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Although Honey Locust seeds have only a very shallow dormancy they have a very hard, water-impermeable seed coat and require pretreatment for successful germination to occur. Without pretreatment it is likely that 10% or less of the seeds will germinate. A combination of a variety of seed pretreatments is usually necessary to make the seed coat permeable so that the seed embryo can take up water and begin to germinate.
The first (and easiest) method is place the seeds in a heat proof container and pour hot (not boiling!) water 70-80 degrees Celsius over them and leave them to soak for between 12-24 hours. Seeds that have been successfully pretreated will have swollen to around 2-3 times their previous size. Remove all swollen seeds as these will be damaged by further pretreatments. These can be sown immediately. This hot water treatment can be repeated up to 3 times, making the water a little hotter each time. Seeds that remain small need to be dried for further treatment.
The remaining method is to physically breakthrough the seed coat by cutting or (k)nicking the edge of the seed with a knife or using a file or even rubbing them between layers of fine sandpaper. All of these methods can be used to break through the seed coat. Once you have done this soak the seeds in cold water for 12-24 hours and successfully treated seeds will have imbibed water and swollen greatly. Any that have not could be scarified again followed by another water soak. Sow all the seeds, even those that remain small as they may germinate much later (perhaps years later), the seeds are very long lived and can remain viable in the field for many years.
Sow in pots or seed trays of good quality compost at a depth of about 1 cm (just less than ½ inch) The seed usually germinates in under 4 weeks at 15-20°c. It is important that temperatures or not greatly higher than this or germination will be reduced.
Although Honey Locust seeds have only a very shallow dormancy they have a very hard, water-impermeable seed coat and require pretreatment for successful germination to occur. Without pretreatment it is likely that 10% or less of the seeds will germinate. A combination of a variety of seed pretreatments is usually necessary to make the seed coat permeable so that the seed embryo can take up water and begin to germinate.
The first (and easiest) method is place the seeds in a heat proof container and pour hot (not boiling!) water 70-80 degrees Celsius over them and leave them to soak for between 12-24 hours. Seeds that have been successfully pretreated will have swollen to around 2-3 times their previous size. Remove all swollen seeds as these will be damaged by further pretreatments. These can be sown immediately. This hot water treatment can be repeated up to 3 times, making the water a little hotter each time. Seeds that remain small need to be dried for further treatment.
The remaining method is to physically breakthrough the seed coat by cutting or (k)nicking the edge of the seed with a knife or using a file or even rubbing them between layers of fine sandpaper. All of these methods can be used to break through the seed coat. Once you have done this soak the seeds in cold water for 12-24 hours and successfully treated seeds will have imbibed water and swollen greatly. Any that have not could be scarified again followed by another water soak. Sow all the seeds, even those that remain small as they may germinate much later (perhaps years later), the seeds are very long lived and can remain viable in the field for many years.
Sow in pots or seed trays of good quality compost at a depth of about 1 cm (just less than ½ inch) The seed usually germinates in under 4 weeks at 15-20°c. It is important that temperatures or not greatly higher than this or germination will be reduced.
Well, thanks to Sydney123, I now have 8 seeds sprouted and the real test begins. The sprouting took some effort, but getting a sprout to be a sapling is no mean feat. Wish me luck.
Thornless honey locust. I have some and want to grow them. They grew behind my apartment building in NYC and I sent some to my father, who got ONE sprout from many seeds, coddled it and planted it, and when he died and I moved here, it was a cute little tree. I coddle it and now it's almost as tall as the two story house next door. It's made ONE seed in the last 7 years and that one didn't make it to adulthood.
However, on a visit to friends, I happened to be in the right place in the right season and picked up more fresh seeds. Dad planted the tree on the driveway and the people next door get all the shade. I want a tree on the front lawn (which will need coddling due to almost drought conditions most summers).
Can anyone with any knowledge or experience please weigh in on how I increase my seeds' chances of becoming a front lawn tree?
I can't answer your question but I was cleaning up underneath my locust tree and found a seedling has sprouted. I want to move it but I have to wait until the fall or even next year for it to get big enough. We had a very wet winter, much more rain that usual and I think that is the key, you can't be impatient, there is no way for me to know how long that seed lay in the wet ground, but if it is like other tree seeds and avocado seeds it takes months. Try putting a couple of seeds in a 5 gallon pot with good soil and keep it damp, don't give up on it for 9 months and see if it sprouts, don't plant it too deep in the dirt either but keep it covered. I have sprouted ash tree seeds this way.
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