[ThomasR]

I have been given some chilean pine seeds and have germinated 2 after only two weeks what is the next step? I germinated them by putting them in the fridge for two weeks and then putting them in to a 50% compost and 50% sand mix which i have kept warm and moist. Can anybody help me to continue the growth of the seedlings?

[pgkevet]

When i ventured into growing them from seed I stuck them in modules in the conservatory and let them get on with it... and had  decent enough germination rate (3 out of 5). The problem i found was that they don't like being transplanted and I had losses each time I went up in pot size.
I got a deal on 30 x 2 year old trees and lost one or two of those each time I went up in pot size. Last transplat was about 1 month ago. I lost 2. One was looking sick before transplant but the other looked as healthy as the ret and i was careful with handlng the soil ball from their previous pot.
I only have one of my original sown trees and 26 or 27 of the bought batch.

They are now in large deep pots and will stay thus for another 2-3 years before going out into the field when big enough to compete. Where i aim to put them permenantly does have lost of high weeds and grasses and even with a membrane surround they'd be pushed to get light unless a good size. they'll be in two groves of 15 - one each side of my valley towards the top of my fields to spread the risk. I'm after their nuts as a food source (for my descendants?)

To be fair i've had the same sorts of losses with bare root frost tolerant variants of pecan and hickory nut seedlings too.