Germinating Ginkgo Biloba
Answered by: Conrad Richter
Question from: Roger Grealy
Posted on: October 30, 2000

I live in Australia in the lower Blue Mountains west of Sydney. I am trying to germinate Gingko biloba seeds. It is just past the middle of a warm Spring. How long should they be stratified for? Temperature today is about 24 Celsius. Of course we have hot summers here. There has been a reasonable amount of rain here lately.

The current issue of Herblinx (No. 7, Sept.-Oct. 2000) has an article on Ginkgo biloba by Eleanor McDonald. Here is what she writes:

"Seeds planted in autumn will germinate in spring. Those that fail may develop the following year is left undisturbed. The embryo is immature, the seed must be cleaned of its thin outer coating. Germination is best achieved with l-2 months of warm stratification followed by l-2 months of cold stratification. The Chinese sow seeds in spring, mixed with sand and stored underground for stratification, with the sand not getting too wet, so as to avoid mildew. Stratified seed is then sown in rows and covered with 5cm of soil. Young seedlings do not like a lot of moisture, and should be protected from harsh sunlight for the first year of so. After growing for 7-8 years, the dormant seedling can then be placed in a permanent location."

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