Growing Thornless Honeylocust Trees from Seed!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Thornless Honeylocust trees are a GREAT addition to the yardscape! Hardy, fairly rapid growers, open shade, pleasing shape, AND a forage tree.
We’ll show you a few things you need to know that will have you starting batches of thornless honeylocust seedlings for plantings around your yardscape, pasture, or to give to friends and neighbors.
Seed pods are readily available in many communities, or from a tree or two you already have in your yard. Beware that this method is NOT grafting, so a clone of the parent plant WILL NOT be produced. The seed carries genetic material from both the tree the pods are from, and another pollinator in your area. So, even if the tree you got the pods from is thornless, it is possible there is a thorny tree in the area that it’s traits can show up in the offspring.
I found some locust bean pods just along a residential street in my neighbourhood. They were clearly going to be raked up and discarded. I followed your scaring and soaking procedure and Voila!!, 80% germination and I am thrilled to think that I will grow them on and increase the beauty of our area and add to our oxygen supply!!
Thank you for creating this video!!! It was easy to follow.
All I did is made a little nick in the seed coating & put it in soil & waited. It's worked out!
John the Baptist ate the FRUIT from locus trees!!! Not grasshoppers!!
5:03 He said "Ain't nobody got time for that" Lol
I’m new to growing anything. So take my advice with a grain of salt. However I found dog nail clipper are effortless to snip the very end of the shell off.
Grant, thanks for stopping by. That's a great tip and we'll glad that you have begun the adventure of growing things! Best, DFJ
Excellent trees. Great for landscaping and deer love the pods. Also they are harder than oak and will make for good firewood for someone many years from now when the tree reaches the end of its life.
You think I can just chew or rub the seeds
on the pavement to scarify them?
Jacob, I don't know about how good they taste, so I can't give you a recommendation on chewing the seeds - the idea about rubbing them on pavement or concrete is a good one though! Best, DFJ
Wow, the ones around here are all with 5-6 Inch thorns and 60-65 ft tall!
Hi Jay, thank you. My question is, since you say they'll be ready to plant when they're between 2 and 3 ft tall, how long does that take? I know they're called fast growing, but will they achieve this height before fall if started now?
Did you find the answer?
Be careful if you do this because it's addictive and you will want to grow trees of all types. I have given away many seedlings and I've got friends that have planted pastures in seedlings that I've given them.
Indeed, when you get started with this, it's extremely gratifying! Best, DFJ
Hey Farmer, I use a little different technique that I thought I would share. I take a knife sharpening stone and then just rub till it wears through a small spot. It's easier for me that grabbing with the forceps. cheers great vid
Great idea, Joe! Best, DFJ
That's the method I used with mesquite seeds and most hard seeds. It works fine and you don't have to worry about hurting the seed embryo.
Are you sure you will grow thornless seedlings, from seeds of a thornless trees? I dont think so, the mother tree might have been polinated by wild thorny male tree. And even if it was polinated by a thornless male, the genetics is not this easy to say what you'll get. Do you have any grown up trees from seeds?
Thanks for writing. This is our first experiment. I'll let our viewers know once the tree grows. Best, DFJ
@@DirtFarmerJay thanks for honesty. It is an interesting coincidence, I have just a minutes ago ordered some thornless honey locust seeds myself, so experiments may begin :) good luck
@@DirtFarmerJay What are your results?
Thank you. Great information. Thumbs up! :-)
Love your stuff Jay !! Keep it going
Hey Jay would you know where i could buy some Honey locust trees that produce seed pods
I have just corroborated this technique. Locust seed from 2 local donors, collected in December, shucked from pods and stored in freezer until February. Soaked w daily rinse for a week, visible fattening. Patted seeds dry and sanded, with needle nose pliers, 0n 180 grit sandpaper one edge of each seed. two more days imbibing and the seeds quadruple in size. Sow in flats, keep damp, bottom heat, moisture dome, seedlings 7-10 days later. 10- 72 cell flats with better than 50% germination so far. I did the hot water thing last year without sanding and got nothing. Second planting this year, has same success so far. I have another 700 seeds in the cue.
Robert, it's great to hear you're getting such great results! I hope you have a big crop of trees that you can enjoy to beautify your grounds and those in your neighborhood! Thanks for taking time to share your results with your fellow viewers. Best regards, dfj
I have the led 5000 luminous 4 ft shop light could I use this light to let them grow
But when you put them in water do you keep the water hot or let it cool
i got black locust on my land and using it for firewood. I just hate those thorn. It cut my cloths, equipment, shoes, even my car's fuel line... I guess I will try to plant them in Poland as a small plantation
Yep, those thorns are brutal, right up there with Russian Olive. Not fun. If you can get thornless varieties, it's the best of both worlds. Best, DFJ
Hi DirtFarmerJay! Do you know how the old timers made coffee out of the seeds during the civil war times and very likely before?
I suppose they dried them, crushed them and brewed them?
I have heard the same thing. The resulting brew wasn't as flavorful as coffee, but if that is all you have access to, you make it work!
How about the locust trees that germinate blown from here there by the wind. Is that natures way to germinate....
Yes, indeed, they can be transplanted, assuming they have the characteristics you like - such as thornlessness. Best, DFJ
What type of light are you using to grow them.
Anthony, when plants are very young, just regular shop light bulbs are just fine. If you are doing extended growing, you need to get color corrected lights for growing with the correct spectrum, but not for start up. Best, DFJ
Use a finger nail clipers... Bam...
So eager to learn what type of locust the seeds gave. Just collected a branch that is now a bunch of cuttings and the pods are stuck in storage to stratify. One way or the other will have honey locust in front of my house. love the scent of the flowers.
Cheryl, once you get the seedlings going, it won't take long for them to reveal whether they are the thorny or thornless variety. If they are thorny, it will be difficult, but you'll need to discard them. The thorny ones are really rough to be around. Let me know how this turns out! Best, DFJ
Great video! Thank you for the tips.
Thank you alot ! I've found this tree somewhere in a forest and wanted to grow it myself. Now I'll go back take the seeds and try exactly what' you've done. However I'm affraid, last time I found this tree, I think I saw sort of a liquid coming out from the fruit, so I can't recall it was containing hard grains. But I'll double-check !
Hi Ahmed. Thanks for writing. We live in a drier more arid area in northern Utah, USA. Sounds like this tree is adaptable to several climates!! Let us know if you are able to get some tree starts from the seeds your harvest. Take care! DirtFarmer Maggie
@@DirtFarmerJay Indeed I came back and took the seeds, I've planted them 7 days ago and so far no result. I feel I've done it all wrong. I did put the seeds in water for 2 days, and actually after reviewing your video, I should note that they did not grow in size, so water did not get through before I've moved them to cups of soil. Scarified seeds is something I've totally missed in the process (new term to me).
I'm repeating the whole process right now.
Thornless honey locust? Isn't that poisonous black locust?
David, completely two different trees. One is highly toxic, while the honey locust puts out sweeter tasting large seed pods that wildlife finds appealing. Here's a website that goes into detail: redemptionpermaculture.com/honey-locust-vs-black-locust-whats-the-difference-between-both/#:~:text=The%20Honey%20Locust%20has%20sweet,the%20Honey%20Locust%20are%20longer.
Thanks for writing! DFJ
How is it that the seeds aren’t sterilized when put in that boiling water? I would think it would kill them.
Christopher, those seeds are REALLY tough and hard when you start the treatment. I suspect you'd have to boil them for an extended time to heat them through to the point that it killed the seed germ inside. As you can see, knicking and softening the skin is the big different maker (along with adequate heat) to get these to germinate and take off. Thanks for watching and taking time to write! Best, DFJ
DirtFarmerJay thanks. I tried that out after I watched it. I suppose over the next week we’ll see if it worked for me or not. In most cases temps maintained over 140 will kill most anything in short ordered. And when I dropped them in a shallow bath at 190 it maintained a high temp for quite a while. More than long enough to heat the seed through and through. I tried a second one where I poured a little hot water over some seeds and once it was poured over the temp dropped to 160 quickly. Those ones took until morning to swell, but they did just the same. Going to see if I have better germination with one vs the other.
I just bought some honey locust seeds but dont know if they've been stratified. How long should i freeze them?
Dave, it's highly likely that they have been stratified if you just bought them in early spring. You could check with the seller to confirm that they were in freezing temps over the winter. Barring that, you'll need to put them in the freezer for 3-4 weeks, then use a hot bath to get through the seed coat (you can nick them or sand off a portion as well). When soaked properly, they will imbibe water and swell to 3 to 4 times their dry size. Then follow the rest of the methods on the video. I hope this helps! Let me know how it turns out for you. Best Regards, DFJ
@@DirtFarmerJay Ok, thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. I just received the seeds a few days ago, so they are recent. I'll try to contact the seller for more info.
I can’t find any thornless locus in my area where can a guy buy seeds or Jay do you sell the thornless seeds thanks
I take the seeds and put them in tongs and just put down a piece of sand paper to scratch them.
Jay I can’t find any thornless trees do you sell the seeds or the trees let me know thanks
I'm wondering about the frost requirement. We spotted a seedling (one foot high now) spontaneously growing not too distant from my favourite Gleditzia. So this should be from the 2022 harvest. There was no frost (here) in the '22-23 winter... Nonetheless, we harvested two pods and will put these in the freezer for a while.
Sorry for the delayed response! We will likely be doing another video on this subject, as we've gained more experience as time has gone on. One thing that I've found out that I was mistaken on was the need for the Honeylocust seeds to overwinter to trigger their ability to sprout. That is incorrect. They can sprout in the same year they were formed if the outer seed coat is nicked, cracked, abraded, or even soaked in very hot (just below boiling) water and allowed to cool down and sop up water. If that happens, they can be planted immediately. This is a great tree to have growing around an extended property. Does that help? Thanks for watching and writing. Best, DFJ
I think I will let them soak for a month rather than scratch each seed with a file.
How many thousands do you plan to do? It shouldn’t take that long to scratch some.
You shouldn't soak them (99% of seeds, for that matter) for more than 24 hours. If they're scarified and absorbing moisture, longer exposure can drown them.
Thanks for share.Very interesting
I know you said let them soak for a while or a few days does the water need to stay at 190 degrees? Or just start at 190 degress and just let them soak from there as the water cools?
Thanks for watching and writing, "the farmer". Be sure you knick the seeds so they can imbibe the water. Then just do as you stated and let them soak as the water cools. Best to you, Dirt Farmer Maggie.
Hi Jay, This year we planted black locust trees from bare root for nectar for our honeybees. Do you know if the proprogation is the same as for the honeylocust? And when scaring for germination will using a nail clipper work. I tried that route with some loofah seeds and it worked great.
You have to fool them to think they went through the Winter so chill them to simulate Winter, then knick the seed coat. A fingernail clipper is fine. Let me know how it goes. Best, DFJ
I know this is a late question, but since black locust is poisonous will it affect the honey the bees make from it?
Thank you for your help! I have 5 little locusts in a row. This was spontaneous. I thought thornless were hybrids, so I might have freak trees. But they're thornless also and I couldn't have been more pleased. Finding your videos was the icing on the cake! In my area of Ohio we had weird weather this spring that bespoke how they managed to germinate. God is good,thank you!
are they evasive to plumbing ?
They do tend to affect plumbing lines if planted close to the house or building but there's an easy answer to that issue. Plant them in a part of the yard that is not near any plumbing lines or septic tank. They are beautiful trees that provide dappled shade. Best to you, Dirt Farmer Maggie
how can you tell where your plumbing lines are ?
Thanks
Thanks for watching and writing Colleen. Please keep watching and give us some ideas about videos you'd like to see more of. Best to you. DFJ.
is thornless honey locust appropriate for phoenix, az, usa, zone 9b?
Absolutely! This tree is well suited for Phoenix. Happy planting!! DFJ
@@DirtFarmerJay they aren't available in any tree nursery in town so i ordered some seeds as an experiment and only planted 1 last spring and it's about a 6" seedling with roots at least 3x longer; i transplanted in ground today so hopefully next season it really takes off!