Magnolia tree

[JudyA]

One of the things I say I need to agree to stay here is an old fashioned Magnolia tree.

My husband just brought me two 'cones' with seeds from this year. The red seeds are gorgeous.

What do I need to do to get them to grow? I know that's not a practical way to get a big magnolia tree, but we want to grow some anyway.

There is a huge, beautiful tree in town that I keep my eye on. They know that if it disappears in the night, I'm probably responsible.

[Jay Blair]

JudyAnn,

My grandmother always advised to propagate magnolia from cuttings rather than seeds because a seed propagated magnolia while maturing and having the waxy leaves could take up to 15 years to bloom.

She did start some seed propagations though, and I remember her storing them in the fridge to stratify for a while and prevent them from drying out before processing the seed for planting.

A web search yielded me these sites with propagation information that may be of use to you.

home.att.net/~SpanishMoss/pods.html

aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/magnolia.html


www.treehelp.com/howto/howto-grow-a-tree-from-seed.asp

Hope this is of help. Do you think we should start a gardening board here too or just keep using the patio lounge?

[JudyA]

Thank you. The seeds are so beautiful!

About a gardening category: I would 'survey' the board and if we get many more gardening questions (like 10-15), yes. But, I'm happy at present keeping it in the conversation department. However, I am not the last word and if some of the users have pressing gardening questions or information to share, don't wait. Another use, (I am typing and composing at once) for a gardening category would be castings use experience or questions.

[Jay Blair]

Yes, I agree that if we get enough gardening questions a board survey is the way to go.

I am actually using the board group at www.homesteadingtoday.com as the model for this board.

It is a modern homesteading / self relent lifestyles forum group that I chose to host my single homesteaders group at due to the high volume of visitors to the site group and its high rating in the various search engines.

While worms and vermicompost are a major component of agricultural applications related to the self reliance lifestyle, interest survey there has not been sufficient to justify my acquiring a board on that site yet.

I am however utilizing the search engine priority of the HomesteadingToday site to position this site to our best advantage.

So if you have gardening and plant propagation questions please check out the board there at

www.homesteadingtoday.com to get to the main directory and in the third category down there is the gardening and plant propagation forum.

or you can go direct to the board at

homesteadingtoday.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=19

There are many certified Master Gardeners in our group there.

[JudyA]

Clarification: By survey, I didn't mean you had to poll the users or have a democratic decision. A 'survey' to note the use.

I asked that question because I don't know people in many different dirt locations on the Internet.

Thanks for the url and your grandma's experiences.