Acorns to Oaks!

[LoessHillsArcher]

Saw the acorn thief yesterday... a squirrel. He wasn't digging through the chicken wire... yet.

I'm afraid all my DCO acorns aren't going to make it, started digging up some last night and their roots appear dead. Appears that the chinkapin and dwarf chinkapin didn't like my watering while the rest of the acorns handled it ok.

Here you can see the two closest trays are chinkapin acorns and the rest in this row are SWO and Red and growing a lot more/faster. So I started to dig up the chinkapin to see what their roots look like

As I suspected, they're dead. I'm guessing over watered but unsure.

But I've got a bag of reds in the fridge that I'd rather grow anyway and they're waiting to be let loose into some warmer climate than the fridge.

Some of the chinkapin acorns I dug up weren't dead but I tossed them anyway. It was interesting to see how the air pruning on the roots was working already

I put the rest of the red oak acorns in a flat to sprout to potentially fill in more dead spots or possibly plant this weekend out in the woods

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

There is something about collecting acorns in the fall, seeding them, and watching them grow that is very rewarding. One day I hope to see some of these little guys turn into a big oak timber, we'll see how that works out.

Collecting acorns in the fall is so easy. Best to find a park with mowed grass or even better and parking lot with an oak tree that drops the acorns onto cement, much easier to collect. You can gather 100s in a short time! I've been seeding some last fall and also wintered some in the fridge and seeded them this spring. Both methods are working well and the vast majority of the acorns have now sprouted.

I would say these are the average sized ones right now, some of the red oaks were much larger

Right now I'm putting 5ft tree tubes over the acorns, just because I am planting the acorns in locations a bareroot seedling has died and the tube is already there. In the future I think I'll try 2 or 3 ft tree tubes just for simplicity vs messing with larger 5ft tubes. Then as the oaks grow we can put larger tubes or cages on the stronger ones.

Sometimes we get lucky and mother nature cuts a step out for us... in this case it was the collecting and sprouting of the acorns. I found a few young bur oaks sprouting along a weedy switchgrass field so I figured I'd put a tree tube over some of them to see how they respond compared to the ones I left untubed near by.

I only brought 9 tubes/post down so I had to choose a few of the oaks to protect. There are many more around there so we'll get to see how the tubed vs untubed ones do over the next few years.

I even found one sprouted way out in the switch field!

A few years ago I put tree tubes on some bur oaks that were being browsed heavily by the deer, they're doing good. They're not shooting out of the tube like I expected but they are making some progress now that they are protected.

Also instead of direct seeding all the acorns I'm trying to grow some in rootmakers... and honestly I always manage to screw this up it seems. I never know when I've watered too much or too little, are they getting burnt up in the sun or not enough sun?

It always seems I find a way to mess these young oaks up some how. Right now I'm not sure what their deal is... but they don't look super healthy. The leaves on many of them are turning black and curling up

I really have no clue why but I thought maybe it was because it was the way I was watering. I would just take the garden hose and mist the trees down a couple times a day. It is possible our well water might be burning the leaves I suppose? So to rule out this possibly problem I'm just soaking the trays in a tub of water from now on. It's really simple, you get a more thorough watering and avoid burning up any leaves. We'll see if these trees come around yet.

I haven't given up on the rootmakers yet, I'm sure it is user error causing all my problems but man direct seeing acorns seems like an easier method to get more oaks established!

 

[goatman]

Jordan I'm not sure what is going on with your trees. Don't think over watering. Never seen that before. Remember starting in root makers is about making roots branch so they will take off quicker in the ground and hopefully produce acorns quicker. What medium are you using?

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

Jordan I'm not sure what is going on with your trees. Don't think over watering. Never seen that before. Remember starting in root makers is about making roots branch so they will take off quicker in the ground and hopefully produce acorns quicker. What medium are you using?

It could've been under watering more than over watering honestly. As far as medium I used Miracle potting soil and added a little osmocote fertilizer on the top later on (didn't mix it in the soil this time but will next). Some of the red and swamp whites aren't as burnt up but most of the gobbler sawtooths you gave me are looking tough right now.

 

[goatman]

I had trouble watering to much with Miracle soil and chestnuts but not oaks. They don't look under watered. No yellow in leaves. How long do you leave them outside? Last couple of years I've had better luck growing in the shade till there ready for the ground. Don't know for sure but I think those black pots get real hot. Someone surely knows from your pictures if they are sunburned. Always something.

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

Thanks goatman, I try to keep them in the shade in the afternoon oat least. I've got some better pictures. So far it is the bur-gamble hybrids and gobbler sawtooths that are looking the worse. They appear like they'll come out of it though. We shall see. If it matters these acorns were started outside from day one, I've never had them under artificial light so sunlight isn't new to them. I do understand that the powerful midday and afternoon sun can be awfully strong for them though.

Bur-gamble

Gobbler Sawtooth

Chinkapin

 

[goatman]

Any chance you could have some chemical burn? This chestnut oak caught some vapors or drift but the new leaves are regular size.

And it also had a hitchhiker. Might have to spray.

 

[jerred44]

got some swo, bur, dunstan chestnut, dco, and Concordias growing in pots in the back yard,

 

[jerred44]

and some cuttings

hybrid poplar

and some hybrid willows

unfortunately due to lack of time haven't got these in the ground, gonna try to get back and get them in late june prob, doubt they will make it but im hoping for some timely rains to keep them going when I get them into the ground, ill hold the oaks and chestnuts till fall

 

[letemgrow]

Going to be a lot of acorns this year on the DCO's from seed!! Be plenty to share this fall if I can beat the critters to them. NE, MO and IA remnant sources.



All "trees" looks like this....

 

[letemgrow]

Not an oak, but from seed none the less. Found the perfect site for my American Chestnuts. East facing slope with full morning sun. This one is reaching for the sky and growing like a weed!!!

 

[letemgrow]

Concordia Oaks


Lost a couple over the winter to unknown causes. One has about 30 acorns on it so that will be interesting to see if they look hybrid in form by this fall. Spent the day picking out the MFR on the farm to spray, best time of year IMO for that...they stick out like a sore thumb when flowering now.

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

Looking great Phil! How long ago did you plant those seeds? Those are some great looking trees. This year I've taken on your idea of shorter protex tubes and going to cage the trees once they grow out of the tubes. You always grow some of the best looking trees!

 

[letemgrow]

Looking great Phil! How long ago did you plant those seeds? Those are some great looking trees. This year I've taken on your idea of shorter protex tubes and going to cage the trees once they grow out of the tubes. You always grow some of the best looking trees!

Most were 7-8 years ago roughly. The dco's have been producing for a few years now already.

 

[4 Buck]

Im going to have to snag some from you this year Phil....the couple dozen that I planted got toasted somehow. Duno what the deal was, I thought it was a perfect year of growth for them.

 

[goatman]

Yes great looking trees Phil. I too have been noticing acorns lately. Looks like lots of people have lost trees last winter that grew really well last summer.

 

[letemgrow]

Yes great looking trees Phil. I too have been noticing acorns lately. Looks like lots of people have lost trees last winter that grew really well last summer.

Some of mine were smoked just as you described. Not sure what happened to them since they were growing great for multiple years.

Hopefully make it back up there to check some other trees that I never made it around to check the other day.

 

[letemgrow]

Im going to have to snag some from you this year Phil....the couple dozen that I planted got toasted somehow. Duno what the deal was, I thought it was a perfect year of growth for them.

You know where they are, I'd say early early September would be the time to snag them. I may not be around to help depending on the work shift.

 

[Bryan95]

Meant to post pics of when I got these, but I had ordered some trees from mossy oak nativ. The trees delivered fast and arrived in good shape. I transplanted them into some root makers for now. Will be planting and tuning them soon, but I'm happy with buying some trees from there. I wanted to experienent with some different varieties so I ordered some there such as there sawtooth, chinkapin, sawtooth hybrids, swamp chestnut ect. My acorns I have started this year look to be doing very well also, here's a pic of some of mine I started

And here the mossy oak trees after they had been delivered

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

I'm really liking this whole starting trees from seed, specifically oaks right now but looking at doing other trees next year (walnut, kentucky coffee, maples, and hickory).

These are some direct seeded swamp whites. I held them in the fridge much longer than necessary but it shows you have a much longer window for getting them planted vs if you were to get bareroot seedlings. I've had 100% germination rate on these which is a result of doing float test on the acorns and I planted the ones that had just started showing their root radical.

Notice how I burreid the tube 1-2". That really helps stabilize the tube. We'll see if it has any other benefits in the future.

One can also extend their growing season by direct seeding acorns in the fall or winter but also growing them in rootmakers over the summer. These rootmaker grown oaks are doing great!

One of the two Chinese chesnuts that is alive is taking off like crazy!

One DCO acorn did eventually sprout too!

I can't remember if these are all reds or swamp whites but they are putting on their second flush of growth

Gobbler Sawtooths all had to be removed from the tree cart because they've grown too tall

And the acorns I had to replant in the 1gal pots after the squirrel attack have caught up to the others in the 18cell trays quickly! Mix of reds and chinkapins in here and two Gobbler Sawtooths I moved from 18cell trays to 1gal pots

After moving these Gobbler Sawtooths from 18cell trays to 1gal pots they really took off even more. I was pleased with that. They're looking strong

A couple weeks ago I took a tray of the tallest Gobbler Sawtooths out and planted them in their permant home. They're looking great so far.

They are about 18" tall right now