Growing Trees from Seeds: Sacred Fig, Mystery Ficus, and More

Growing trees from seeds is something I have wanted to attempt for a while now. Three weeks ago, I planted a wide variety of tree seeds that I received in a seed pack. I originally planted two Royal Poincianas, five Siberian Elms, fifteen Jacaranda, three Elephant Ear Trees, three Camphor Trees, ninety Pines, over three hundred Sacred Figs, forty-five Dawn Redwoods, and fifty mystery seeds. For now, I will only cover the seeds that have risen above the soil.

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My Seeds

First batch

I had so many seeds I had to break them up into three different batches. The first batch consisted of two Royal Poincianas, five Siberian Elms, fifteen Jacarandas, three Elephant Ear Trees, and three Camphor Trees. This batch has some really interesting seeds in it and I can’t wait for them to start growing! So far, one Royal Poinciana and one Jacaranda have grown above the soil. I am the most excited for the Royal Poincianas because they grow lots of red flowers all throughout the warmer months.

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Second batch

In the second batch, I planted forty-five Pines, around two hundred Sacred Figs, and forty-five Dawn Redwoods. Unfortunately, I was not thinking and did not take any pictures of the seeds at the time of planting. However, the Sacred Fig seeds were very intriguing. They came in a really small bag and looked like tiny circular specs. Some were tan, some were black, some were red, and some were white. I had no idea if all or only some of them were Sacred Figs but, I planted them anyway. Thus far, four Pines and around three Sacred Figs have sprouted. I was very surprised that the first batch and this batch have had so many so the seeds already popping up above the soil.

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Third batch

The third batch consisted of about one hundred more Sacred Figs, forty-five more Pines, and fifty mystery seeds that looked like small red teardrops. I received the mystery red seeds in a seeds pack, however, they were not labeled and I have no idea what they are. Hopefully, they’ll grow into something really cool! Unlike the first two batches, only one seed has sprouted. The seed in question is growing out of a plot of soil where the Sacred Figs were planted. The strange thing is, this tree looks nothing like the other Sacred Figs that have sprouted in the second batch. So for now, I am labeling this my mystery ficus!

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Seed Setup

The most important thing to do when it comes to growing trees from seeds is allowing them to soak in water for at least twenty-four hours before you try to plant them. This allows the seeds to take in water that helps them kick off their growth. Depending on the seed, you may need to boil the water before you let the seeds soak. Otherwise, you can just use room temperature water.

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Growing Setup

In a makeshift approach for growing trees from seeds, I used a styrofoam egg carton that had 18 small slots in it. Then poked holes, with a nail, at the bottom of each compartment. Next, I filled the entire tray with dirt and wet the soil until water was flowing out freely from each of the drainage holes. After that, I poked small holes in each square of soil and dropped multiple seeds into each hole. I would poke three to four holes in each square and drop anywhere from two to four seeds in each hole depending on how many seeds I had of each variety. Finally, I covered the holes back up, watered the soil one last time, and placed the seeds next to the window. By the end of planting all the seeds, I had two entire cartons full of somewhere close to 200 planted tree seeds!

A shocking development occurred not even a week later. I found more tree seeds! I was rummaging around my tree supplies and stumbled upon a bag of tree seeds that I had completely forgotten about. There were about one hundred Sacred Figs, forty-five Pines, and fifty mystery seeds that looked like small red teardrops. I was running low on egg crates and was down to my last one. So, after repeating the process, I managed to squeeze all the newly discovered seeds into the last remaining egg carton.

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Considerations

There was one thing that I was unsure about though. While I was planting the seeds, I would poke three, sometimes four holes in a square, and put multiple seeds in each hole. I was not entirely sure if having more than one seed in each hole would affect the growth or development of the trees. It was too late to dig up the seeds and replant them, however, I did do some research on the topic.

Every guide on the internet suggests that you space your seeds out to give them ample space to grow and collect nutrients. In the back of my head, I knew this information. Even so, the amount of space I had to plant my seeds and the sheer amount of seeds I had did not allow me to space all the seeds out evenly. I went ahead and plopped upwards of four seeds in each hole. After doing some deeper digging, I discovered that growing multiple seeds in the same hole has little to no effect on the growth or development of the trees. According to Epic Gardening, planting multiple seeds in the same hole increases your rate of germination per dirt slot. Additionally, having more than one seedling growing in a plot of soil allows you to select the strongest one of the bunch.

This is just an introduction to all my seedlings. Be sure to stay tuned for more posts and pictures about all the seedlings as they continue to grow! You can also check out the Gallery to see all the pictures in this post and more.