Im looking for feedback on something ive been developing for a couple years.
What are the reasons most people plant seedlings and not direct seed trees?
How many seeds would you plant to get one tree to survive?
Would a product that 4x the chance of getting directly seeded trees to germinate be a product that would interest you?
I know this is the fruit tree secion but this item would be effective for any type of tree seeds.
Thanks for any feedback or thoughts.
I grow A LOT of trees from seed each year. I technically plant way more seeds in the field than seedlings grown in a more controlled environment, but I prefer to grow them in containers first before transplanting them. I'll explain my reasoning.
1. I live several hours away from my farms, and I mostly grow trees indoors as a cabin fever type of winter project. I grow 150-200 trees/plants indoors each winter/spring. I also have air-pruning trays/boxes and a Missouri gravel bed that is off-site. I recognize that direct seeding is much faster, but it has its limitations.
2. Because of the distance, keeping an eye on direct seeded trees is not feasible. So I mostly use tree tubes or cages for protecting the seeds or seedlings.
3. I would rather spend the limited time I have planting tree seedlings that are more likely to take than playing a numbers game with direct seeding. I occasionally direct seed into extra tree tubes or cages if I have them, but is almost the same time it takes to plant a seedling that is a few months older.
4. Planting seedlings helps me keep track of what works and what doesn't. I don't want to spend time making tags for seeds if only a small percentage are going to work. By planting fewer and larger seedling trees, I can shorten the time it takes to learn what works and what doesn't.
The majority of the planting I do is actually unprotected nut/acorn planting in the early or late winter. These are generally with leftover seed that I don't need or things that I collected myself. It works fairly well, but the deer numbers mean very few seedlings make it.
