This depends on the species. Some seeds, especially from Alpine plants, do not survive dry storage and need to be stored moist in a plastic bag of damp sand or vermiculite, or sown immediately. Some seeds can be dry-stored but lose viability quickly; such seeds will last longer if refrigerated and are best if sown within six months of harvest. Some seeds have been known to survive dry storage for thousands of years. Once again, you can post questions about specific seeds to the Growing From Seed forum. The seed of *most* flowering plants stays viable longest if dried before being stored. Once seed has ripened and at least begun to dry on the parent plant, it should be harvested and placed in a cool, dry, shaded location with good air circulation to complete the process slowly. Be patient; some seeds may need up to six weeks to dry thoroughly. Too much heat can cause seeds to dry too quickly, dessicate, and die. Once the seeds have ceased any changes in appearance (some seeds will darken, shrivel, etc. during the drying process), they can be safely stored for later use.

Yeah, the website Nathan linked to is well worth checking out...its to trees for life here in SA, they have a free tree scheme that gets volunteers growing natives for landholders in SA. Each year they produce a propagation booklet for their volunteers, which gives good info on most commonly grown genera. Maybe this info is on the website - worth looking for. I have grown trees for them and they tend to time their planting of seeds of various species so that they can all be planted out around the time that good rainfall can be expected to minimise the need to water. From memory most things were planted around December & January. They send out propagation kits that include seed raising mix that has a high % of coarse sand and has a slow release fertiliser for natives added, they also use a fine gravel 'mulch' on top of each 'tube'. Most seedlings are started off in shade and put into full when they grow their first true leaves. It sounds like you have mostly eucalypts, and possibly some allocasuarinas, or maybe some callitris (?). You will need to do some searching on this. or post a pic to verify the species as I believe callitris is best sown in the cooler months.\ Here in SA, if you become a member of TFL you can get all the things you need to grow seedlings using your own seed, but you need to be able to get to a collection depot to pick up the gear. In Victoria, I think a free tree scheme is run by "Men of Trees", which is the original name of TFL, try contacting them. In terms of treatment of seeds, the eucalypts can just be sown direct in to the seed raising mix with no pre-treatment at all and sprinkled with a little mix over the top. Allocasuarinas (this is what I think you are describing as little pine cones - pics would be really useful!) also need no pre-treatment, but should be sown a little deeper. Both Eucs and Allocasuarinas are pretty easy to grow, its hard to give advice on anything else until you have figured out what they actually are. Cheers, mudlark PS: you could also try direct seeding your property, this involves spreading the seed either mechanically or by hand and hoping something grows before the ants knick it all! Usually, depending on rainfall you will either have a really lousy result or it grows up like a very unnatural forest and you then need to thin it all out to avoid loads of spindly saplings. (you might guess, I'm not a big fan of direct seeding! but if you're interested you could try an internet search on the subject.)

I use to presprout my snow peas, and I would just gently set them in a slight trough in the soil and gently put dirt over them. Why do you presprout your beans? I did it because the mice were eating the seeds, but not when I would presprout them. I totally forgot to presprout this spring, and didn't get any snow peas.

I watered him only when the top inch felt dry and gave him lots of indirect sunlight. However, in the past couple of days, I've noticed brown spots/speckles on the lower leaves and the stems. I have also been reading similar posts from other members and Al's explanations, so I'm assuming the problem is mainly due to overwatering, root rot and/or insects. I also am seeing the fiddle's roots on top of the soil so the best bet seems to be repotting. Having come to this conclusion, I am planning to repot the guy by following Al's famous gritty mix recipe. The brown specks on the leaves are likely oedema, which occurs when the plant's internal water pressure becomes high enough to break through cell walls. The cell's contents then burst and leak into intercellular spaces in the surrounding tissue, which causes a saturated spot that eventually turns corky. The elongated spots on stem structures are openings in the stem's young periderm (bark) called lenticels. Their job is to provide openings through which internal gasses can escape and oxygen from surrounding air can enter the plant's tissue, which requires this gas exchange to remain viable. There is one question, however, that I have not been able to find an answer to anywhere in the forums (or perhaps I'm not researching hard enough). When repotting, am I supposed to remove/cut off the affected leaves? No. A plant's only source of food/energy is the sugar it makes during photosynthesis (glucose). Since every leaf is a food factory, removing them leaves the plant very vulnerable - especially so if it has been growing under stress or strain, leaving it w/o enough energy reserves to push a new flush of foliage. None of my leaves have crispy brown tips, mostly brown speckles on the back of the leaves as well as all over the stems (petiole?). I have seen some people cut away parts of the affected leaves, but that doesn't seem like the best option for me as the speckles are not necessarily concentrated in specific areas. The lower leaves are also starting to droop. If I am not supposed to cut the affected leaves, do they eventually go back to "normal" and lose the spots after repotting and following the correct procedures? Animals are regenerative organisms and can "heal" by regenerating new tissues in the same spacial position as damaged tissued. Plants are not capable of doing that, so damage cannot heal. A blemished leaf will always have the blemishes until the leaf is no more. I guess what I ultimately want to know is, "how do I get rid of the spots?" Some trees are prolific back-budders, IOW, they form new branches from dormant buds above old (leaf) bundle scars and from adventitious buds that arise from the plant's meristematic tissues. Meristematic tissues have cells (STEM cells, thus meriSTEMatic) that are capable of differentiating into any of the plant's organs. You can get rid of spots by getting rid of leaves - by defoliating the entire tree in the summer and when the plant is in a very high state of vitality (has lots of stored energy); or, you can cut the plant back hard and train a new branch to a vertical orientation as the new leader. All the new leaves on the new branches that occur will be pristine, as long as you're able to provide cultural conditions that favor the tree. Your job, as grower, is to identify and eliminate those conditions that are limiting or have the potential to inhibit the plant's ability to realize its genetic potential. That's how I look at growing, and it's served me very well. You can start by making sure you're maintaining a healthy ratio of air:water in the root zone and are fertilizing regularly and appropriately. That air:water thing is by far the most prevalent stumbling block, usually related to a less than ideal soil choice, for most growers ..... and not just the new ones. And YES, you can still repot w/o having to worry about timing. I'd say you're good up until the middle of Aug, or maybe even the first of SEP if it was really important that you repot this year. Still, sooner is better. Al