I just came across a few Cornus mas trees on Ohio State University’s campus that were deeply shaded but still had some fruit on them, that I was able to collect.
I’ve come across a couple resources regarding germination including an old houzz posting
but was wondering if anyone has done this successfully & how. Additionally wondering if anyone knows if drying the seeds for storage impacts the germination rates or methods
Ive germinated them successfully here. Theyre a little tricky. I wouldn’t let them dry out, personally. Im not going to state unequivocally that its a bad idea, but like most plant tissues, the embryo is made mostly of water, yeah? Id suggest soaking them and letting them ferment a wee bit. Make sure you get all of the fruit pulp off of them. I mix them with vermiculite, perlite, or clean washed sand brought to field capacity. You dont want any excess moisture, but you dont want the medium to dry either. Small seeds like Cornus mas I usually put in small sour cream containers- theyre about 4 oz or so. You want the container pretty full, not a lot of headroom and excess air to grow mold.
One thing to know about Cornus mas is it needs double stratification. You want about 90 + days of cold, followed by a similar amount of warmth (less might be OK) followed by another stretch of cold. Theyll germinate during the 2nd stretch of cold stratification. This can take 2 years, but you can do it in a single year if you time it right.
You may want to look at this thread.