I'm always amazed when I think of how big of a tree one tiny seed can turn into.

Thanks for posting and keep us updated. 8^)

@ wayne

I ordered the seeds from treeseedonline.com, which is a store in the UK. But I guess that doesn't necessarily mean that the seeds are from a "British" Sequoia. I heard these trees there are not old enough yet to produce viable seeds. I may be wrong though.

Right - company location doesn’t mean seed source is from that country.

The two “big“ US-based tree seed companies, Sheffield’s and F.W. Schumacher, get seeds from all over the world.

I really hope that yellow coloring in the stem is not a sign that they're dying. I accidently left them outside when it was raining the other day. I quickly brought them in but the soil was wet by then...

Thanks for the update! :^)

Those should be able to take the moisture as long as there is good drainage in the soil.

I noticed with our cool season, the plants don't use much water so watering lasts longer.

What we need is some warm weather and sunshine to encourage the plants....and us! ;-).

And they keep growing, luckily. :)

Is that a heat register just below the plants? From the looks of them, they need cooler temperatures. That's why they are tall and sparse.

Yes, it is. But it doesn't get warmer than 20 degrees (celsius) here.

I thought it's time for an update. :) (Sequoiadendron giganteum)

(Sequoia sempervirens)

I also have a Metasequoia seedling which grows much faster than the Sequoias, imo.

Nice!

Is all this growth from window light? Or have they been getting direct sun part of the day?

They were outside most of the year. I only brought them in like 2 weeks ago.

Looking really good, time for them to be in the ground, have you found a piece of terra firma for them.

Well, that might be a problem, finding a suitable place for them that is. I'd gladly gift them away if I could be sure they'd get into good hands. But I have had some bad experiences before...

I guess I could just 'guerilla plant' them somewhere, haha. (But that's probably not a good idea either.)

That's pretty good growth for one season since seedling. If you had a friend of relative with acreage in the countryside, that might adopt them, I think zone would be good. What elevation are you at?

Hi Norbert, do you know about the famous Sequoiadendron giganteum at Insel Mainau, near Baden-Würtlemberg? HERE is the site. They have several large ones there. When I was there the island was owned by the brother of the Queen of Sweden, don't know about the ownership today.

Bill

I live in the lowlands of the country, so the elevation I'm at is around 100 - 110 meters. (328-360 ft)

sam_md

I didn't know about it before, but looking at the pictures now, I can say it's a fine specimen indeed. We have several pretty big Sequoias in Hungary too, but experts say they're doomed because the climate here is simply not good for them. One had to be cut down last year , which was about 124 feet tall.

How it looked,

and when it was taken down.

Time for that Villa in the mountains you've always wanted. ;-)

I would get those trees outside as soon as possible so they can adjust to Winter before it's too late. Keeping them inside during the Winter is a recipe for disaster. They can handle rain as long as the drainage is good, as Bill mentioned above.

So should I just place them outside? Because I still haven't found a place to plant them. Also, on the site I purchased the seeds from, they suggest growing them in container for at least 2 years.

**edit: I planted the two S. Giganteums tonight in a public space. (Felt like a ninja doing so, haha.) No powerlines or buildings nearby, it's a bit of a secluded place, a park area. I can only hope they'll survive the winter (it's still 44 degrees during the day and only drops to 36 in the night) and won't become victims of vandalism in the future.

I grew this Metasequoia from seed in Spring, 2014. Planted at my fathers house in Northeast Ohio. This was last week. It’s around 16’ tall.

Woah, that's some nice growth under 5 and half a year. It has a healthy looking structure as well. I'd love to see it fully flushed.

Here's one I planted 40 years ago. It's about 85 feet. I used a tape and the 45 degree triangular method.

So, Mike, does that mean you cosined for the tree. ;-)

tj

Dawn redwood in 2016 after 13 yrs. Alittle over 35 ft tall:

Sure did!

Sadly the Sequioa seedlings didn't survive the winter. I guess they were too young when I planted them. But I didn't give up ofc. Here's another tiny one. :)

I also try raising Ginkgos. (There are 9 of them actually but I didn't bother placing them together for a "group photo".) I hope at least some of them will be males, haha.

Thanks for the update Norbert.

I'm surprised in your zone Sequoia didn't survive.

It appears the Sequoia have squarish needles? Or maybe that's the cotyledons only.

Nice picture btw. :-)

It surprised me too, to be honest... We had an exceptionally warm winter - the coldest was around -10 celsius (14 degrees) for only a few days. So maybe it wasn't the cold that killed them off, who knows. And about the squarish needles, I think the cotyledons are usually looking like that for Sequoias (but I'm no expert).

It seems one of the Sequoia I planted in the park area in my village actually survived the winter. I kept watering it and there's some new growth on it. Yay!

The other one I posted a pic about a month ago is growing nicely too:

Interesting how sequoia has juvenile foliage like junipers.

Looks nice!

Thanks for the update Norbert. :-)

Norbert said that "We had an exceptionally warm winter - the coldest was around -10 celsius (14 degrees) for only a few days"

Norbert,

If you are in the U.S. equivalent of zone 7 then your Sequoia Giganteum should be fine. They are usually rated as cold hardy to USDA zone 6. From my own experience in northern Indiana, Sequoias are killed by by temps below -10°F. (About -23°C)

Sequoia sempervirons on the other hand are a lot more touchy. Zone 7 might be pushing it a bit.

Norbert,

There is something I’d like to share about all this. I live in northeastern Indiana in the U.S. on a borderline between zones 5 and 6. I have always loved redwoods. I knew that trying to raise Sequoia sempervirens here would be totally hopeless. But I thought maybe that I could have Sequoia giganteum. I have made no less that THREE attempts to do this.

About 25 years ago there was a scheme on the back of a cereal box that advertised “Grow your own Sequoias. They can live as far north as Milwaukee”. Or words to that effect. They were plugs that sold for one U.S. dollar each. So, I bit and sent for about a half dozen of them. When they arrived they were all dried up and looked completely dead. No hope but I put them in the ground anyways. Most actually were dead but to my surprise a couple of them greened up and grew. What really amazed me was how fast they grew! At the end of two growing seasons they were about 1-1½ meters tall!

But by the third season they suddenly died. I found out that there is fungus that attacks Sequoias outside of their native habitat. Someone told me to spray them with a certain fungicide. So, armed with this information, I ordered two more from a nursery in California. These specimens were much larger about ½ to ¾ of a meter when they arrived. I kept them sprayed and they grew very nicely for about 8 years. One of them was about 5-6 meters tall when, in the winter of 2014, we had it rough. It was about 30-35°C below zero with high winds for several days. They were toast. Deader than a door nail.

About three years ago I discovered that there are a couple of strains of Sequoia that are reputed to be more “cold hardy” known as “Hazel Smith” and “Idaho Endurance”. These supposedly CAN be grown in zone 5, or, so they claim. So I decided to try one more time. They are doing nicely *BUT* we have not had a winter like 2014 the last three years so they remain to be fully tested. If they die, I will give up and not try again.

Concerning your comment on the large Sequoia in Hungary that suddenly died, Sequoias in their native Sierra Nevada range can sometimes live to be nearly 3,000 years old. But outside of their native habitat, they rarely get very old – even in other parts of California. I remember seeing a huge tree at the Veteran’s home in the Napa Valley that suddenly died. So if a cultivated Sequoia lives to be over 100 years old, it’s doing well indeed. If they live to be over 200 years old, they’d be doing exceptionally well.

There are indeed some very large Sequoias in the U.K. which you probably know that are well over 150 years old.

Best Regards,

Fred M. Cain,

Topeka, IN

Hello Fred,

Thanks for your detailed response. I appreciate that you shared your experiences about growing Sequoias. I admit, it saddens me to hear they will most likely struggle outside of their natural habitat. I bet many people are like me, they get amazed by the growth potential and start dreaming that one day perhaps their seedlings will become some monumental giants. :)

Out of the two that I planted, one survived and it has fresh new growth now. I'll take a picture about it soon if I don't forget, haha. I planted a few Sempervirens as well that I grew from seed but had no luck, lost all of them. Currently I have nine S. Giganteums still growing in pots. I don't have a clue what I'm gonna do with them, probably gonna give them away or... I'll try to find a place for them somewhere. ;)

Regards,

Norbert

Norb,

I hear ya ! I am extremely fortunate – beyond just fortunate really – to live out in a semi-rural area on about seven acres so room is not problem for me.

I currently have three Sequoia “Idaho Endurance” giganteums growing and three “Hazel Smith”. A nice added touch on the Hazel Smith is that they tend to have beautiful blue-green needles.

The Sequoias are not the only exotic trees I’m raising here. I also have ponderosa pines, Douglas firs, white firs and a couple of experimental firs which, like the Sequoias, their future is somewhat of a question.

I also have some picea abies (Norway spruces) that I planted about 30 years ago and now they are HUGE! They get SO big that I’m not sure I’d do that again given the chance. I have read that picea abies has begun to naturalize in parts of the U.S. and Canada and some very strict environmentalists and ecologists don’t like that.

For me, I don’t care much. It seems like it’d be a nice tree to have in the environment *IF* there’s room for it. I guess they’re concerned about the crowding out of natural vegetation. They might have a point in a way. I’d give them that.

You needn’t be saddened about the Sequoias not living so long outside of their native habitat. With all the fear and anxiety over “global warming”, what the heck? Even if a Sequoia lives to be 150 years old then it has locked up quite a bit of CO2, nicht wahr?

-Fred M. Cain,

Topeka, Indiana