Fertilization occurs the following summer, approximately 13 months after pollination. Cones ripen in early autumn and seeds are dispersed in October and November. Germination occurs the following spring or early summer. Fire provides conditions necessary for regeneration, specifically a bare or lightly covered mineral seedbed free of brushy competition and an open canopy. A thick organic layer is an unfavorable seedbed because seedlings are farther from a constant water supply and the mineral soil.
Seeds require cold stratification to break dormancy.
By seed, following cold stratification. The Red Pine is very cold tolerant and withstands poor soils, but does not like salty soils. It does well in breaks and grove plantings. On older trees the bark forms diamond-shaped, scaly plates and the symmetrical, oval crown can climb to 100' tall.