Sequoia, coastal redwood, and metasequoia cones don't require fire to open. The cones open just fine in my dry sunny windowsill, and the seeds are fertile without heat treatment. The real reason fire helps these trees spread is that fire removes ground cover and more shade tolerant (typically less fire tolerant) trees that would otherwise prevent saplings from ever taking a hold.
This is correct, and likely a reason why the misconception started and still continues. The seeds don't need fire to open, but the species does need fire in a sense; it evolved to fill a fire-tolerant niche that in many places no longer exists, and may be outcompeted in the future as a result. Was debating posting a comment to this effect at some point but you put it very succinctly so thank you!
I agree most of the stuff they say is BS like they are fire resistant. sure the massive trees are sorta fire resistant due to their thick bark, but a tree under 300 years old will burn up just like any tree
Just to add i bought them off amazon shipped from the jonsteen company and they shipped quick and arrived healthy. Great company and both are a good options, i also agree with supporting the museums. Great video!
Considering it's January right now and frozen up north, I'm going to have to keep it in a pot for a little while. Is there a certain soil I should buy for it or just use the outside soil if it supports it with some fertilizer? And then poke tiny holes in the bottom of the container so it can drain
I bought a Giant Sequoia just under 2 years ago and planted it right in the ground. In less than 2 years it grew almost 8’ feet tall and at the same time I got a Redwood and it grew over 12’ feet tall. But I do live in California in the Bay Area. I had to dig the trees out and put them in pots , they are awesome trees. Good luck with your , Cheers
Mike, the Coastal Redwood will probably do better than the Giant Sequoia as the Bay Area is in it's native range. The Giant Sequoia needs cold winters (snow) in order to maintain it's disease resistance, growth habit, etc. Both of those trees are growing much faster than they would in a forest, so while they may be gratifying to look at now, so when they get big enough to be a problem to remove they will have weak wood- i.e. their growth rings will be much wider than their parent trees. If you want to make them strong you have to limit their sunlight so they have time to grow properly.
The Coastal Redwood will probably do better than the Giant Sequoia as the Bay Area is in it's native range. The Giant Sequoia needs cold winters (snow) in order to maintain it's disease resistance, growth habit, etc. Both of those trees are growing much faster than they would in a forest, so while they may be gratifying to look at now, so when they get big enough to be a problem to remove they will have weak wood- i.e. their growth rings will be much wider than their parent trees. If you want to make them strong you have to limit their sunlight so they have time to grow properly.
My sister has a 2 meter sequoia planted in her weekend home in the countryside in Southern Brazil. Surprisingly and against all odds the sequoia is thriving well.
I am on a mission.. To help spread these beautiful giants throughout the globe.! "Or as much as possible!" Thank you for doing your part! I think it would be quite the site, to see thousands of Sequoias, standing tall, a thousand years from now..! 🙏😊
I bought some of these when i was traveling to Washington. Took a little detour to California to see the redwoods. I bought 2 sequoias and two redwoods. They all lived through my whole trip up the West coast and into Washington, i was there for 2 weeks before heading back home. They were alive and actually beginning to grow. I got home and it took my mom about a week to kill all 4 of them. It was depressing.
Giant sequoias are growing pretty well also in Bulgaria and allover the world, so I think that your example have ultimate chances to grow high and strong like the trees in California, or just hope so.
I had a nursery grown 6 year old Giant Sequoia shipped to me from CA 3 summers ago. I'm in Wisconsin...it's still alive and grows astonishingly fast. Though in winter since I never put a greenhouse on it, it goes all brown, then comes back hard every summer. It's awesome.
@@lifesagardenyadigit it's up under my name under Giant Sequoia in WI title. Grown in small pot at nursery, so it's 2nd summer the roots really opened up and it quadrupled it's trunk size. That was last summer...this summer it's growth is kinda slow. The white pipe is the Air Conditioner water dump that I routed to constantly water it haha.
You'll probably have a better time of it than I did. I planted mine much too late in the year and it didn't have time to acclimate. The fact that you planted it now should give it it's best chance. That said, don't be too bummed if it dies... tree saplings are fragile things that often just don't have the strength to adapt to their environment, especially one they are not native to.
@@Stdagger Yeah I’m not sure how well it will do in in my area, since we get lots of snow and cold winters. Planning on keeping it inside for the first winter then planting in the ground next spring if it makes it that far
Sequoias in New York would be really cool. I just picked up a 15 pack of Giant Sequoias. Going to plant them on my property that burned to the ground last year. Yeah....California. Sierra Nevadas.
Giant sequioas don't have serotinous cones, just pick one up off the ground and all the seeds will fall out. Try it! They are however very resistant to fire which gives them a strong advantage
Unfortunately, it didn't survive the year. It was particularly hot and humid well into the fall that year, so it had no time to get established before winter. I recommend planting in the spring or starting from seed, though personally I'm going to focus more on native species myself anyway. Single saplings are always a significant risk of failure, and paradoxically the more attention you give a plant the worse it does it seems.
what a little lovely. there's a video from a guy from the netherlands raising his seqoia from seed for 14 years. be sure to check it out. his tips. add mulch plenty of water and add a little compost or worm castings in the fall
Just make sure if you plant these huge trees in the ground that there’s at least 50’ of clearance around the base of the tree. No power lines above and nothing underground beneath. There’s a coastal redwood above loon lake Oregon that’s about 110 years old and it is about 10’-12’ at the base and is overtaking the road it was planted by. We drive around it currently. In 50 more years the road will need rerouted. I’m planning to plant one in memory of a friend who passed last year and then nearby place a grave stone type of monument mentioning the tree being planted in his memory by his wife. A couple hundred years from now I hope it becomes the centerpiece of a park??? My hope anyway.😊
Good question! I can't say for sure but my guess is that they would be a suboptimal choice. As conifers, they probably acidify the soil, making them less ideal for standard crops (except acid-loving ones like blueberries). Even if that was the intended effect, other conifers may be better options, but this is mostly just speculation, and I encourage you to do more research on what trees are used for agroforestry and why.
I am not entirely sure as it could be a number of factors, a lot of trees will often lose lower leaves and branches. As far as I know, they absorb the nutrients as they do and put their energy towards higher branches. The dark, dry bits could be an intentional, healthy process as trees like these often will seek to grow taller if they are in shade (which, considering I bought this indoors in a museum, is likely). Overall it's hard to tell the cause, but it might not be anything necessarily negative.
@@Stdagger thanks for the support! I am very concerned about this problem - sorry for the sprouts. The tips of the lower branches darken and dry, which do not turn into normal fluffy branches ... you may be right. Do you have an e-mail - can I send you a photo of the sprouts if you are interested and will help you understand something more precisely?
@@Canaanite_Roman Typically when trees lose lower branches naturally they lose them first near the trunk then outward towards the tips. The fact that they're drying out and browning tip first suggests that the tree is having issues getting water to them, as it would not want to lose the tips (as tips have the potential for new growth and are typically less shaded). If it is humid where you live, this is just how it's going to be as far as I know. Depending on the size of your tree this could just be something it will learn to deal with and while it might make it grow slowly it won't directly kill the plant. If it's smaller (>1 year) then there might be more of an issue but still might end up being fine. If you live in a dry climate, I'd suggest watering it a little more, but not too much otherwise you'll make more of a problem as this isn't a swamp plant. The fact that it's only a problem on the lower branches suggests that the tree is coping with the growing conditions at least somewhat, as it would be a far bigger problem if the upper branches saw a dieoff.
Giant sequoia is probably the hardest tree to grow, that will live longer than a few years, its very finicky and demands specific growing conditions cant be too wet or gets some root rot disease, seems to be more of them in Europe that are successful than any planted east of the rocky mountains especially not the east coast where we get a lot of rain and many more disease.
Hi there, the tree was planted in NJ, although the following information should apply to all East Coast states. Unfortunately, the sapling is not doing well and I don't foresee it surviving the winter. The summers for all of the East Coast US are very humid, and since I planted it in August it was unable to take root strongly and grow. If you were to plant a giant sequoia sapling in any of those states, I would suggest planting it in the spring to give it the maximum amount of time to take root. Unfortunately, the tree is not well adapted to high humidity and getting one to survive the first year is a challenge that requires a bit of planning and luck, but it has been done successfully before.
@@Stdagger do you think it would do better if it grows in a pot for a few years and later if i plant it outdoors? Also im actually from canada so its much colder here, but im in the east coast and its not too cold. Apparently a sequoia grew in saskatchewan thru two winters and did well. The owners dropped some seeds and they survived thru -40, and they didnt notice untill two years passed by.
Keeping them in pots for a year or so might work but they could also just die within the first year after being transplanted due to being poorly adapted to the outdoor conditions (I've had this happen to me before and it is annoying due to the sunk effort). If you could somehow get several seeds, germinate them, and then plant those saplings in various ways (some planted directly outside in the spring in various areas, others kept indoors for a year or two and then transplanted) would give you the best chance of at least one surviving. Other than that I'd suggest looking into other resources online that might be able to help you further.
@@tommoore2012 The tree is unfortunately dead, I do plan to try again in the future with this species and/or some species of pine that are endangered in my state, but I definitely need to do more advanced planning to ensure that I get at least one survivor. Even barring poor species adaptation to an environment and yearly climate, the biggest factor in having any plant survive is just having multiple individuals. I'll likely be trying to sprout the new experiments in the fall or winter this year, but I have to do more research on that as of right now.
That tree is native to California!? We have those trees in our country too(in Asia). They are huge too. Many are probably a hundred years old. We called them Bilat Pine ( meaning British Pine) probably an introduced tree.
Sequoia, coastal redwood, and metasequoia cones don't require fire to open. The cones open just fine in my dry sunny windowsill, and the seeds are fertile without heat treatment.
The real reason fire helps these trees spread is that fire removes ground cover and more shade tolerant (typically less fire tolerant) trees that would otherwise prevent saplings from ever taking a hold.
This is correct, and likely a reason why the misconception started and still continues. The seeds don't need fire to open, but the species does need fire in a sense; it evolved to fill a fire-tolerant niche that in many places no longer exists, and may be outcompeted in the future as a result. Was debating posting a comment to this effect at some point but you put it very succinctly so thank you!
@@Stdagger @JohnSmiff Would that mean that, living in Europe, I could buy a cone and sprout my own trees, instead of paying top dollar for sapling?
@@MagnusAndersen1996 that is correct!
@@MagnusAndersen1996 In fact, if you want some very good info on how to do that, watch this video:
ua-cam.com/video/9ah5OtWQIW4/v-deo.html
I agree most of the stuff they say is BS like they are fire resistant. sure the massive trees are sorta fire resistant due to their thick bark, but a tree under 300 years old will burn up just like any tree
I bought a Giant sequoia (3 ft tall in a bucket for $15) from a neighbor about 15 years ago.
It’s now about 45-50 ft tall.
*It would be nice* if you can do update on project, or start a new sequoia project for this new fresh 2023 year!! 💜😊
Just to add i bought them off amazon shipped from the jonsteen company and they shipped quick and arrived healthy. Great company and both are a good options, i also agree with supporting the museums. Great video!
Waiting on mine right now from the Jonsteen company.
Considering it's January right now and frozen up north, I'm going to have to keep it in a pot for a little while. Is there a certain soil I should buy for it or just use the outside soil if it supports it with some fertilizer? And then poke tiny holes in the bottom of the container so it can drain
Just got one from Jonsteen Co. Very fast very healthy!
I bought a Giant Sequoia just under 2 years ago and planted it right in the ground. In less than 2 years it grew almost 8’ feet tall and at the same time I got a Redwood and it grew over 12’ feet tall. But I do live in California in the Bay Area. I had to dig the trees out and put them in pots , they are awesome trees. Good luck with your , Cheers
Why did you have to dig them out?
Mike, the Coastal Redwood will probably do better than the Giant Sequoia as the Bay Area is in it's native range. The Giant Sequoia needs cold winters (snow) in order to maintain it's disease resistance, growth habit, etc. Both of those trees are growing much faster than they would in a forest, so while they may be gratifying to look at now, so when they get big enough to be a problem to remove they will have weak wood- i.e. their growth rings will be much wider than their parent trees. If you want to make them strong you have to limit their sunlight so they have time to grow properly.
The Coastal Redwood will probably do better than the Giant Sequoia as the Bay Area is in it's native range. The Giant Sequoia needs cold winters (snow) in order to maintain it's disease resistance, growth habit, etc. Both of those trees are growing much faster than they would in a forest, so while they may be gratifying to look at now, so when they get big enough to be a problem to remove they will have weak wood- i.e. their growth rings will be much wider than their parent trees. If you want to make them strong you have to limit their sunlight so they have time to grow properly.
Thank you so much! I just got one of these from San Francisco, and I’m so glad you made a video about this specific one.
My sister has a 2 meter sequoia planted in her weekend home in the countryside in Southern Brazil. Surprisingly and against all odds the sequoia is thriving well.
I am on a mission.. To help spread these beautiful giants throughout the globe.! "Or as much as possible!"
Thank you for doing your part! I think it would be quite the site, to see thousands of Sequoias, standing tall, a thousand years from now..! 🙏😊
I see it as giving oxygen to future generations
😀🙏🙏🚩
That's AWESOME!!! I wish you much success. Your mission is helping keep them from going extinct.
Nice ! Just planted a 3 cm seedling on my forest garden in Sweden.
I bought some of these when i was traveling to Washington. Took a little detour to California to see the redwoods. I bought 2 sequoias and two redwoods. They all lived through my whole trip up the West coast and into Washington, i was there for 2 weeks before heading back home. They were alive and actually beginning to grow. I got home and it took my mom about a week to kill all 4 of them. It was depressing.
NOOO 😭😭😭😭😭 those poor things
Man! So sorry poor 🎄
These giant trees used to grow across the USA.
We need an update on this tree.
Giant sequoias are growing pretty well also in Bulgaria and allover the world, so I think that your example have ultimate chances to grow high and strong like the trees in California, or just hope so.
I had a nursery grown 6 year old Giant Sequoia shipped to me from CA 3 summers ago. I'm in Wisconsin...it's still alive and grows astonishingly fast. Though in winter since I never put a greenhouse on it, it goes all brown, then comes back hard every summer. It's awesome.
Make a video of it please
@@lifesagardenyadigit ok...gotta grab a shower quick...then I'll make a quick video for ya and keep it up until tomorrow.
@@lifesagardenyadigit it's up under my name under Giant Sequoia in WI title.
Grown in small pot at nursery, so it's 2nd summer the roots really opened up and it quadrupled it's trunk size. That was last summer...this summer it's growth is kinda slow. The white pipe is the Air Conditioner water dump that I routed to constantly water it haha.
@@adamfrbs9259 awesome thanks! My dad is trying to grow one in Illinois I’m gonna show him yours.
@@lifesagardenyadigit nice!. The older you can get the better to start is my guess.
That's not a plant dude. It's a legend tree.
Any update on the tree? I just planted one myself earlier this month
You'll probably have a better time of it than I did. I planted mine much too late in the year and it didn't have time to acclimate. The fact that you planted it now should give it it's best chance. That said, don't be too bummed if it dies... tree saplings are fragile things that often just don't have the strength to adapt to their environment, especially one they are not native to.
@@Stdagger Yeah I’m not sure how well it will do in in my area, since we get lots of snow and cold winters. Planning on keeping it inside for the first winter then planting in the ground next spring if it makes it that far
Sequoias in New York would be really cool.
I just picked up a 15 pack of Giant Sequoias. Going to plant them on my property that burned to the ground last year.
Yeah....California. Sierra Nevadas.
Giant sequioas don't have serotinous cones, just pick one up off the ground and all the seeds will fall out. Try it! They are however very resistant to fire which gives them a strong advantage
Any updates?
Unfortunately, it didn't survive the year. It was particularly hot and humid well into the fall that year, so it had no time to get established before winter. I recommend planting in the spring or starting from seed, though personally I'm going to focus more on native species myself anyway. Single saplings are always a significant risk of failure, and paradoxically the more attention you give a plant the worse it does it seems.
what a little lovely. there's a video from a guy from the netherlands raising his seqoia from seed for 14 years. be sure to check it out. his tips. add mulch plenty of water and add a little compost or worm castings in the fall
thank you, I will control the watering and the condition of the plants - they are 3 months old
Your voice reminds me of David Cross lol.
And thanks for the video. thinking of getting one of these.. in the 1am research phase.
Interesting, thanks
Just make sure if you plant these huge trees in the ground that there’s at least 50’ of clearance around the base of the tree. No power lines above and nothing underground beneath. There’s a coastal redwood above loon lake Oregon that’s about 110 years old and it is about 10’-12’ at the base and is overtaking the road it was planted by. We drive around it currently. In 50 more years the road will need rerouted. I’m planning to plant one in memory of a friend who passed last year and then nearby place a grave stone type of monument mentioning the tree being planted in his memory by his wife. A couple hundred years from now I hope it becomes the centerpiece of a park??? My hope anyway.😊
Can Giant Sequoias be used in agroforestry purposes?
Good question! I can't say for sure but my guess is that they would be a suboptimal choice. As conifers, they probably acidify the soil, making them less ideal for standard crops (except acid-loving ones like blueberries). Even if that was the intended effect, other conifers may be better options, but this is mostly just speculation, and I encourage you to do more research on what trees are used for agroforestry and why.
Update!
why the sprigs of the sequoia sprout darken dry?
I am not entirely sure as it could be a number of factors, a lot of trees will often lose lower leaves and branches. As far as I know, they absorb the nutrients as they do and put their energy towards higher branches. The dark, dry bits could be an intentional, healthy process as trees like these often will seek to grow taller if they are in shade (which, considering I bought this indoors in a museum, is likely). Overall it's hard to tell the cause, but it might not be anything necessarily negative.
@@Stdagger thanks for the support! I am very concerned about this problem - sorry for the sprouts. The tips of the lower branches darken and dry, which do not turn into normal fluffy branches ... you may be right. Do you have an e-mail - can I send you a photo of the sprouts if you are interested and will help you understand something more precisely?
@@Canaanite_Roman Typically when trees lose lower branches naturally they lose them first near the trunk then outward towards the tips. The fact that they're drying out and browning tip first suggests that the tree is having issues getting water to them, as it would not want to lose the tips (as tips have the potential for new growth and are typically less shaded). If it is humid where you live, this is just how it's going to be as far as I know. Depending on the size of your tree this could just be something it will learn to deal with and while it might make it grow slowly it won't directly kill the plant. If it's smaller (>1 year) then there might be more of an issue but still might end up being fine. If you live in a dry climate, I'd suggest watering it a little more, but not too much otherwise you'll make more of a problem as this isn't a swamp plant. The fact that it's only a problem on the lower branches suggests that the tree is coping with the growing conditions at least somewhat, as it would be a far bigger problem if the upper branches saw a dieoff.
Great little video mate! I’m currently trying to grow some Sequoias from seed here in Australia.
I used raise bed and placed it in a pot two out of the tree are in perfect condition but the 3rd one is kinda turning brown what can I do
Giant sequoia is probably the hardest tree to grow, that will live longer than a few years, its very finicky and demands specific growing conditions cant be too wet or gets some root rot disease, seems to be more of them in Europe that are successful than any planted east of the rocky mountains especially not the east coast where we get a lot of rain and many more disease.
Is that lead paint on his pot? not good!
Do they ship seeds international ?
Unfortunately, due to international regulations put in place to stop the spread of invasive species it is highly unlikely that they do.
@@Stdagger thank you for your reply.
Sequoia grew all,over North America in pre ice age periods. They can live 3,000 years.
How is the sequoia doing, and in what state do you live, just want to find out what the climate is like where you live.
Hi there, the tree was planted in NJ, although the following information should apply to all East Coast states. Unfortunately, the sapling is not doing well and I don't foresee it surviving the winter. The summers for all of the East Coast US are very humid, and since I planted it in August it was unable to take root strongly and grow. If you were to plant a giant sequoia sapling in any of those states, I would suggest planting it in the spring to give it the maximum amount of time to take root. Unfortunately, the tree is not well adapted to high humidity and getting one to survive the first year is a challenge that requires a bit of planning and luck, but it has been done successfully before.
@@Stdagger do you think it would do better if it grows in a pot for a few years and later if i plant it outdoors? Also im actually from canada so its much colder here, but im in the east coast and its not too cold. Apparently a sequoia grew in saskatchewan thru two winters and did well. The owners dropped some seeds and they survived thru -40, and they didnt notice untill two years passed by.
Keeping them in pots for a year or so might work but they could also just die within the first year after being transplanted due to being poorly adapted to the outdoor conditions (I've had this happen to me before and it is annoying due to the sunk effort). If you could somehow get several seeds, germinate them, and then plant those saplings in various ways (some planted directly outside in the spring in various areas, others kept indoors for a year or two and then transplanted) would give you the best chance of at least one surviving. Other than that I'd suggest looking into other resources online that might be able to help you further.
@@Stdagger How's the tree doing? Did it survive or die within the last 6 months.
@@tommoore2012 The tree is unfortunately dead, I do plan to try again in the future with this species and/or some species of pine that are endangered in my state, but I definitely need to do more advanced planning to ensure that I get at least one survivor. Even barring poor species adaptation to an environment and yearly climate, the biggest factor in having any plant survive is just having multiple individuals. I'll likely be trying to sprout the new experiments in the fall or winter this year, but I have to do more research on that as of right now.
That tree is native to California!? We have those trees in our country too(in Asia). They are huge too. Many are probably a hundred years old.
We called them Bilat Pine ( meaning British Pine) probably an introduced tree.
Are you sure those are giant sequoia? Might be Dawn Redwoods.
Sequoias in the past had a far far wider range so perhaps the better word would be re-introduced.
كم هو معدل نمو الشجرة
They don't need fire. That was a common old misconception.
No. I believe redwood needs to be grown world wide
Cattle, horses, and palms are invasive
Everytime you say it "spee-sheez" I cringe.. lol jk