Black Gum seeds

Black gum are amazing trees adapted to a wide range of habitats across the eastern half of the continent. They do well on dry upland sites but will grow in other areas. The fruits they produce are edible although I (Nick) am not found of the flavor. Sidney, Ethan, and other friends of mine love the flavor. Human taste aside birds thoroughly enjoy these fruits. Black gum has a vibrant reddish orange fall color. In my experience they are often one of the first species to express color change at the end of summer. The seeds do require cold stratification.

In zone 7 and warmer fall planting of seed works well. In colder climates fall planting may work although we haven’t tried this ourselves. If fall planting is not an option for any reason, the fridge can effectively mimic winter conditions. We recommend that you place your seed into some form of cold stratification upon receiving them. If you are not fall planting them it is best to sow after danger of a hard frost. Our seed has been kept moist from the time it was extracted from the fruit and are currently in a fridge. They will ship with adequate moisture in the bag. If you keep seeds in the fridge over winter be sure to check periodically for mold growth. Surface mold on the seed can easily be wiped off but if allowed to fester the mold can kill the seed. We like to use plastic zip locks in the fridge. A good moisture content will not leave large drops of water inside the bag. A little bit of visible condensation is okay so long as you do not see large drops of water. 

Seed can be sown 0.25”-1.0” deep in soil and covered in 1”-2” of mulch. 

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