BEECHNUT STORAGE - A REVIEW AND PRACTICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE

Beechnuts are not easy to store or long-lived in storage. They exhibit storage characteristics between those of 'orthodox' and 'recalcitrant' seeds. Superimposed upon this is a pronounced dormancy which is overcome by between 4 and 20 weeks of moist chilling. Pretreatment periods of 15-20 weeks occupy most of the time between collection in October and sowing the following April; hence short-term storage is a combination of moist storage and pretreatment. Most evidence points to the best short-term storage/pretreatment conditions being 0-5-degrees-C at 28-32 per cent moisture content (m.c.) (fresh weight basis). Long-term storage requires a period at low moisture content and the best conditions appear to be 10 per cent m.c. and - 10-degrees-C or below. The relative merits of overcoming seed dormancy before or after dry storage are reviewed. There is no consensus about which sequence is best but the former procedure is likely to be preferred by nursery managers because it allows storage of non-dormant nuts which can be withdrawn from store and sown immediately.