you can't sex them (at home with no molecular analysis) until they flower and fruit and that can take 20 years!

The only way to ensure that they are males is to grow them from cuttings or graft them.

Sara

I got a response from them, this is the exact response:

You can't see the female or male from the tree. The female or male are determined by the shape of the seeds. So, when we plant the seeds, we separated them and plant them in the different bed.

So can you tell by the shape of the seed? All the information I can find on the internet says no...

I don't want to get this wrong because I won't know for 30 years.

then you buy GRAFTED ... NAMED varieties ...

you are trying to save a few bucks.. but will worry about it for 30 years ...

i would pay the money for the PREDICTABILITY of the named variety ... so i didnt have the tree stress for 30 years ...

BTW ... those seedlings look just fine... when they are 3 to 6 inches thick in the trunk.. all your concerns wont matter ...

and all trees that size.. need training ... some selective pruning over the years.. to shape them into what you want ... its part of the fun.. of raising infants ...

are G still within the conifer realm.. or did the wizards of smart decide they are now trees.... ??? .. where has resin been????... lol

ken

ps: at this size.. if they come out of the pot at an angle.. just plant the root mass crooked .. and make the trunk straight.. insuring the root flare is at ground level.. its much easier than staking them straight ....

As Ken says, if you care, buy plants that are grafted and named. Be aware that there is a lot of mis-naming in the Ginkgo world - if it really matters to you buy them from a reputable nursery, preferably one doing the grafting themselves, such as Conifer Kingdom (I think that they stock over 30 different cultivars). Since Ginkgo don't typically flower or set fruit for over 25 years, this is not going to be an issue that you'll have in the short term...

Sara

Geez Sara....can you post something without advertising Conifer Kingdom? What kind of kick backs are you getting? ; )

Mostly the only way to know the sex of the Ginkgo tree is to wait until the plants bloom.

In Chinese literature it is said that seeds marked with two ribs produce female trees and those with three ribs male (although these are more rare). There might be something into this? They've been growing Ginkgo for a long time.

Frank

Ken, I most definitely am not trying to save money(I would gladly pay $150 per 5-6 ft tree if they didn't look so horrible at my local nursery), I am just a little concerned about planting frankenstein trees after reading these articles:

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/plants/news-gingko-tree-can-change-its-sex
http://ginkgopages.blogspot.com/2006/07/ginkgo-sex-change-in-kew-gardens.html

What are your thoughts on the above? I would hate to have mine change sex at a later date. My other anxiety is about the structure, will the grafting process weaken the plant at the joint?

I would actually much rather plant some that were raised from cuttings, even if the cuttings costed more. I just can't find any cuttings for sale.

So are my concerns over these young trees being topped unfounded? Is that because of the grafting they did? I just have read that they do the topping to promote lateral branch growth, I really want these trees to grow naturally.

Thanks for your input.

Yes it has been documented that Ginkgo change sex...

I am reading 'Ginkgo' by Peter Crane right now - he is the former director of Kew. It is a lovely little book, more about the history of the Ginkgo than its culture, although there is a lot of botany in it.

Grafting done properly shouldn't weaken the plant.

As I noted, there are reputable sources for grafted Ginkgo (even though Ginkgo will grow from cuttings, most commercial producers graft). As well as the one that I mentioned, Greer has quite a few and a web search will uncover others.

Good luck!

Sara

I think you're over thinking yourself. Just buy the trees that have a good shape and plant them. You won't be able to hand select them if you buy them on the internet. Gingkos can be awkwardly growing trees anyway. Finding a perfect looking Gingko isn't easy. We have an Autumn Gold and it sets its male parts every spring but it's only about 10 years old.

Whats the big concern with having a female Ginkgo?Where the heck else are you going to get understocks for grafting
the dwarf cultivars?The last time I checked Ginkgo understock was in fairly short supply and not cheap.D.

why do you need a 5 to 6 footer .????

ken

All of those last comments are right on!

"I got a response from them, this is the exact response:

You can't see the female or male from the tree. The female or male are determined by the shape of the seeds. So, when we plant the seeds, we separated them and plant them in the different bed.

So can you tell by the shape of the seed? All the information I can find on the internet says no...

I don't want to get this wrong because I won't know for 30 years"

You can't tell by the shape of the seeds. They're relying on the fact that 30 years from now, they won't be around to have to answer for their fake claims ;-)

Resin

Ken, I am not saying it has to be 5-6 feet, that is just the size I normally see in my local nurseries. I would actually prefer to grow from seeds if I wasn't concerned about getting a female tree. Most of the I have attached a closer photo of the current central leader.

I am just trying to start off on the right foot for my first planted trees in my new house, so I did some reading and it looks like I may not be understanding all the concepts, because when I look at the pictures of the trees I got, the one with the curve at the bottom makes me wonder the curve go away in time or will the tree always look abnormal at the base? Because if it will look abnormal forever or if it will be harder to train a central leader I would prefer not to plant it and just buy a new tree.

I get the point of buying a grafted named tree from a reputable source.

talorjoni, Those graft unions will meld and not be an issue down the road as your trees grow on.

Al

I agree with talorjoni, and am always baffled why it doesn't bother most... the grafted trees for sale look absolutely horrible compared to seedling grown trees. How many years will it take to grow normal? The trees for sale are either weak and lopsided, or topped. The branches even after many years are bunched up unnaturally, even if growing upward. I see trees all the time that were probably planted a decade ago that don't even look close to normal, I suppose if you think a crabapple ornamental tree is attractive you wouldn't mind. The seedling trees grow more with a degree of beautiful symmetry... more like a conifer. What is wrong with wanting a Ginkgo that grows nice?

I bought this 6 foot/2 meter 'Princeton Sentry' this summer on sale, this was the best out of 30... one of the few that could stand up by itself without being staked, and the branching is somewhat regular. If staked straight, will it at least grow straight up? Or just keep growing at an angle?

This post was edited by noki on Sat, Oct 12, 13 at 2:40

I have not planted that 'Princeton Sentry' yet, but I have staked it. I've had two before, the first one I waited 3.5 years for it to grow, then I cut it down, it was so pathetic, it still wasn't strong enough to stand up on it's own. It grew 5". The second one was straight but branches grew very thick but no growth on the leader, it looked like a bush, so I got rid of it. I can't decide to plant the new tree in a permanent spot, or a temporary spot and see how it grows next spring.

With Gingkos and many trees, the normal "boring" straight trees are a novelty to me, they are rare... because almost all I see is either the odd growing branch propagated trees that have been commonly sold in recent decades, or seedling trees that are more than 50 years old that are hard to imagine as younger trees.

Ginkgos are topophytic, which means a cutting or graft scion taken from a branch will continue to grow like a branch rather than like a central leader, hence all the crooked grafted plants. Seedlings will usually have a much better form. If the central leader is used for the graft then the growth habit will be straight up.

Eventually most crooked grafts should produce a new central leader as the tree builds up vigor.

Regarding sexing of Ginkgos, female trees are said to have broader branch angles with almost horizontal branches, while male ginkgo branches are more acutely angled to the trunk so the branches are more upward than horizontal.

Also, female ginkgo leaves are said to be more split than male leaves.

But I think the trees would have to be a fair amount bigger than the young ones pictured above to be able to hazard a guess at their gender...