Growing Seabuckthorn from Seed

Growing Seabuckthorn from Seed

Last fall I became aware of some seabuckthorn bushes growing on the Lakehead University campus grounds.

Apparently they had been planted on the lower edge of a car parking area to help control erosion, and because seabuckthorn is salt tolerant, they were likely to survive the spring runoff.

Not only have they survived, but they're thriving in their position.

Here is a street view image of the bushes and I have circled them in red. If you look closely you can just make out the distinctive berries!

Some time back, I showcased seabuckthorn in a plant of the weekish post. The most common way to propagate the plant is via cuttings. But it was late fall, and so I decided to see if these plants were producing viable seed.

So one evening, in the freezing drizzle I stopped by and picked some berries. We had been experiencing hard nighttime frosts and warm days, so the berries were extremely ripe and mushy.

I put the into a plastic bag, and then drove home still covered in the powerful smelling juice that lingered in my car for days. Since I'm looking for genetic diversity, I made sure I collected berries from as many different bushes as possible.

Once home, I mashed up the berries and separated the seeds. It was a pretty easy job as the seeds have a waxy coating similar to flax seeds, and they slip out of the fleshy sheath they reside in.

I then counted out 150 seeds and soaked them for 48 hours, during which time almost all the seeds had sunk to the bottom. The few that remained floating I discarded as per the literature I could find (the floating seeds are apparently not viable).

I then placed the seeds into a plastic bag with some wet perlite, and placed them into the refrigerator for 3 months...

Next, I removed the plastic bag from the cold store, and placed it in a sunny position since the seeds require exposure to light for germination.

If all goes well, the seeds should begin sprouting with a week or two.

5 days later and I spotted the first germinated seed, and the day after that I potted the first 4 seedlings.

Despite my initial optimism, these 4 seedlings were the only ones to germinate from the 150 seed sample. And to add insult to injury, the 4 seedlings all died within a few weeks of germination.

So this experiment was a total bust folks. Was it the way I stratified and propagate them? Maybe. But I think that my next adventure in Seabuckthorn propagation will be harvesting the abundant suckers that are popping up.