Seedling care

The seedlings that you buy from us are on average 3 years old and 15cm in diameter. They are grown in natural conditions as they would int he forest, without the addition of chemical fertilizers. The Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) seedlings will naturally grow slowly for the first 5 years, but then explode in growth reaching 30 metres high when mature.

The tree is similar to white pine but with huge kernels the size of a pistachio nut. The Korean pine flourishes in a semi-shaded area. It is VERY important to provide the tree shade for its first 2 years. Building a 'shade shelter' around the seedling with a snow fence is one method that works. If you do not protect your young tree from the sun, the bark of the trunk will burn and the tree will most probably die.

Soil

Wherever the white pine grows, the Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) will grow as well. A well drained, sandy, acidic, even poor soil, will be perfect for it. The Korean pine is the only tree that we do not sell bare rooted, it comes in a small bag with earth. It's important that you plant the seedling with the soil provided (but without the bag). This soil has been inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi. This special fungi enables the Korean pine to absorb nutrients from the soil.

Harvest

This tree requires little maintenance. We are unaware of any disease sensitivity. The harvest of the cones is easy as they fall on the ground. The more laborious job is to liberate the kernels and remove the nuts. You will need gloves and a lot of patience as the cones are very sticky! If harvesting this nut on a larger scale, it would be more efficient to mechanise the process. Every cone contains an average of 120 kernels. The Korean Pine will take 10-20 years to produce nuts.

The tree

Korean pine is hardy to zone 2. It is self-fertile, but will benefit from cross pollination with any other Korean pine.

Its origin

The parent trees of our seedlings have been growing for at least 100 years in Canada.

Notes on the photos

The first photo shows a seedling of Korean Pine This is the size your Korean pine will be when you receive it. In the last photo, you can compare the size of the Korean Pine nut with commercialised pistachio and pine nuts (pignon). The pistachio used for the photo is a jumbo sized pistachio. The Korean pine nut is of the size of a regular pistachio nut.