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Growing from Seed

Monkey Puzzle Tree Seeds

8 years ago

My niece has a MP tree that started dropping seeds. Has anyone successfully grown MP trees from the seeds? Thanks for any advice. I see photos of them simply stuck in flats of soil.

Featured Answer

gardenprincethenetherlandsZ7/8

8 years ago

Yes, I have.

First of all: for fertile seeds a male tree is needed in the vicinity of the female tree. If you have only a female tree seeds probably won't be fertile.

Germination: just stick the seeds with their heads in the sowing compost. 80%--90% of the seed should be in the compost, the remaining can stick out. (see attached picture)

I sowed my seeds in october/november and placed the pot inside the house in front of a northeast facing window. Keep moist but not wet (sowing compost should be well draining). The seed first forms a tap root so you don't see anything appearing at first. My seeds germinated above ground in February of the following year.

Sometimes the taproot can push the seed partly out of the ground. This happened with some of my seeds. Don't be tempted to push the seeds back in the compost as this can do damage to the taproot.

For the first few years Araucaria araucana grows fairly slowly. After 3 years the seedlings were about 30 centimeters / 1 feet tall. When growing on in pots it is best to use deep pots to give the taproot enough space to grow.

Above ground Germination of Monkey Puzzle Tree Seeds (Araucaria araucana):

After 2 Years:

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Comments (7)

User
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you! There is only one tree (that I'm aware of), so you think it would be pointless?
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I was at Yamina rare plants last week on my annual pilgrimmige and spend up but didn't see any in their conifers selling section.You could ring Peter Teece who runs Yaminas production section to see if he has any seedlings in the pipeline for eventual retail sale.Very friendly and helpful (phone 03 9752 0035).I did see a 30 foot specimen in a private garden in the area(I think it was in the Silvan area from memory)although there wasn't any cones on the tree.They really are a wierd looking conifer.There is place you may be able to obtain seed.Try H G Kershaw seeds,P.O.Box 2057,Bathurst N.S.W 2795 ph 02 6331 7136 Fax 02 6331 7175 or Email orders@kershawseeds.com.au.They did have an online catalogue with quite a few hard to get conifer seeds but I couldn't access it at the time of writing.They also are able to import seeds from overseas (legally)into Australia so if they haven't got any they may be able to get some for you. Good luck with your search, C.N.
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
8 years ago
I'm curious, catkins, where is the MP tree located?
User thanked rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
User
Original Author
8 years ago
PNW USA
gardenprincethenetherlandsZ7/8
8 years ago
Araucaria araucana is normally dioecious (trees are either male or female) but sometimes a female tree can produce male cones. However, this does not happen very often so for all practical purposes you should expect that seeds from a stand alone specimen are not fertile.

Another thing to take into account is that seeds from Araucaria araucana do not store very well (this is called 'orthodox storage behaviour') and are best sown immediately after harvest. In Western Europe seeds are ripe in September/October but I do not know when they are ripe in the Pacific North West (USA).
User
8 years ago
I have some which germinated after a winter stratification and a summer warming period. Half a dozen fat MP sprouts are sitting in my nascent tree nursery along with a neat selection of pines, holm oak, sweet chestnuts, rowans and gingko. This growing trees from seed is surprisingly addictive and thrilling - I have over 100 or so now, filling me with future hope and present pride.
User
8 years ago
I bought fresh seeds (off ebay, no less) around October2014 and the seeds germinated around July, so I concuded that they were not going through hypogeal germination (like Paeonies) but needed the cold then warm cycle...but of course, as this is the first time I have sown MP, I could be quite wrong about this. Nonetheless, they are about 1.5 inches with around 70% germination (we got 14 little plants from 20 seeds). I also have gingko and several pines growing (from seeds from the same source - a chap in France, iirc).

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