Last fall I collected about 30 tulip poplar seeds and went through the motions. 90 day cold stratification period, starting 11/13/20 and ending 2/11/21. The internet said a cold period of 90 days should give a germination rate of 90% so I didn't think I would be having this issue, but here I am with only a week or two left in the period I should expect germination and I have only had one seed germinate, and then promptly damped off.

I'm more curious as to what went wrong. I will go back to the tree and see if I can find more seeds or ones that are already sprouting, but am disheartened because I really love these trees.
Should I wait even longer for germination? Could I do another cold period? Does light help them germinate? Right now they're sitting on a shelf at room temperature, just out of reach of lights so it's rather dark.

I searched around and couldn't find any more details about how to germinate these seeds except the basics, so if there is any insight one could share with me I would appreciate it!

I don't know about seeds but I have 2 plants of this species I transplanted from my garden to a container and you can have them if you pay for postage.

Gerris2 said:I don't know about seeds but I have 2 plants of this species I transplanted from my garden to a container and you can have them if you pay for postage.

Early this spring I collected 200+ seeds of tulip poplar and the first batch is almost ready to come out the fridge. I would love to have them if I didn't already have an unreasonable amount of seeds getting ready to germinate. Thank you for the offer!

They're 2nd year plants showing good growth. I'll probably have them next year if you change your mind. Good luck with the seeds.