How do you grow Chinese mahogany (Toona sinensis) seeds? A step-by-step guide to the planting method

1. Choosing seeds

The seeds of this plant are relatively hard to obtain, because its tender shoots are edible and are often picked off by people to eat, so it cannot normally produce fruit, and the seeds are rather expensive. If you want to grow it from its seeds, you must choose new seeds; the fruit must be plump, and the color must be red-yellow, as only then is it fresh.

2. Keeping warm to promote sprouting

1. Soak the seeds in 40-degree hot water for 5 minutes, stirring them constantly during this time, then place them in water at around 20 degrees and soak for a day, so the seeds can absorb enough water.

2. First wash the tray clean, then spread a piece of moist cotton gauze inside it, preferably white, put the soaked seeds into the tray, placing about 1000 grams of seeds in each tray. Then cover the seeds with another piece of cotton gauze and cover with a tray.

3. Keep the temperature at around 20 degrees, wash the seeds once a day, turn them over two or three times, and spray water on the tray to keep it moist, so the seeds are in a suitable growing environment.

4. After three or four days, most of the seeds will have sprouted shoots of about 2 mm, and at that point they can be planted. Note that the shoots must not be too long, otherwise they are easily damaged during planting.

3. Sowing management

1. Choose a field with relatively flat terrain, sunlight, and good soil drainage, and fertilize and loosen the soil.

2. Then evenly scatter the seeds into the soil, with a spacing of 30 cm between each, and cover the seeds with 2 cm of soil.

3. After about a week, seedlings will grow; before the seedlings emerge, control the water, otherwise the soil will become compacted and affect the young seedlings.

4. When the seedlings have grown about five small leaves, you can thin them to a fixed spacing. Before thinning, water first, and the spacing between each seedling should be 20 cm.

5. When the tree is 50 cm tall, spray it with paclobutrazol once every half month, for two or three sprays in total, which can prevent it from growing wildly and help transport nutrients to where they are needed. You can also pinch off its growing tips to make it grow more branches.