I thought I'd give growing ginkgo from seed a go and this is what happened... Enjoy! There's much more bonsai to see on my Instagram account: / bonsai_echo See you there!
I, too, have been at bonsai for a couple of decades. Ginkgoes are my favorite tree to work with (I have 26 varieties bonsai’d...is that a word?) and plant seeds every year. They are a huge challenge but well worth all their peccadillos.....in my opinion. Too late for you on this go ‘round but I have found it best to harvest the nut from the tree being careful not to touch the fleshy part (technically called the sarcotesta) with bare skin or clothing (the smell DOES persist). I double bag them in Ziploc freezer baggies to transport them home. Then I ferment them under water in a tightly sealing Ziploc plastic container for several days to loosen the flesh. When ready to clean the seeds, I pour off the fermentation water (I take it to the street drain), add new water and begin rubbing off the sarcotesta as best I can, placing the somewhat clean seed in another sealable Ziploc plastic container with clean water in it. The idea is to keep the fermented nuts and their clinging sarcotesta under water to help mitigate the smell. The flesh can then be disposed of and a lid put on the somewhat cleaned nuts. The nut container is then shaken vigorously enough to clean off clinging flesh but not so much that smelly solution leaks from the container and is flung about. Decant off the solution, add clean water and repeat as many times as you have to (usually takes me 3 or 4 times) until the seeds appear clean. These are then spread on paper towels to dry. Drying helps mitigate the smell, too. Once dried I handle the seed barehanded without olfactory fear. Since I do not have a seed bed, I store the seed in a breathable container either outdoors or in my refrigerator until spring. At which time I nick the seed coat with a concave branch cutter to allow water to more easily enter and imbibe the seed. Then directly plant into soil in a container for germination and growing on. Be aware that ginkgoes like to grow tall before branching so you may find it advantageous to give the seedling stems some movement before they harden off in the late summer. Once hardened off they do not take well to wiring, do not branch freely for years, have very delicate/thin bark and can have long distances between branch buds (functionally different than leaf buds but look exactly the same initially). Did I mention ginkgos are a challenge? For lots of entertaining, educational and wonderfully eclectic ginkgo info please look up Cor Kwant’s “The Ginkgo Pages” on the internet. It is simply the best.
Jeff, this is awesome! Exactly the type of value added interaction I hope for in the comments section! For those of you out there who come to the comments sections often, take note. This is what it looks like when a learning community is fostered. 🤝I am so glad to have you here, Jeff!
Oh, good. I thought maybe I got too invasive. I was going to add two more things but got worried with the invasiveness thing. Here they are... I think you would be well~served to devise a cover for your bed as the squirrels and birds here cleaned me out one year here in Bellingham. They will leave no seed uneaten. How about a pvc frame with row cover attached? Secondly, nuts that are cleaned, pan fried in a little oil until they pop, de-shelled and lightly salted are like no other delicious nut you have ever eaten. Just don’t over-endulge.
Terrific! I am noodling around episode number eleven of Bonsai Echo. I really like these. Informative, entertaining, educational all presented with your intelligent and easy manner. Well done.
No seeds sprouted better. I had 4 show leaves, 2 died right away. Only one remains and looks almost like it did when it first came up. Maybe I’ll try again another year.
@@BonsaiEcho If you want to germinate again, I would advise you to first prostratify them (mix the seeds with sawdust, pour a little water so that everything is moist. Then put it in a dark, cold place (+5 ° C) until spring). Then in the spring, in February-April, plant them in small cups. And only after all this, when the seedling is ± 15 centimeters tall, plant it in the open ground. Only in this case you will have a very high percentage of germination. (Sorry if something is not clear. I am from Russia myself, so I translated it all with the help of an interpreter).
I collected some seeds last fall and left them in a fridge without the flesh all winter since the chilling is required to germinate. It took a few weeks after planting, but I finally got some germination :) Good luck, hopefully you can get some germination.
Germination doesn’t look likely for me this go around. We had a mild winter. Only short term freezes. I may try again another year. Just with nose plugs.
Yep, I’m growing two seeds/nuts I got from Sequoia Trees tree growing kits. Right now they’re in fridge for about 20 days, I wouldn’t leave them any longer since I did soak in hot water beforehand. 👍
@@BonsaiEcho yes, I’m very relieved the seeds or nuts I ordered didn’t smell like rancid milk or butter haha. It might be an evolution trait to attract scavengers to come eat the seeds and fruits.
The result is the process was totally not worth the trouble since I only got one to survive long enough to make it to bonsai life and that one is still really tiny since it grows so slow and I put it in a tiny pot and yes, I certainly am going to go through the whole fiasco again this fall in just a few weeks in fact and I probably won’t get around to posting a video to show everyone… or will I?…🤔…
To be honest, I have smelled more pungent fragrances, but never on purpose. The really interesting thing about this experience is that it is not persistent. It’s more like little surprises every now and then while working... rancid butter scented surprises.
I've done landscape maintenance for over a decade. I mistook a Hotel resident once for a homeless person, she was looking at the ground. She was actually just reaping the benefits of a female gingko during the couple days she was staying at that Extended Stay America.
@@BonsaiEcho she was actually going to plant them. She also took some moss for propagating. Although I have seen group of older Asian people, harvesting around the Sac State area. I asked and they make smoothies for memory. There is also a chance they were just pulling my leg.
Does the odor get on the clothing? I don't know what bad butter smells like. I'm in Canada and a little tree cost an arm and a leg; now I see why. I do appreciate you doing the video. Thank you so much
They stink terribly but they are such interesting trees which are well worth the wait. These germinate really well if you plant them the way you have done
Most of my research describes a process with several extra steps. There’s barely a mention of just tossing them on the ground and letting nature do its thing. I’m giving nature a shot.
Four sprouted. I collected a small amount of ginkgo nuts last fall to try some more. I froze them for a couple of months this time. Will be scarifying and then planting in seed trays in the next couple of weeks. No video expected this time.
Hi, I'm curious to know if any of these sprout since I know the location of a couple of female trees (rare as rocking horse $hit in the UK). As I understand, the reason for the awful smell is that the tree is a prehistoric species predating the rise of mammals, hence its fruit is more appetising to reptilian life.
9 out of 10 dinosaurs recommend ginkgo nuts. 🦕 I don’t recommend them at all🤢! None sprouted yet though. I expect it’ll be several more months before any would show up.
I put all I collected in these beds. This is the only female ginkgo I know of that isn’t in someone’s private property. You can find my contact info on my website and I’ll gladly give you the details. www.bonsaiecho.com/
They are somewhat satisfying to pop out of the flesh. That’s how I did them this year too. The tree hadn’t dropped many though, so we only got a small quantity. Still just as stinky as I remember them.
@@BonsaiEcho I am about to try stratifying some so that a couple of my children can grow them. Definitely a mix of instructions out there! Are you growing them from this year? If you are, I would not soak them as you did the first time, but put the cleaned seeds in a yogurt container covered with damp sand or peat moss or what have you, for three to five months before you take them out. When you do, I think the consensus is to plant them in little pots first to allow them to germinate in warmth and when they are two years old, then put them where you want them to grow in the soil. Good luck to us both. Your son is great btw! Brave and direct! Good parenting!
@@BonsaiEcho My Japanese’s neighbor taught me how to prepare them to eat . We gathered a bunch from my tree, buried them mixed up in dirt in a five gallon pail, retrieved them and then washed them in another bucket. She also scraped them to remove the outside which I found quite messy. Later I collected more from my tree and just popped the seeds out right away leaving the yellow squishy stuff under the tree. It was so so so much faster and easier. We washed them twice or three times, let them dry a bit, picked out the ones we wanted to plant and , in a hot frying pan shaking them as they heated, toasted the rest for a minute until the inside turned a brilliant green. Too much heat dries them out. To me they taste like Edamame Beans.
I like growing things from seed, but I decided to buy a small plant rather than seeds. My dog might have liked the smell but I doubt that I would! Apparently the smell is a bit like vomit...🤮🤮🤮
By the way, it's very cool that you and your son work together.✊
I, too, have been at bonsai for a couple of decades. Ginkgoes are my favorite tree to work with (I have 26 varieties bonsai’d...is that a word?) and plant seeds every year. They are a huge challenge but well worth all their peccadillos.....in my opinion.
Too late for you on this go ‘round but I have found it best to harvest the nut from the tree being careful not to touch the fleshy part (technically called the sarcotesta) with bare skin or clothing (the smell DOES persist). I double bag them in Ziploc freezer baggies to transport them home. Then I ferment them under water in a tightly sealing Ziploc plastic container for several days to loosen the flesh. When ready to clean the seeds, I pour off the fermentation water (I take it to the street drain), add new water and begin rubbing off the sarcotesta as best I can, placing the somewhat clean seed in another sealable Ziploc plastic container with clean water in it. The idea is to keep the fermented nuts and their clinging sarcotesta under water to help mitigate the smell. The flesh can then be disposed of and a lid put on the somewhat cleaned nuts. The nut container is then shaken vigorously enough to clean off clinging flesh but not so much that smelly solution leaks from the container and is flung about. Decant off the solution, add clean water and repeat as many times as you have to (usually takes me 3 or 4 times) until the seeds appear clean. These are then spread on paper towels to dry. Drying helps mitigate the smell, too. Once dried I handle the seed barehanded without olfactory fear.
Since I do not have a seed bed, I store the seed in a breathable container either outdoors or in my refrigerator until spring. At which time I nick the seed coat with a concave branch cutter to allow water to more easily enter and imbibe the seed. Then directly plant into soil in a container for germination and growing on. Be aware that ginkgoes like to grow tall before branching so you may find it advantageous to give the seedling stems some movement before they harden off in the late summer. Once hardened off they do not take well to wiring, do not branch freely for years, have very delicate/thin bark and can have long distances between branch buds (functionally different than leaf buds but look exactly the same initially).
Did I mention ginkgos are a challenge?
For lots of entertaining, educational and wonderfully eclectic ginkgo info please look up Cor Kwant’s “The Ginkgo Pages” on the internet. It is simply the best.
Jeff, this is awesome! Exactly the type of value added interaction I hope for in the comments section!
For those of you out there who come to the comments sections often, take note. This is what it looks like when a learning community is fostered.
🤝I am so glad to have you here, Jeff!
Oh, good. I thought maybe I got too invasive. I was going to add two more things but got worried with the invasiveness thing. Here they are...
I think you would be well~served to devise a cover for your bed as the squirrels and birds here cleaned me out one year here in Bellingham. They will leave no seed uneaten. How about a pvc frame with row cover attached?
Secondly, nuts that are cleaned, pan fried in a little oil until they pop, de-shelled and lightly salted are like no other delicious nut you have ever eaten. Just don’t over-endulge.
Jeff Dodson I’m noodling around a cover right now. 👍🏼
Terrific! I am noodling around episode number eleven of Bonsai Echo. I really like these. Informative, entertaining, educational all presented with your intelligent and easy manner. Well done.
What percentage of germination was?)
This will go down as one of those . . . “Dad, remember when we . . .” times!
For shore😁
Hello! Could you record a video about which seeds sprouted better?
No seeds sprouted better. I had 4 show leaves, 2 died right away. Only one remains and looks almost like it did when it first came up. Maybe I’ll try again another year.
@@BonsaiEcho If you want to germinate again, I would advise you to first prostratify them (mix the seeds with sawdust, pour a little water so that everything is moist. Then put it in a dark, cold place (+5 ° C) until spring). Then in the spring, in February-April, plant them in small cups. And only after all this, when the seedling is ± 15 centimeters tall, plant it in the open ground. Only in this case you will have a very high percentage of germination. (Sorry if something is not clear. I am from Russia myself, so I translated it all with the help of an interpreter).
@@sammangam exactly, they have to be stratified. I think he also drowned them by keeping them in water for so very long.
Looking forward for an update. I actually kinda like the smell, reminds me of a Feta cheese paired with fresh tart Sauvignon Blanc :)
It does have notes of cheese and fermented grapes 🤣
I collected some seeds last fall and left them in a fridge without the flesh all winter since the chilling is required to germinate. It took a few weeks after planting, but I finally got some germination :)
Good luck, hopefully you can get some germination.
Germination doesn’t look likely for me this go around. We had a mild winter. Only short term freezes. I may try again another year. Just with nose plugs.
just got my first ginkgo in spring, super exciting
Have fun! I love those ginkgo leaves.
Yep, I’m growing two seeds/nuts I got from Sequoia Trees tree growing kits. Right now they’re in fridge for about 20 days, I wouldn’t leave them any longer since I did soak in hot water beforehand. 👍
It’s fun to mess with seeds sometimes. Especially when they don’t stink as much as ginkgo.
@@BonsaiEcho yes, I’m very relieved the seeds or nuts I ordered didn’t smell like rancid milk or butter haha. It might be an evolution trait to attract scavengers to come eat the seeds and fruits.
Just found this video and tried in vain to find a follow up, is there an update? or can you tell me the result please
The result is the process was totally not worth the trouble since I only got one to survive long enough to make it to bonsai life and that one is still really tiny since it grows so slow and I put it in a tiny pot and yes, I certainly am going to go through the whole fiasco again this fall in just a few weeks in fact and I probably won’t get around to posting a video to show everyone… or will I?…🤔…
I’ve smelt some bad things in my time, but never these. Hopefully they all sprout for you.
To be honest, I have smelled more pungent fragrances, but never on purpose. The really interesting thing about this experience is that it is not persistent. It’s more like little surprises every now and then while working... rancid butter scented surprises.
@@BonsaiEchoI collect ginkgo seeds and it smell like sour milk
I've done landscape maintenance for over a decade. I mistook a Hotel resident once for a homeless person, she was looking at the ground. She was actually just reaping the benefits of a female gingko during the couple days she was staying at that Extended Stay America.
Hah!🤣
Some people do enjoy roasting the nuts for a treat.
@@BonsaiEcho she was actually going to plant them. She also took some moss for propagating. Although I have seen group of older Asian people, harvesting around the Sac State area. I asked and they make smoothies for memory. There is also a chance they were just pulling my leg.
I think its easier to grow ginkgo from cuttings. But I also planted some seeds a few weeks ago. Wonder what'll come out of them.
I’ll also do some cuttings in 2020. Good luck with your seeds!
How the ginkos are, when a year has past?
Let us know, show them please, thank you!!
No more ginkgo. I planted some other types of tree seedlings with them and the ginkgo were not able to compete.
Hi im dewi from indonesia🙋
Wow thats nice .. i love to plant too and now im trying to planting ginkgo seeds
I wish you the best with the ginkgo!
Does the odor get on the clothing? I don't know what bad butter smells like. I'm in Canada and a little tree cost an arm and a leg; now I see why.
I do appreciate you doing the video. Thank you so much
The odor gets on everything. Then, it stays. My truck bed smelled bad for a week. 🇺🇸 🙏 🇨🇦
The fleshy stink thing around the Ginkgo nut is called Ginkgo fruit, and can be eaten. But so can kimchi.
And so can the nut. Apparently roasted ginkgo nuts are quite appreciated by some.
Haha....that was a good laugh...Now I know to never try that. Off topic...what were the red shoes you were wearing? Altras?
Lems
They stink terribly but they are such interesting trees which are well worth the wait.
These germinate really well if you plant them the way you have done
Most of my research describes a process with several extra steps. There’s barely a mention of just tossing them on the ground and letting nature do its thing. I’m giving nature a shot.
@@BonsaiEcho best method for ginko
Did they sprout?
Four sprouted. I collected a small amount of ginkgo nuts last fall to try some more. I froze them for a couple of months this time. Will be scarifying and then planting in seed trays in the next couple of weeks. No video expected this time.
I have a guesstimate of probably 15,000 seeds, that I collected. There is no way I can plant them all. How can I store the remaining seeds?
Try plastic bag with sawdust or something and freeze?
Hi, I'm curious to know if any of these sprout since I know the location of a couple of female trees (rare as rocking horse $hit in the UK). As I understand, the reason for the awful smell is that the tree is a prehistoric species predating the rise of mammals, hence its fruit is more appetising to reptilian life.
9 out of 10 dinosaurs recommend ginkgo nuts. 🦕
I don’t recommend them at all🤢!
None sprouted yet though. I expect it’ll be several more months before any would show up.
Could you please update? Did you get any growth?
No growth yet. If I don’t see anything by the end of May then I don’t expect they’ll be coming up.
Hello any sprout ?
Do you have any extra? I live in seattle and dont know where the nearest gingko is
I put all I collected in these beds. This is the only female ginkgo I know of that isn’t in someone’s private property. You can find my contact info on my website and I’ll gladly give you the details.
www.bonsaiecho.com/
You don’t have to scrape them, just squeeze them and the seed pops out… a lot less messy and fat less stinky!
They are somewhat satisfying to pop out of the flesh. That’s how I did them this year too. The tree hadn’t dropped many though, so we only got a small quantity. Still just as stinky as I remember them.
@@BonsaiEcho I am about to try stratifying some so that a couple of my children can grow them. Definitely a mix of instructions out there! Are you growing them from this year?
If you are, I would not soak them as you did the first time, but put the cleaned seeds in a yogurt container covered with damp sand or peat moss or what have you, for three to five months before you take them out. When you do, I think the consensus is to plant them in little pots first to allow them to germinate in warmth and when they are two years old, then put them where you want them to grow in the soil.
Good luck to us both. Your son is great btw! Brave and direct! Good parenting!
they smell like dog doo doo and vomit. But the leaves are absolutely beautiful
They smells bad, but it tastes so good.
tastes so good, is it edible? I thought this is for planting Ginko
The ginkgo nuts are cleaned and roasted. I haven’t tried it, but it has been done for centuries so there must be something to it…
@@BonsaiEcho My Japanese’s neighbor taught me how to prepare them to eat .
We gathered a bunch from my tree, buried them mixed up in dirt in a five gallon pail, retrieved them and then washed them in another bucket. She also scraped them to remove the outside which I found quite messy. Later I collected more from my tree and just popped the seeds out right away leaving the yellow squishy stuff under the tree. It was so so so much faster and easier.
We washed them twice or three times, let them dry a bit, picked out the ones we wanted to plant and , in a hot frying pan shaking them as they heated, toasted the rest for a minute until the inside turned a brilliant green. Too much heat dries them out. To me they taste like Edamame Beans.
How long is ""for a while" ?
I haven’t looked at this video for a while. Which part are you talking about?
Did any germinate yet?
Still waiting. The maple seeds I did are sprouting now though.
May i know the soil mix use for seeding ?
For these seed beds I used commercial potting soil mixed with the fines from sifted bonsai soil (pumice and bark mainly).
@@BonsaiEcho Thanks a lot. i will try..
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How’s ur ginko? Is it sucess
4 sprouted a month ago. I am leaving the seeds in the ground in case more will sprout next year.
Bonsai Echo thank u, I just found out my mother in law got ginko trees and the seeds now all over the ground, might as well try like u did
@@BonsaiEcho that is long time more than one year😐😐😐
Indeed.
I like growing things from seed, but I decided to buy a small plant rather than seeds. My dog might have liked the smell but I doubt that I would!
Apparently the smell is a bit like vomit...🤮🤮🤮
Very much so.
Can you do a follow up video?
How many sprouted?