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i need information on collecting jack pine cones also blue spruce cones/seeds

Started by alan cox, February 13, 2011, 08:12:49 PM

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alan cox

how do i get the seeds out of jack pine cones.        bake them.  burn them.    beat em up in a cement mixer.

do the seeds need the little wing on them after sorting them ??     I live in the middle of a zillion jack pines and have a call for jack pine seeds.

has anyone ever did this. harvest jack pine cones / seeds ???

alanj@coxx.com    I also need to get blue spruce seeds.        how hard is it to sprout these things.

i have farmed all my life so know its gotta be not too difficult.         cant find the information anywhere with out reading a zillion books.  want someone who has actually done this.


beenthere

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Sprucegum

That's an interesting website BT

I wonder what happens to that jackpine - flavored alcohol  ???  :)  :-X

SwampDonkey

Alan, they tumble dry them and the seeds fall through a screened drum and collected below. They are dewinged in the process of tumbling. Balsam fir wing has to be mechanically removed.

We have a provincial seed centre here and I've had seed cleaned from cones and catkins and stored there. Red spruce and yellow birch. They don't store large hardwood seed like maples and oaks because they don't keep as long as the smaller softwood and birch seed.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

estiers

I remember in my 6th grade class (in Northern Michigan), my teacher placed a jack pine cone on a hot plate and we waited and watched it open up.  This was coupled with a discussion about forest fires and the Kirtland warbler.  No help to you, but thanks for the stroll down memory lane.
Erin Stiers
State Plant Health Director - Minnesota
United States Department of Agriculture

alan cox

ok guys, have learned a lot from research on prices.  here a seed is a nickel.  no joke.   5 cents a seed. a seedling is  17cents.   did find that out.

also discovered that each  cone opens at a different temperature.  some need scorching to relax the pitch around the cone to let the fins open up.

each one is set to different temperature  needs.  the genetics of the jack pine are for fire release..  some cones need direct heat and flame and others are just like other cones and open naturally.

one guy said get a trained squirrel and put a tight collar around his neck so he can only fill his cheeks. have him on a long string. when his mouth is full . jerk him out of the  tree and  slap his face..

got a lot of good advice from some serious learned fellas .

i am from Luther mi.          exit 159 on us 131 .   directly across from green bay.

i was sixteen before i knew my name wasnt get wood.

went looking now that snow is kinda down for cones..   not lookin good.  going to ax my fellow timber guys who are processing some pine t olook for cones on trees.

think if i get there the day they  process them that I  can go through the brush or have them cut a tree and lay it there for me to pik.

sounds like a good way to get hurt.

really has me thinking about the squirrel trick.   

there has t obe some way  to get these cones.

SwampDonkey

If I were collecting I would do it in late fall for that season's cones and avoid old weathered ones. Ontario seed centre recommends this: "Older cones should be avoided (grey cones) because of low seed yields and viability.
When collecting Jack Pine, the characteristics to watch for are large, straight cones with no evidence of insect damage and are dark green or brown in colour."

This is their seed manual which has details on seed collecting:
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Forests/Publication/STEL02_179140.html

They sell it for $25 plus tax, which is a good deal considering the information your getting. I had a copy at work and I'm sure it's still at our local marketing board.

Apparently, jack pine cones can be processed as soon as collected and other conifers have to dry the pitch to crystal form before they can be extracted fully. They will open with 122F heat, don't need flames or scorching. Just need good old dry heat. They will also open in extreme cold -50 or colder. ;) Lower limbs with cones will open in summer at 80 degree radiant heat from sunlight reflecting heat from the ground, even slash in the hot summer sun will open older cones. I have jacks here and some of the cones will open from radiant heat. If you've ever thinned in softwood you'll find out just how hot the slash will get in the summer heat. Dang Hot.


Alan, are those seedling prices delivered? We always got them for 16 cents delivered. And that price has been the same for 20 years. Since I have not bought any for awhile I suspect they have gone up with fertilizer and fuel costs. I see Potash is going to be real high this season, production has been cut back some. That's what happens when someone holds almost a monopoly on it. Potash Corp.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

alan cox

we haver a potash plant here in hersey mi or close to reed city.  it is from wells that were drilled in  a pattern. they pump brine down one and pump it around and then suck it outl   process the potash and then pump it bak down again. a continuiing process.    this whole deal is kind of a scam. they leased the land for minerals and everyone thought it was going to be for gas and oil.
didnt know about potash. thatwasnt even in the price list. soooooooooooo farmers leased.
the potash company is from some other country. it leaves on semi trucks  and a bunch of t hem every day.  some bulk some saked.  and we cant buy a single sak here..  we have to go to saginaw  where it comes in on ships.. its crazy.

i dont feel to bad though. this well potash is 10 percent salt as i understand it.  they cant get all the salt out of it.   i wouldnt use that kind anyway if thats the facts.

I am going to look up that book and get it.  thank ou for that information.   its amazing how much and how many people have learned and are willing to share.

this is kind of a small project i have started
there are a bunch of old timers here that are my pals and we started thinking of things to do.     we live in a million acres of jack pines.

the other thing i am looking at is milk weed seeds.

how i got these ideas is i dated a woman i met on the internet.  she was a wild seed collector and made a LOT of money collecting seeds and selling them on the internet. and i mean a lot of money.

in her basement she had thousands of jars of every kind of seem imaginable and a computer.  took orders and put them in envelopes and mailed them

certain milkweed seeds were a dime .  can you imagine how many milkweed seedsthere are in a pod for a dime..
blows me away.

they plant them for the monarch butterfly.  tree huggers have lots of money i am thinking.     al

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