white pine seddlings from pine cones.

[ihookem]

I picked up about 30 white pine cones today. I think they are ready to pop their seeds. I was wondering if anyone had any success taking seeds out of the cones and growing white pines. Any help would be nice.

[OldSchoolRanger]

Not sure, if I remember correctly, but I saw a show on TV once that said, pine tree cones require heat (usually from a forest fire) to germinate.  I believe it was one of those nature show episodes on the Walt Disney show, when it was on Sunday nights.

I could be wrong.

[Graybeard]

Some do most don't I think. A huge number of pine seedlings are planted every year and do fine. I don't think all of them are subjected to great heat before sprouting.

[bilmac]

Some pines like lodgepole pine have a certain number of cones that don't normally open and drop their seeds until they have been heated. This is an adaptation that puts lots of seeds on the ground after a forest fire. God made lodgepole forests to all burn to the ground every few hundred years and then all start growing up together again like a lawn. Most other forests are adapted to be uneven aged and even multiple species.

Most pine cones will open up eventually usually within a year if you just let it age. I would put your cones in a box and tuck it away somewhere. When it is opening up, beat it up some and more seed will get knocked loose.   

[blackpowderbill]

I have a couple of big white pines  in my yard. They shed cones at a rate faster than I can keep them picked up. Anyway the seeds sprout on their own in prodigious quantities. In the spring time I have more tiny pine trees in my grass that dandilions.