Growing Honeylocust From Seed

[Bottomland]

I just wanted to share a little project with ya'll. I grow lots of different species of fruit and mast trees every year to plant on my farm and share with others. Here in the Deep South, we love a honeylocust tree. I've heard that many people in other parts of the country hate them and cut them down, but down here they are a fantastic food source and a great place to bowhunt during October on through the season. The deer love to eat the pods, especially the older they get since the pulp inside ferments.

In my part of Mississippi, we have alot of large native honeylocust scattered around, and they are good places to hunt, but a few years ago I was introduced to grafted thornless honeylocust varieties that specifically produce BIGGER and MORE pods. I have two varieties, Calhoun and Hershey, which I planted about 5 years ago in one of my food plots (they were several years old at the time of planting). Unfortunately I can't find my photos of this past summer as the pods grew on these trees, but it would blow your mind. The largest pods were over 2' long and I can't even estimate how many pounds these trees produced.

Last year, I learned how to collect and propogate wild honeylocust trees from seed with great success, so this year I decided to do the same process with these thornless, enhanced varieties.

 

[Bottomland]

A few pods I collected back in Nov/Dec. I let them dry out a little more in my garage before attempting to harvest seeds.

 

[Bottomland]

In order to collect the seed from the pod, you have to remove the part of the pod that's full of pulp, and on the opposite side, there are multiple seed cases that each hold one seed loosely. You have to break that seed case open to get the seed out.

 

[Bottomland]

Once I collect the seeds, I drop them in water to see which ones are viable. HOWEVER, I still stratify ALL of the seeds. Last year I had multiple seeds germinate that had been bored into by pests.

 

[Bottomland]

The seeds need to be stratified before they will germinate. In nature this happens as the ingested seeds go through an animals intestinal track. We do it by bringing a pot of water up to boil, dropping the seeds in, killing the heat, and letting the seeds soak until the water has completely cooled. The seeds will swell 3-4 times their original size.

 

[Bottomland]

After soaking for a few hours, most of the seeds are swollen. At this time we can plant them. I'm leaving them on a wet paper towel in a ziplock to help them germinate.

 

[Charlieyca]

good stuff, I have seen the pods before but never knew they were a food source for deer. Do they browse the tree or the pods while green, or only the dried pods?

 

[Bottomland]

From my experience, they eat the pods when they turn black and dry out, because at this point they usually fall from the tree so the deer can get to them. I have some trail cam pics I will post later of deer standing under the trees looking up waiting for the pods to fall, haha.

 

[Charlieyca]

thanks for sharing, i probably would of cut one down if not for seeing this.

 

[Bottomland]

thanks for sharing, i probably would of cut one down if not for seeing this.

I have heard that depending on the further north you go and the soil type, that the deer prefer honeylocust less and less. Obviously, I don't have any research or data to back that up. If you find a tree on your place, put a camera up under it during the late summer and see if deer browse on the pods as they drop. Mossy Oak Nativ Nurseries has a note on their website on the honeylocust page that says "Keep in mind that Southern soils produce sweet pods, while the pods tend to be less attractive in northern soils." I have no idea where those boundaries are but I can tell you in the Deep South where I'm at, they absolutely love them.

 

[Charlieyca]

There is a huge one in our neighborhood park. May try to snag some seeds and see how they like them in NC.

 

[Sampson]

Bottomland,

I have never heard of deer eating them either but we do have a few of the regular honey locust trees in my area. I will see if my buddy still has a couple on his farm and see if I can set up one of my cameras on it. When do the bods generally start to fall from the trees? I have very limited knowledge about these trees and really only have been taught to recognize them so you can avoid a flat tire on your tractor. Great information by the way.


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[Turkey Creek]

That is a neat project. We do everything we can to eradicate Honey Locust here though as they are very invasive so I wont be propagating any. I have seen deer eat the pods here/

 

[Nebraskaz71]

That is a neat project. We do everything we can to eradicate Honey Locust here though as they are very invasive so I wont be propagating any. I have seen deer eat the pods here/

Aint that the truth, and the thorns!! 9" long on some of the trees lol

 

[willy]

I have killed many honey locust on the farm because of the thorn issue along trails that tires use and where I wanted to get sunlight to the forest floor.

They are legumes so they do help the soil nitrogen stock and I have seen many deer eat them and my wife's first buck had a belly full of them, as have several other deer when I have checked late season.

I think they are a good tree but the thorns have made them an enemy of mine along with osage but I keep them where they fit into the habitat plan and are producing food.

 

[Bottomland]

I'm just reminding y'all, I understand the wild trees have thorns and are a nuisance. My trees are THORNLESS trees that were bred for bigger and better pod production. I got them from David Osborn (Wildlife Growers). He's a whitetail researcher from UGA

 

[Bottomland]

This pictures are from mid December. This Calhoun thornless honeylocust was still holding most of the pods, so I shook down as many as I could. The deer found them quickly.

 

[Charlieyca]

Both the trees I found had HUGE thorns, maybe I will find a thornless variety to get started.

 

[Bottomland]

Both the trees I found had HUGE thorns, maybe I will find a thornless variety to get started.

I've already planted all my seed for this year, but remind me next February and I'll send you some seeds and/or scion wood from my trees.

 

[Charlieyca]

Thanks, My plate is full this spring thanks to some sawtooth acorns and persimmon seeds from some members. I will get in touch next year.