Where Can You Buy Chinese Hackberry Seeds? A Detailed Guide to Sowing and Raising Seedlings

Chinese hackberry is a deciduous tree in the genus Celtis of the family Ulmaceae. Its crown is large and round, and when mature it forms a dense shade, giving it strong ornamental value. The Chinese hackberry is currently a main tree species for courtyards and parks; it can be planted as a specimen, in groups, or shaped into tree stumps and bonsai, and it is also fairly easy to grow. It is usually propagated by sowing seeds. So where can you buy Chinese hackberry seeds? How do you sow and raise seedlings? Let's find out together.

Where can you buy Chinese hackberry seeds?

Buying Chinese hackberry seeds is fairly convenient. The Chinese hackberry is mainly distributed in Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Fujian, Taiwan, China, and other places. Its distribution can be said to be extremely wide. Besides going directly to suppliers in the producing areas to buy seeds, there are now also many e-commerce platforms or nursery stock shops where you can buy Chinese hackberry seeds. The price is not very expensive either; in Jiangxi, for example, about 50 yuan or so will buy you one jin of high-quality seeds.

How do you sow and raise seedlings?

1. Seed collection and treatment

Chinese hackberry seeds mature in October. Collect the seeds when the fruit turns from green to yellowish brown. Choose plump seeds with no defects or deformities. Sow in winter, or after stratification to promote germination, sow in spring. Before sowing, the seed coat must be removed; you can crack it with something hard, or remove the outer skin before sowing, otherwise the surrounding shell will affect the seed's germination.

2. Nursery site selection

Choose flat, fertile neutral loam with convenient access and water supply as the nursery site. Before tilling, clear the nursery site of tree roots, bricks, plastic, weeds and other debris.

3. Digging furrows and making beds

To prevent sunscald from damaging the seedlings, the seedbeds are mostly oriented north-south. Manually mark lines and dig compartment furrows to make seedbeds 1.5 m wide, and keep the seedbed length within 15 m; if longer, a middle furrow must be dug, so that the surrounding furrow, middle furrow and compartment furrows, the "three furrows", are connected. Deep furrows and narrow beds facilitate irrigation, drainage and workers' operations.

4. Sowing

In March of the following spring, sow in drills. After sowing, cover with a layer of fine soil and then with rice straw. After appropriate watering, germination generally occurs within a few days.

5. Cutting propagation

In early March, choose robust, pest- and disease-free large trees and cut vigorous branches 1-2 years old, before they are fully lignified. Tie the cut shoots in bundles of 30, with the lower ends aligned. Soak the lower ends in a 100 mg/kg ABT No. 1 rooting powder solution for 2 hours, then they are ready for cuttings. After cutting, the seedlings should be properly hardened off, then the film and shade net removed to increase seedling resistance, but the seedbed should be kept at suitable humidity. When the sown seedlings grow to 5-10 cm, thinning can be carried out, and gap filling done along with thinning.

To grow Chinese hackberry, choose plump, fully mature seeds, preferably new seeds, so that the germination rate will be higher. Pay attention to the relevant techniques of sowing and raising seedlings, and basically the later management will be relatively simple. In addition, the Chinese hackberry has strong stress resistance and few pests or diseases occur. Besides its excellent greening and ornamental effects, it also has certain medicinal value and very many uses.

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