How to start Crepe Myrtle?

[Axe Mcgee]

Hello,

I'm new to the Arborist forums and must say Thanks to the admins and webmasters who put together a wonderful space for people of the same interests to get together.

I live in Greenville, NC. and recently found some crepe myrtles with seed pods ready to drop. Since I wanted to plant flowering trees down my 700ft driveway. I thought I'd try to get these to grow. No luck, I've read in other olaces to put them in brown bags, in the sunlight, or to just let them fall on soil and they will germinate. But I have yet to see them pop. It's been maybe 3 months now with no results. Is it the time of year? my methods?

I also found some southern magnolia pods with red seeds popping out of them, so I grabbed em up and did some reading to find you have to remove the hard seed from the red coating and wash in a mild soap solution to remove the oils, then if its not cold out you need to place them in the fridge for a week or some then in some warmer temps to fool the seed to grow.
Again no luck after about 3 months.

Anyone whos got any ideas as to what I've done wrong please let me know. Maybe I'm just being impatient .

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[S Mc]

I will quote a paragraph from Michael Dirr's book Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, page 545. (This paragraph is specific to the common crapemyrtle.)

"PROPAGATION: Interestly, seeds supposedly germinate best if given a 30 to 45 day cold treatment before sowing; however, I have collected seeds in January and sown them immediately with excellent germination taking place in 2 to 3 weeks. Softwood cuttings of young growth taken in May, June, July or semi-hardwood cuttings will root; I have had great succcess with 1000 ppm IBA-quick dip on softwood cuttings in July-August; rooting takes place in about 3 to 4 weeks; if rooted early in season will continue to grow. I am convinced that soft cuttings, especially from the first flush of growth which coincides with mid-May in Athen [Georgia] make ideal cuttings. They root quickly and can either be maintained as liners or shifted to one-gallon containers."

Mr. Dirr does not state what he considers "excellent germination" nor does he describe how to determine if a seed is viable. However, if you wish to pursue this method of achieving a tree-lined drive, I would suggest you take the overseeding method and plant more than you will want and thin as necessary. It does sound that you should have seen sprouting well within the 2 to 3 months. I believe Athens, GA, is more of a Zone 7a/b. Is that comparable to where you live?

Another relatively inexpensive option may be to simply purchase liners or saplings from a local wholesale nursery. Out here we have a few that also sell to the public, some on restricted days, but some all the time; there may be a minimum purchase requirement.

Sylvia

 

[Axe Mcgee]

I will quote a paragraph from Michael Dirr's book Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, page 545. (This paragraph is specific to the common crapemyrtle.)

"PROPAGATION: Interestly, seeds supposedly germinate best if given a 30 to 45 day cold treatment before sowing; however, I have collected seeds in January and sown them immediately with excellent germination taking place in 2 to 3 weeks. Softwood cuttings of young growth taken in May, June, July or semi-hardwood cuttings will root; I have had great succcess with 1000 ppm IBA-quick dip on softwood cuttings in July-August; rooting takes place in about 3 to 4 weeks; if rooted early in season will continue to grow. I am convinced that soft cuttings, especially from the first flush of growth which coincides with mid-May in Athen [Georgia] make ideal cuttings. They root quickly and can either be maintained as liners or shifted to one-gallon containers."

Mr. Dirr does not state what he considers "excellent germination" nor does he describe how to determine if a seed is viable. However, if you wish to pursue this method of achieving a tree-lined drive, I would suggest you take the overseeding method and plant more than you will want and thin as necessary. It does sound that you should have seen sprouting well within the 2 to 3 months. I believe Athens, GA, is more of a Zone 7a/b. Is that comparable to where you live?

Another relatively inexpensive option may be to simply purchase liners or saplings from a local wholesale nursery. Out here we have a few that also sell to the public, some on restricted days, but some all the time; there may be a minimum purchase requirement.

Sylvia

Sylvia, Thanks so much for that input. I believe I've made a mistake along the way with the myrtles. I may do as you suggest and over seed and then just thin as necessary. I think North Carolina is in the same zone as Athens GA. if not its close. I find it interesting also one can take a cutting form such a tree and get it to root as well. Have you tired this? I may be able to get some soft cuttings form the same trees I got the seed pods next year. the man has them butchered back each season and they seem to be refusing to grow for him.

Thanks again Sylvia

 

[S Mc]

I unfortunately cannot speak from personal experience here. (Crapemyrtle won't survive Montana winters.) But from Mr. Dirr's notes, this is a very fast growing starter and so may prove practical to start your own for a long drive.

Many times, starting your own trees from seed can be frustrating in that many species can take several years to become several inches tall. So, in that respect, buying saplings is by far better if you are looking for reliable and predictable results sooner rather than later. However, with a fast grower such as crapemyrtle, this sounds doable.

The differences I noticed here between your previous effort and Mr. Dirr's notes are that he collected and sowed the seeds directly in January. This would have provided any cold treatment necessary and naturally. From your post, I am thinking you gathered the seeds in the fall and immediately planted them. This would not have allowed any cold treatment time. So I would go seed searching/gathering in January (or now and get them into a cold treatment environment). Then plant them in January.

This would give you ample time to see how they fared with a backup plan of young growth cuttings from your source in Mayish. Might even be interesting to try some of each and see which grows/establishes best/fastest.

Good luck and I hope you keep us posted on your results.

Sylvia