Content
Linden is a presentable tree, unpretentious in care, undemanding to cultivation conditions. In addition, it is actively used in folk medicine, and during flowering it successfully attracts pollinating insects to the site. It is possible to grow a linden tree from seeds, but you must immediately take into account that this is a long process that requires following a sequence of actions. And even without violations of the algorithm, success is not guaranteed.
Is it possible to grow linden from seeds?
It takes 10-12 years to grow small linden trees from seeds. Seedlings develop quite slowly. And the first flowering of trees after transplanting to a permanent place often has to wait up to 20 years.
Therefore, this method of propagation is not popular among amateur gardeners; they prefer faster vegetative methods. Growing a tree from seeds is the prerogative of professional breeders who want to create a new variety or pursue other experimental goals.
What do linden seeds look like?
It is obvious from the photo that the linden seeds resemble a very sparse bunch of rowan berries with a wing on top.They are relatively small (3-4 mm in diameter), round, with pointed tips and a slightly rough surface.
As it ripens, the shade of the dense shell changes from bright green to yellowish-beige and brown-black.
When to collect linden seeds
Those who want to grow linden from seeds do not need to wait for them to fully ripen. They can be collected throughout the summer almost until the end of the growing season - from the moment the shell begins to change color from green to yellowish until mid-autumn.
The experience of those who tried to grow linden from seeds indicates that the degree of their maturity has little effect on germination
How to plant linden seeds at home
To germinate linden seeds at home, it is necessary to properly prepare the planting material. The crop does not have any special requirements regarding the quality of the substrate; planting also follows a standard algorithm.
Stratification of linden seeds
It will not be possible to grow linden from seeds without stratification. And so the low germination rate of planting material drops to almost zero. In nature, linden seeds often survive not one, but two winters before they germinate.
Stratification before trying to grow seedlings involves treating them with cold. Planting material is mixed with moderately moistened peat, sand, sawdust, the container is placed in a plastic bag, several holes are made in it for ventilation and put in the refrigerator. Any other dark place with a constant temperature of 2-4 °C will do.
The duration of stratification is 3-4 months.Some gardeners who want to guarantee the growth of seedlings extend it to six months or even 8-10 months, but this does not greatly improve the germination rate.
During stratification, the outer shell softens slightly, which increases the chances of germination of planting material
Soil preparation
In nature, linden does not make any special demands on the quality of the substrate; it successfully takes root even in poor soil. However, in order to grow seedlings from seeds, it is better to take better quality soil.
The main criteria that the substrate must meet are a combination of looseness with average fertility and a neutral or close to it pH. Universal soil for seedlings is quite suitable for sowing. However, you can grow seedlings in homemade soil. Take in approximately equal proportions:
- ordinary garden soil;
- fertile high turf (top 10-15 cm of soil);
- humus or finished compost;
- coarse river sand or peat chips.
Excessively fatty nutrient soil will not help to grow linden from seeds; moreover, air exchange in it is severely affected
Before pouring homemade soil into containers where you plan to grow linden from seeds, it must be disinfected in any way. The simplest methods:
- freezing on the balcony in winter;
- exposure to high temperatures;
- treatment with a solution of a purchased fungicide or folk remedy with antiseptic properties.
Sowing linden seeds
To grow linden, seeds are sown at home from the beginning until about the 20th of March. The sowing procedure is standard:
- Fill plastic or peat cups about 2/3 full with soil, placing a little of any drainage material on the bottom. Containers, like the soil, must first be disinfected.
- It is good to spill the soil with water and let it soak.
- Plant linden seeds to a depth of approximately 1 cm.
- Fill with soil, gently compact, water again, but this time moderately.
- Ensure the greenhouse effect by covering the containers with glass, cling film, transparent plastic, or placing them in a home mini-greenhouse.
The seeds are quite large, so you can immediately plant them in separate containers
Seedling care
To grow linden from seeds, after sowing and before germination, they need to provide the following conditions:
- lack of light;
- constant temperature 24-26 °C;
- air humidity is about 70-80%;
- daily ventilation for 7-10 minutes.
The first shoots appear after 12-15 days, immediately after this the shelter is removed, the containers are transferred to light, and the temperature is reduced by 2-3 °C. In order to grow linden from seeds, access to fresh air is very important. But at the same time, seedlings need to be protected from cold drafts.
When trying to grow linden from seeds, you need to take into account that they germinate unevenly
Over the next 2-3 years, the seedlings are kept at home. Plants develop rather slowly. Caring for them will not take much time and effort from gardeners trying to grow linden from seeds.It is limited to regular watering as the surface layer of soil dries out, carefully loosening the soil and applying special fertilizers for seedlings or humate-based fertilizers every 4-6 weeks. You can alternate them with biostimulants, immunomodulators, root growth activators, and other drugs that stimulate plant development.
For irrigation, use water heated to room temperature and pre-settled for at least a day. If it regularly gets on the plants themselves, it will most likely not be possible to grow linden from seeds. This significantly increases the risk of rot development.
Fertilizing is carried out exclusively by root feeding. The fertilizer solution is watered onto well-moistened soil. When trying to grow it from seeds, linden develops quite slowly, but intensifying the process by reducing the intervals between feedings or increasing the concentration of the product in the solution is a very bad idea.
Transplanting seedlings to a permanent place
To grow an adult linden tree, seedlings are transplanted to a permanent place in late spring or early summer, 2-3 years after sowing the seeds. It is necessary to wait until the weather becomes steadily warm and the risk of return frosts is minimized.
In 2-3 years, seedlings from seeds stretch approximately 25-30 cm. Transplantation is carried out exclusively by transshipment - the linden roots are quite long, but at the same time weak and fragile. If they are damaged in the process, most likely it will not be possible to grow a tree from seeds - it will not recover from the injuries.
The planting hole is prepared approximately 7-10 days before planting, filling it with a mixture of fertile soil and fertilizers. The dimensions should be sufficient to accommodate a lump of soil from the container. Choose an area that is well lit, but not completely open. If a linden seedling is exposed to direct sunlight for most of the day, it will most likely not be possible to grow an adult tree.
The planting procedure itself is standard: water well and loosen the soil at the bottom of the hole, make a depression of the required size, place the plant there with a ball of earth on the roots, fill the hole with soil, deepening the seedling to the previous level, and carefully compact the soil.
At the end of the planting procedure, the linden tree is watered and the trunk circle is mulched.
Conclusion
Those who want to grow linden from seeds should immediately understand that this process is a kind of lottery. Planting material does not have good germination, even if the necessary preparation is carried out correctly. In the future, the seedlings do not require complex care; transplantation of linden trees that were grown from seeds to a permanent place follows a standard algorithm.
