (but still relatively low compared to many other specie).
Awesome Video! I’ve never seen anyone grow so many from seedlings. You’re right that there seems to be a lack of information on how to properly grow them. Did you also experiment with different soil? If so, what type did they do best in? Thanks a lot and great video!
Hey Duke! I didn’t really experiment with soil extensively in this one, as it was mainly about triggering germination, rather than early development. I used coir compost in almost all instances. This is light and airy which seemed to help. Interestingly I did run out of coir at one point and switched to a special “seedling compost” and the seedlings did very badly and many died - it got too dense and hard. The coir stays nice and airy which I think helps keep their roots in good condition. Then when they are a bit older and I repot them, i throw in some normal compost for the nutritional boost.
Got a smile out of the STATA graphs. Excellent work.
Always appreciate someone who’s able to identify statistical analysis software 🙌
I recognized STATA too, great stuff! As an undergrad who uses it for all of my econ assignments, I wasn't sure this was something that people used in the real world haha, so this is great to know!
I hope you continue with the gardening experiments. This was cool to watch
Hi, I wanna a greener earth. Can you share some seeds with me?
Your record keeping must be an outstanding system
Hello, I was just wondering: 1) what exactly do you fo for stratification? And 2) how long do you keep the seedlings in the places indicated by the graph?(shelf, cupboard, window) Thank you for the video I am inspired to grow some trees now!
Yesterday I was at my local botanical garden and found a Cal Redwood cone on the floor with seeds in. I am hoping to do some gorilla gardening around my local area and at the nature reserve I work at as we lack any evergreens. Thanks for the video. If you have any saplings that need homes I’d be happy to come to an arrangement!
Thank you, and congratulations I have a philosophy of "plant the seed!" If it germinates, you've won, if it doesn't germinate, then you haven't lost anything. Two years ago three trays of thirty-six corned-beef tins, each with one apple core. I estimated 1,500 apple trees and gave them away to visitors who told me "You're a GENIUS", but I thought "It's what apple trees have been doing for yonks". Cheers, Chris
what a bad idea. Youre not johhny appleseed. the people youre giving the tree to, and possibly yourself, wont understand that apple trees from seed will be vastly different from traditional apple trees, which are spliced with a root stock.
Trees from seed typically are much much taller and therefore harder to maintain and harvsest. they also lack the hardiness of a spliced tree.
Love you for that. Thank you
Wow, impressive work!
This is awesome! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for your contribution.
Bruh homebrewed a massive statistically significant sample size of seed germination but skipped the final conclusion. So what was the optimal condition set that had the most births? Saw a graph but the specific combination was never mentioned. Was the 14d cold strat before soaking or after? Shaded was best?
sorry, I should have been more explicit about what the graph was showing. The write up on my website is likely somewhat clearer but the treatments were all, where applicable, soak followed by cold strat. And yes, shaded shelf yielded the highest probability of seed germination
As someone who has worked in statistics this made me laugh a lot
Updates please!!!
Just ran across your video, and had to say thank you!
Videos like this are extremely helpful, well done sir!!!
This is awesome.
It's been almost 3 years now, would love to see an update on your findings!
You are a sequoia pioneer, creating a legacy! I need at least 1,000 sequoias to reforest cleared property in Canada, will also include other species. Can`t find any trees or seeds. I get ridiculed for inquiring until I say I planted one over 10 years ago and it`s doing great (from a retired nursery). Apparently the one I have should produce cones soon...I`m also going to try cuttings. These trees inspire me and invoke mystical, magical awesomeness.
Thanks for your comment! You'll probably find your tree planted 10 years ago, even if it produces cones, they will have very low viability rates - even seeds taken tress in the UK at almost 200 years old still have fairly low germination rates. My advice, if you're going to grow from self-collected seed, is to find the oldest tree you possibly can. Also keep in mind that cones take 2 years to mature - so go for the older/larger cones. Sequoia aren't great at growing from cuttings either (unlike the coastal redwood, which does grow easily from cuttings). I've always found most success using imported seed from old growth in the native ranges.
@@GeorgeMaier I must go to California then! - no older trees near me. Yes, I haven`t come across anyone having success with cuttings..but can`t help but try, with new growth tips and heat mat, humidity dome etc. and keep searching for a seed source. I`m so fond of giant sequoias but your advice gives me the idea to include coast redwoods as well because they can be cloned with cuttings. Much appreciation to you.
Ive been trying to grown Coastaal Redwoods for years now. At least I know how to sow them better now. I cant get them to survive long though. I believe they dont like full sun when they are little
Thank you!
I finally bought my home and will start a project, plant pecan and other trees that help native birds (especially maritacas) from brazil.
your data will help me a lot!
again, thank you!
Nice initiative. I'm not growing giant sequoias but still :)
Great work !!!I love redwoods...!
Thanks for the video love the info. Also, what breed of dog do you have? Love the look of that dog!
Thanks! He's a whippet :)
@@GeorgeMaier thank you!
Contact your local council with a few suggestions where they can plant some of your giant sequoias, They must have Parks and open-spaces where they can put some of them.
I have failed 100% of the time growing Giant Sequoia in Maryland My guess why is the black walnut,juglones but surprisingly I have been growing coast redwoods 4 of them were planted in 2005 but for some reason deer tried to girdle one this year but was surprised how fast the coat redwood healed itself it was almost 50% girdles now its like 20 percent
Ah boy, this is next level. Heaps of hard work put into this. Thank you!
You’ve certainly helped me, I’ve struggled to find a solid guideline on how to germinate many species such as the giant sequoia and coastal redwoods. I learnt heaps from this, and will definitely try your method out! At what point do you transition the seedling into full sun? I usually have a transition stage where I leave the seedlings by a window when they are very young (no direct sunlight) and eventually put them somewhere with very limited exposure to the sun. And then I’ll increase it over the next month or two so that they get a few hours of sunlight a day (can’t have much more than that as they will burn in the Australia sun here haha). What do you usually do George?
Here in the UK it's not quite as much of an issue - I put them on my south facing balcony from a couple of days old and haven't really had any issues. But obviously the sun here isn't as strong as you get in Australia - so I understand your caution here.
THANK YOI SO MUCH FOR THIS!! I and I’m certain Mother Nature appreciates what you have done. I certainly do and can’t wait to plant my own little seedlings 🌱💚 Here’s to a greener tomorrow 🙌
Would be cool if you replicated this work with Sequoiadendron Sempervirens as well, and compare the differences!
Lost and found coins. Go to water wells, public. Pick out five Pennie’s. Go to bank, get nickel. Take nickel and full fare to city bus. Put down both payments at the same time. Giggle.
Please publish your work! Try submitting to Nature magazine or Science or even Ranger Rick! Just publish. You are a citizen scientist and just as valuable as a professional scientist. Thank you from USA. ☮️❤️🙏
4:40 2 years ago but I'd like to point out how cheap they are.
for $1 I got a 100ml of CuSO4, alternatively 20g of KMnO4. Both have to be diluted heavily and used rarely. So $1 can last you for several years.
Hi from Northern California. Thank You to share this really interesting process of germination. If any time You are around the famous Avenue of the Giants; I would love to meet with You both. I want to develop a plan to grow several hundred of Sequoias to be planted on our 67 acres property in Miranda Ca. I wonder if You may be interested to help on get me going even at long distance.
I absolutely JUMPED when Will suddenly appeared out of nowhere
Thanks a lot for a valuable information; I'm about to start my own project on sequoias. I have some questions that I'd be happy if you'd find a time to go over
1) 24 h soaking (water or carbonated mineral water?)
2) 14 d cold (1 - 4 C°) moist stratification (on papertower, perlite or dirrectly saw in the growing medium in the predifined cell for each seed)
3) plant seeds in a substrat 0.5 cm from the surface and make greenhouse and put in a shaded place
4) start growing lights and heatmat as first seedlings emerge (whats the best temperature?)
5) remove them from grrenhouse gradually and expose to more light
Thanks in advance
Has anyone tried the Sequoia Sempervirens in the UK? These tall trees live on the coast. One tree named Hyperion is 116 meters tall (380'). Their trunks grow 5-8 meters in diameter. They grow fast until they are over 30 meters tall and then more slowly. Thirty-meter trees are common in California backyards. They tolerate temperatures -9C to 38C well, with the mean temperature between 10C and 16C. There is also a Chinese Sequoia that grows more slowly than the other two kinds but is deciduous and has beautiful foliage.
I enjoyed this!!
Great stuff,...More please!
Omg..I ❤this! I live on the Canadian Border of New York and we have Pine and Evergreens but no Red Woods...I think I could grow them here..hmmm
This is good stuff I'm glad you did it and shared it
Very instructive. I will try to grow some of the seeds I found on a giant sequoia here in France. I hope you will have time to write some study on your experiment and share it. Thank you for sharing :P
Glad somebody found it useful!