Acorns to Oaks!

[LoessHillsArcher]

Things are growing very well, we just picked up under 2" of rain last night and for July that is huge. The oaks in the 18 cell rootmaker trays are doing great for the most part. Of course some haven't made it but most are getting to the point they need moved out of the tray. I've learned quickly and the hard way how fast they can be killed if not watered well enough. I'm really liking soaking the whole tray in water to get a complete soaking vs. watering from the top. At this point some of the larger oaks have a heck of a root system packed into those little cells and it is taking more frequent waterings to keep them alive.

Last week I planted about 40 of these oaks on the farm. With this summer being fairly consistent with rains I'm hoping to get some more in the ground this week. We don't always gets Julys with this type of weather so this is a nice surprise!

These bur-gamble hybrid oaks did awesome in the 18cell trays and had some awesome root systems when I planted them.

The two DCO acorns that survived

And the 2nd Chinese Chestnut that survived. The first one is huge now after being transplanted to a 1gal pot but this one got a little dry at one point and I thought I lost it. But it has bounced back and is doing better

Here are the oaks in the 1gal pots. These were all planted 2-4 weeks after the oaks in the 18cell trays but they caught up very quickly

And here is where I've been planting the oaks from the 18cell trays to, filling in places where we had high mortality in a previous tree planting. This July weather has everything growing like crazy.

Here is the root system on one of the red oaks that was ready to come out of the 18cell rootmaker tray. I think I could've kept it in here a bit longer but I would've had to really watch it for moisture as the cell was so full of roots they can easily dry out after a hot day or two. With the cool weather we've had recently and all this moisture we are lucky to be able to plant these trees in July with a heck of a good chance at them surviving!

Also something I'm really liking is just direct seeding the acorns. Another way to get more oaks planted in a year and the success I've had with it this year has been great. This red oak is about 18" tall already and is putting on another flush of growth.
Check out these red oaks that I started from direct seeding acorns this spring. They're about 1.5ft tall and going strong
[img]https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11659492_10101120772225653_3987752307424117042_n.jpg?oh=7d783dbcce80b261f762505fcad0b018&oe=56102A98[/img]

 

[IowaBowHunter1983]

Looks awesome. Where do you procure the tree tubes?

 

[letemgrow]

Looks great Jordan. I prefer direct planting acorns also; one and done planting style that works great for spring or fall planting.

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

Thanks guys! We'll see how they look in 10yrs!

Looks awesome. Where do you procure the tree tubes?

We've used Miracle Tubes from Mike Hamilton in Robins, IA. (Phone: (319) 804-0211 cell (319) 573-0615) I believe those are still his current phone numbers. I haven't ordered from him in a long time since we really stocked up on our last order.

We've also used the blue Pro-Tex tubes and you can order those online at [URL="http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/Products.asp?mi=16231"=Forestry Suppliers - ProTex tree tubes]http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/Products.asp?mi=16231[/URL]

Both have their pros and cons. I used to be huge on the miracle tubes and hated those ProTex ones the first year we used them. But once we figured out what to do to make them work and sturdy they are really a nice tube. Just take more time to assemble and it really helps to burry the bottom of the tube in the ground to make it stronger.

 

[Sligh1]

I have mikes contact info too if any trouble. I'll vouch for him- I placed order and he promptly got back to me and I had supplies very fast. Good prices and very good product. I didn't like blue tubes at all but that's me. I just had nothing but problems but I know Jordan and guys on here have figured them out. I'm staying away from them & going with mikes tubes but like I said- I ain't saying blue ones can't work, I just had horrid luck.
Above all looks awesome!!!! I moved 18 cell trees to 1 gallon. I have some trees in 1 gallon root maker that I put in there June 2014 and some I'm gonna watch em and leave em in there for now. May move up to 5 gallon this summer- we'll see. Only small amount cause don't need to fill my garage again this yr.

 

[jerred44]

can someone help me please I have a bunch of different seedlings, between moving them some dying, weather and kids, i cant tell whats what, I started with Swo. Dco. Sawtooth. Bur. concordia, And English oak, hopefully u can tell me what I have

 

[jerred44]

pics #1

 

[jerred44]

pic #2

 

[jerred44]

pic #3

 

[jerred44]

pic #4

one on the lft and one on the right

 

[jerred44]

pic #5

one on the left and im pretty sure a rabbit got a leaf on the rt one

 

[jerred44]

pic #6

 

[jerred44]

pic #7

 

[jerred44]

pic #8

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

Shoot, it is hard for me to say Jerred. I planted a variety of oaks in rootmaker 18 cell trays and if I didn't have them labled I'd have a hard time telling them apart myself. It's tougher (for me) to ID oaks when they are so young.

Not often in mid-July is it wet enough that I'd feel comfortable planting trees out of rootmaker trays but there's plenty of moisture in the soil, especially in this spot that is low ground that is semi-shaded and has a good dead grass mat on top of the soil.

I loaded up the 4-wheeler with enough items to get 18 trees in

I pounded all 18 of the post in first and then dug the holes next, take a look at that grass mat from killing the brome last fall with Oust XP and gly (***I have one small concern about using these metal T-post and that is when it comes to removing them ~10yrs down the road. I try to not put them in the ground very far and also try to plant the tree closer to the bottom of the post, down in a small "hole" so less of the roots are likely to wrap around the post. I'm sure we'll have some root damage when it comes time to remove these post. I suspect that using round, metal electric conduit would lead to less root damage than these metal T-post. I'll begin using some metal conduit next year as a test )

I found out this was some heavier clay soil and had lots of moisture in it. Seems like these swamp white oaks should enjoy this type of spot! These have been in the rootmakers only 3 months exactly and were ready to get out. They had reached their max I'd say

I planted the trees about 1" below the soil line so I bury the tube. But before putting the tube on I had brought along a 2gal bucket and I watered each tree. My one concern with planting these trees in a "bowl" below the soil surface is that with the heavier clay soils there is a potential that they won't drain well enough and I could've just created a problem by having standing water during very wet times right over the young oaks. We'll see if that comes around to bite me in the rear later

The root systems these rootmakers produce is great!

Here you can see the buried tubes

And the finished product. Got 18 in the ground in about 1.5 hrs.

 

[Barrett's Dad]

LHA - looks great! Thanks for the detailed pics of your process.

You do a ton of habitat work on your place. And you have your "ducks in a row" prepping the planting spots the fall before....I wish I had enough foresight for that.

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

LHA - looks great! Thanks for the detailed pics of your process.

You do a ton of habitat work on your place. And you have your "ducks in a row" prepping the planting spots the fall before....I wish I had enough foresight for that.

Thanks! We've tried it enough not prepping the spots the fall before that we're tired of fighting it... so we just prep the fall before. It makes things go much smoother.

 

[Barrett's Dad]

LHA - what is your Oust and Gly process in the fall? And when in the fall do you do it?

I always seem to struggle with "per acre" spray amounts when all I would need to do is hit a few (or a lot) of "spots" for tree planting the next spring.

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

LHA - what is your Oust and Gly process in the fall? And when in the fall do you do it?

I always seem to struggle with "per acre" spray amounts when all I would need to do is hit a few (or a lot) of "spots" for tree planting the next spring.

I can't remember off hand but I typically go light on the Oust and heavier on the Gly. That Oust is powerful stuff and kinda scares me how such a little amount of product goes a long ways and can have such a big impact. I'd say 0.5oz of Oust and 1qt of Gly per 2.5 gal backpack. A couple ouncess of high concentrate crop oil and that seems to do the trick!

 

[Barrett's Dad]

LHA - awesome, thanks very much for the information! I will try to do some fall prep this year so I'm not fighting through weeds and other stuff to plant trees in the Spring of 2016. Appreciate the help.