How to Extract Pine Tree Seeds

Pine trees are conifers and do not lose their leaves in winter.

Pine trees reproduce by growing seeds inside pine cones. Once the cones open in late fall, the seeds naturally fall out. Each seed has a piece of the pine cone attached to it in a wing-like formation that is designed to catch the wind. In order to extract the seeds from a pine tree, you must know which pine trees to collect the pine cones from, since only female trees grow seeds.

Instructions

1. Locate a female pine tree. Female trees produce large cones that are brown and look like wood. Male trees do grow pine cones, but they are tiny and green, and are covered in a yellow-white pollen.

2. Pick up a pine cone off the ground underneath the female pine tree. Cones that have fallen are fully matured and dried, and have seeds that are ready for planting.

3. Turn the cone so that the narrowest tip (the top of the cone) is facing downwards. Shake the cone several times. The ripe seeds will fall out. They are flat and resemble sunflower seeds.

4. Pinch the seed with your thumb and forefinger of one hand, with the wing that's attached to it between the thumb and forefinger of your left. Move your hands in a snapping motion. This separates the wing from the seed. Discard the wing.

References

• Desert Mud: Grow a Pine Tree from Seed
• Gardening Know How; Nikki Phipps: How to Grow a Pine Tree from a Seed