Ginkgo biloba Tree

Simbelmyne's Plants
Ginkgo biloba	Pronounced: GINGK-go bi-LOW-bah
	Two suckers taken from base of a young tree. 6-11-08 Sunnyvale, CA
This tree is a living fossil.	Family: Ginkgoaceae
	What the Spring Seeds look like. Unripened and soft, no smell 6_10_08 Sunnyvale, CA
	Ginkgo or Maidenhair Tree
	Seeds and two seedlings 6_11_08 Sunnyvale, CA
	Planted seedling 6_11_08



	A triad of seeds

	Ginkgo biloba seeds

	Ginkgo biloba
I got the idea into my head to grow trees from seed. I'd been growing a mimosa tree from seed since last year and started some Rowan Tree seeds which are now 3 months old. I bike to work 4 days a week and started to notice that there were a lot of Ginkgo trees in Sunnyvale. The library had a row of them along Pastoria Avenue. Down the Street are a row of ginkgoes that are very mature by the swimming pool. So on my way home, I started to check the trees out. Wow, it seemed like everyone of them is a male tree. Then I read that the males are preferred since the female trees have stinky fruit. By stinky, I mean bad...feces smell...bad. Not to be dissuaded, I finally found TWO female trees. I gathered some seeds which look like granny smith apples. It's June and not the right time to collect seeds. So, for some odd reason, I went back today to look at the female trees once more. I hadn't noticed any seeds when I checked out the trees the day before, but today I looked at the gutters, the parking lot, the flower beds nearby...no luck..no seeds. Then I looked at the base of the female tree, under the debris ...BONANZA! So right now I have the unsprouted seeds soaking in water. Two are floating, probably not a good sign. Two are at the bottom and one is a half and half. It will be interesting to see the results. I tossed out the two floating seeds. Cracked one open and yeah, it was all yucky inside, nothing alive. Of the 3 seeds left, I got the wonderful idea to use a pair of pliers and crack the shell open a little.....oops too much pressure. I can see that the embryo looks good inside, hope I didn't kill it. Got it planted.	Collect seeds in the Fall

	2 sprouted seedlings & 5 seeds
	6_11_08
	6_12_08
	July 19, 2008 A new leaf is starting to bud! Now that I compare the two photos, I've got several new leaves. These trees are very slow growers. My luck is holding, I still have all the plants.
I collected 12 seeds from the female tree in Sunnyvale. Cleaned them up and kept them in a clay pot next to the house outside. Less than one week later when I looked at them....gone All of them, nothing dropped on the ground or anything! A racoon or squirrel must have taken them. Drat!	Early - Mid November
Since I'm stubborn, I went back today after work and even though it was a mess going through all the fallen leaves, I collected more seeds. Learning my lesson, I'm not going to leave them outside, but they are in a plastic bag in the garage. I'll clean them up in there and get them ready for planting. I haven't counted them, but I think I have at least the same number as before. I cleaned the seeds in warm water. Place the good clean ones in a plastic bag between two paper towels and placed it in the refrigerator. The two seeds that I placed in the frig and forgot are no longer good. They float in the water. Must remember to keep the bag moist	12/2/08 Yes, they smell bad, but not too bad. Pull seeds from Frig in FEB 2009
	Most of the leaves have fallen off the sucker.
The other seeds, I'm going to let soak in water overnight and plant in some soil. It will be interesting to see which have the better germination.
	It's hard to see all the new growth turn yellow and fall off.
	But, that's what they are suposed to do...go into winter rest.
	planted the seeds that were open a little after a good 48hs soak
	Starting to send out a shoot
	About 5" high with little leaves 4-22-09
	Three have sprouted. 6 still in the soil.






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