Hello fellow Mirai members,
There are some Pinus Sylvestris (i think) tree’s at a park nearby. What do u guys think of this bark quality? Is it average? To me it looks like superb quality. I want to collect the seeds but the cones are out of reach, even with a 10m stick I wont be able to reach them. Any ideas? It seems like there are no seeds on the ground around the tree either?
EDIT: Okay nevermind, I’m retracting all my speculation about the species, haha. I have no idea.
That said, my only idea for getting seeds would be to fly a drone up and knock some cones off, or visit the tree after a major wind event.
How and when do you collect pine cones for the seeds?
A drone can be a really good idea!
About the species, there are really only 3 options since i live in The Netherlands.
- Sylvestris
- Mugo
- Nigra
About 95% of pine in my country region is Sylvestris.
About pine seeds collecting, you pluck the greenish/brownish cones in October (Northern Hemisphere) from the tree, let is dry on a tray in your house on a warm spot. Preferably on your house heater. After a few days they turn dark brown and a few days later they open and you find many seeds which can be used to grow bonsai
I found a another big old flaky Sylvestris as parent tree. Big big healthy cones within arm reach. Collected some.
Can’t wait to plant the seeds late winter/early spring.
Thanks. Well I’ll be off with the kids then looking for pine cones this weekend 
Nice!
Have fun 
Im also going to collect more at the end of Nov. Labelling all on collection date, to see which ones have a higher germination rate.
That is some extremely nice bark. I think I got confused about the species for a moment because we just don’t have any Sylvestris that old around here. A lot of people plant them as landscaping trees, but they’re all pretty small and still have the thin, papery bark. It’s really cool seeing them with the big plates.