Seed #1 - Secondary Leaves

Looks like this one's going to make it after all, despite the shriveled cotyledon. You can see the secondary leaves pushing out from the center.

Seed #1 - Seed Leaf Shriveling

I'm not sure exactly what caused this, but it does concern me. The seedlings are supposed to have four cotyledons, and this guy starts off with three. Now one is shriveled up - who knows how long it's going to last. Luckily there's several more in the queue.

I'm hoping that this was due to my keeping it in a glass that was taller than the seed leaves. Maybe there wasn't enough air circulation around the leaves, which started killing it off. I removed it from the glass, and now have it out in the open, receiving a tiny bit more sunlight, though not yet direct -- I'm waiting for the secondary leaves to come in before I give this guy direct sunlight.

Seed #1 - Standing Up and Out of the Greenhouse

I didn't want to keep my first sprout in the greenhouse longer than necessary to prevent mold build-up from poor ventilation and excessive moisture. So, I cut its cel-pack out and placed it in a glass in a corner of my kitchen where it receives indirect sunlight.

I'll spray water on the seedling every day or so to keep the soil moist. In a week or so, it should begin sprouting its secondary leaves, and shortly after that, it'll be ready to be transplanted out of its cel-pack into a small pot.

Seed #1 - Three Cotyledons, not Four

This morning, the seed leaves had opened up as I had expected, but there were three instead of four. It turns out that there may be anywhere from three to six, with four being the most common. Looks like this little guy is special! The National Park Service has a great page on Giant Sequoia development if you're interested.

By nighttime, the stem had straightened out a bit more, as the seed leaves started pointing upward. I should start to see secondary leaves in about 2 weeks.

Seed #1 Update - Cotyledons!

One day later, and look at the progress. The four cotyledons (embryonic leaves) have started to open up as the stem is bending upward from the soil.

Seed #1 - A Sprout So Soon?

To my complete surprise, after only six days in the greenhouse, seed #1 poked through the soil today! It shouldn't be long before it stands up and shows its cotyledons. Don't get too excited, it's not as dirty as it sounds... Cotyledon is just a fancy name for each of the first four embryonic leaves, or seed leaves.

This little guy's a real exhibitionist. None of the other seeds have even shown their radicles yet.

First Germination! Meet Seed #1

Most reasonable people would be able to check their seeds just once a week. Unfortunately, I can't go a day without peeking to see if any of the seeds has 'hatched' yet, sprouting its embryonic root, or radicle. I didn't expect to see any action for the first few weeks, especially since I didn't stratify the seeds first in the refrigerator for a month like most resources suggested.

Well, I was happily surprised. After nine days in its wet, unbleached coffee filter, one of my original fifteen seeds (now known as seed #1) sprouted its millimeter-long, white radicle. Because I folded the coffee filter like Shoot recommended (covering the seeds with one fold on one side, three on the other), I was able to see the radicle by holding the coffee filter baggie up to the light (second from the left in the photo).

In keeping with Shoot's Blog entry, I carefully removed the seed from the coffee filter, placing it in this simple greenhouse seed starter kit I bought at Lowes. I used starter soil, making sure it was wet and that the radicle is pointing downwards. I then buried the seed only slightly, keeping it about 1/4 inch below the surface. The greenhouse kit comes with a clear plastic cover which will keep the seeds warm, allowing sunlight and retaining moisture.

Now's the tough part... waiting. Hopefully this early germination wasn't a fluke, and more are on the way shortly. In the meantime, I've put the mini-greenhouse away in the corner of my kitchen where it can avoid direct sunlight. I'll need to check on it every day to make sure the soil doesn't dry out, killing the little giant before he has a chance.