How to Grow a Weeping Spruce Tree From Pinecone Seeds

Collect new pine cones in early September. Seal them in a paper bag. Gather the pine cones from the area where you intend to grow your tree or from an area that offers the same conditions as where you will grow your tree.

Store the bag in a cool, dry area. Check on your pine cones from time to time to see whether they've opened, which usually takes one to two months.

Shake the paper bag to release the seeds from the pine cones.

Put the seeds in a plastic bag and freeze them until spring.

Take the seeds out of the freezer in early April and soak them in water for 24 hours.

Moisten a paper towel and put the pine cone seeds on it. Fold the paper towel over the seeds and put the bundle in a plastic bag. Seal the bag and refrigerate for six weeks.

Cover the bottom of a shallow dish with water. Take the seeds out of refrigeration and the plastic bag. Put them in the shallow dish. Pour out some water if it covers the seeds. Keep the seeds moist, not soaked. Cover the dish with a piece of plastic film to keep the water from evaporating.

Check the seeds regularly for germination, which usually takes five to 20 days.

Put potting mix in 2-gallon planters, one for each seed you'd like to grow. Fill it to about ¼ inch from the top.

Put the germinated seeds on the soil, not in it. Take them from the shallow dish to the soil surface, using tweezers. Don't cover the spruce seeds with potting mix. Put a 1/4-inch layer of coarse sand on the spruce seeds.

Put the planters by a window and soak them twice a day with water.

Begin to apply a 20-20-20 fertilizer twice a week when the seedlings are 1 inch tall. Apply 1 tsp. per gallon of water and saturate the soil with the solution. Rinse the foliage with plain water after fertilization. Stop fertilizing the seedlings in mid-July.

Harden off the spruce seedlings in the summer by taking the planters outside. Put them in the shade where there's also wind protection for a three to five hours each day. Increase the length of time the young plants stay outside every three to five days.

Bury the planters to soil level in the fall. The seedlings will spend the winter outside and the pots will provide insulation to the roots.

Transplant the young weeping spruce trees out of the planters and into the soil outdoors when they are 1 foot tall.