How to Grow Rhus Glabra Seeds

Soak the Rhus glabra seeds in a bowl full of 120 F water. Let the water cool completely. Pour off the cool water. Pour more 120 F water onto the seeds and soak until the water cools.

Prepare a planting container for the Rhus glabra seeds while they soak. Fill a 3-inch-deep nursery tray with seedling compost. Mist the seedling compost with a spray bottle until the top inch is saturated.

Spread the Rhus glabra seeds 1/4-inch apart across the surface of the seedling compost. Cover the seeds with a 1/2-inch-thick layer of seedling compost. Mist the compost with the spray bottle until it is saturated.

Spread a 1/4-inch-thick layer of wood shavings across the surface of the seedling compost to help keep it moist and regulate the temperature.

Place the nursery tray outdoors in a cold frame, under a sheltered porch or beneath a tree with light shade, depending on what is available. Choose a spot offering some protection from hard frost.

Moisten the seedling compost periodically during the winter months if no rain falls. Spritz the compost with a spray bottle so that the top inch remains moist at all times.

Remove the wood shavings in spring when outdoor temperatures reach 68 F. Move the nursery tray to a sunny spot as soon as warm weather returns.

Watch for germination three weeks after moving the nursery tray to full sun. Thin the Rhus glabra seedlings to one every 2 inches once they produce a pair of mature leaves.

Transplant the Rhus glabra seedlings into individual 1-gallon nursery containers filled with garden soil once they grow to 3 inches in height.

Keep the individually potted Rhus glabra seedlings in a shade house or under a tree with light shade for one to two years before planting them in the garden. Provide supplemental water only when the soil dries out completely in the top inch.