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GERMINATION OF TREE SEED STORED IN A PARTIALLY AFTERRIPENED CONDITION
Basing on this finding new presowing treatments are proposed.
Beechnuts should be hydrated at 3°C to 28% and kept precisely at this water content and temperature without any medium for a time estimated with the help of a stratification test.
Afterwards they can be dehydrated to 10% and stored frozen over 12 weeks.
After sowing at constant temperatures in the range 3–20°C growth of a high percent of radicles starts immediately, the seeds germinating within 4 weeks.
Similarily pretreated beech seeds stored over one year are no longer viable.
Long-term stored beechnuts should therefore be rehydrated and afterripened by chilling without medium as shown above, and immediately sown.
They germinate well and energetically in laboratory and nursery conditions.
Mazzard cherry stones should be stratified /2 weeks at 20°C, afterwards at 3°C /until first single seeds begin to germinate.
They can be then dehydrated to 10% and stored cold for 48 weeks.
Only storage within the first 32 weeks is reasonable because of the still high germinative capacity.
Germination /radicles/ of so treated seeds starts at 3°C in the first 2–4 weeks after sowing.