Pick pine cones close to maturity

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Question: I found two pine cones in my pine tree, and they had pine nuts inside them. I remember planting an Italian pine tree 10 years ago. It was a small potted Christmas tree, and I planted it outside. I thought pine nuts are found on pinion pine tree. What is going on here?

All pine cones will have seeds if the female flowers of the pine tree are pollinated. Most of the female flowers will be closer to the top of the tree, and the male flowers toward the bottom. By the time you find a pine cone that has dropped, it is already open and has dropped the nuts that used to be inside. To find nuts inside a pine cone, you must harvest when the seeds are close to maturity, but a pine cone has not yet fully opened.

Bob Morris is an associate professor with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. He can be reached at morrisr@UNCE.unr.edu or 257-5555.