- Male and female trees
- Start of seed production
- The ripening time
- Optical characteristics of the seeds
- buy seeds
- Sowing the stink ash seeds
In autumn the last blossoms on the bee bush wither. Now all the energy belongs to the ripening seeds. But with some tree specimens you wait in vain year after year. What's it all about?
The seeds should not be harvested until they are completely dry
Male and female trees
Bee trees are dioecious of the same sex. This botanical name says nothing else than that there are purely male and purely female trees. Even if both are able to flower, only the female trees will set seed.
Start of seed production
If your velvety stinky tree, as the tree is also called, does not produce seeds, it does not have to be a male tree. Stinky trees need a few more years after planting before they bloom. After about six years you can count on the first flowers and thus also the first seeds.
tips
If you later want to propagate the bee tree yourself from seed, you should start with a female and a male tree to ensure fertilization.
The ripening time
The stink ash is a long-flowering tree. From June to September it diligently forms new flowers. From around August, the small, red capsule fruits follow, which contain the seeds. The fruits of the stink ash are popular with birds. But with the large number of flowers, some seeds will surely reach maturity by November.
tips
The inflorescences of this tree are even more decorative than its flowers. You can easily cut off some branches for the vase.
Optical characteristics of the seeds
Collect ripe stink ash seeds in the fall if you want to propagate the tree yourself. This is what the seeds look like:
- rounded shape
- shiny black
- different big
- about 2 to 4 mm
buy seeds
Of course, if you do not already have a bee tree in the garden, you will not be able to get seeds for propagation. But you can get these in stores at any time. At around 1-2 euros per 50 pieces, they are also extremely inexpensive.
If you are not going to use stink ash seeds immediately, store them in a cool, dry place. By the way, the seeds of the stink ash are not poisonous.
Sowing the stink ash seeds
Sowing is possible all year round in rooms with temperatures between 22 and 26 degrees Celsius. The small black seeds are about 1.5 cm deep in the potting soil, which must remain constantly moist. They will germinate after 10 to 12 weeks in a light location.