Acorns to Oaks!

[Sligh1]

Well done! Ya- JayEC - get the rootmaker trays. Much better than a standard tray/container, big difference!!!! Big Rock Trees carries them or root makers website. get the 16 cell trays. I personally start out with 16 cell trays, then I move them to 1 gallon molded rootmaker pots. Then.... sometimes I plant after that but most of those end up in my nursery in knit bags underground.

It's crazy how I've had to adapt to different seeds in those trays wanting different soils. My DCO's are BY FAR, HANDS DOWN the fussiest stupid seed to grow!!!! Dang things!!! I do very well drained soil, I've added Perlite, sand, you name it. Better but still fussy. Chestnuts are middle of the road for difficulty, most aren't as fussy. Regular other acorns are pretty simple but I don't do a lot of those cause my place is full of a variety of oaks. Persimmons are pretty good in trays too, not so fussy on soil, etc.
Don't over water DCO's & Chestnuts BTW.

Looking good 1983!!! I'm jealous!! Alvin, my pet chipmunk out there is still stealing a few seeds, I got all my DCO's on deck but ran out of room. Alvin is eating up the chestnuts but thankfully I have a ton & he's a loaner so far.

 

[Bryan95]

Anyone been out collecting acorns? Some have been starting to drop around me. I also ordered 1/2 a pound of DCO's from Troy Pabst in Nebraska and was very happy, received them very quick. Here's some of the dcos, bur white and swamp whites I collected from today

 

[letemgrow]

Anyone been out collecting acorns? Some have been starting to drop around me. I also ordered 1/2 a pound of DCO's from Troy Pabst in Nebraska and was very happy, received them very quick. Here's some of the dcos, bur white and swamp whites I collected from today

Those white oak acorns look like English oak acorns.

 

[Bryan95]

Those white oak acorns look like English oak acorns.

I think they may be a hybrid but I wasn't sure. Not real familiar with English, the leaves and other acorns that hadn't fallen yet were a lot more rounded not as oval

 

[letemgrow]

I think they may be a hybrid but I wasn't sure. Not real familiar with English, the leaves and other acorns that hadn't fallen yet were a lot more rounded not as oval

Very well could be a hybrid, definitely looks English just from the acorn, cap and peduncle.

 

[Tim Hull]

Are you guys having the best of luck just by placing the DCO acorns in the fridge in damp potting soil through the winter?

 

[letemgrow]

Are you guys having the best of luck just by placing the DCO acorns in the fridge in damp potting soil through the winter?

Best luck for me is direct fall planting. They have stored the best for me in the fridge with just them an no peat moss or anything. Everything else I store does best with some peat. Try some both ways and see how it works for ya.

 

[Bryan95]

I prefer storing the acorns alone in bags. Last year was the first year I had tried it and it seemed to work well. I usually use some damp peat for half and the other half I store with nothing. That's my personal preference!

 

[Horncarver]

Back in fall of 2013 I bought some DCO acorns here in SE Nebraska and planted three or four in a six-inch circles in a long row, hoping at least one in each circle would germinate. I had the cleared/sprayed the ground before planting, so in the spring I'd have a good idea where to look for the young emerging trees. As they emerged I would place a two-foot tall tube over them and stake with an electric fence post. In the first fall (2014) the trees ranged in height from 4 to 12 inches within the tubes. Unfortunately, the young bucks in this area raked most of the tubes off and nipped the young shoots to the ground. Most of these nipped trees grew back the next year, but I also planted more acorns where nothing germinated the year before. As you can see in the photos below, in year two (2015) and year three (2016) these DCO's have done quite well with just the two foot tubes, but I have completely fenced about 20 of them from the deer for the time being. While the tubes protected the young trees from rodents and the elements, they have also allowed me spray to around them to keep the grass and weeds at bay.

Fall of 2014

Fall 2015

Fall 2016

 

[darkhollow1]

I've got a bunch of chestnuts and acorns in the fridge waiting to get started. Been a couple years since I've started any seedlings from seed and thought it may be beneficial to get a new grow light. Years past I've started them in the basement mid February under a sub par light. Thought it might be good to invest in something better. What has everyone been using for grow lights? Seems to be quite a few LED options out there now that are fairly inexpensive. Curious what others have tried.

 

[Sligh1]

Good ?!!! I haven’t done much for grow lights. I too may give this a shot this year. I recall LED may be closest to “sunlight” so likely a good route to go, inexpensive and cheap to run. I’d highly suggest starting in rootmaker trays or pots for their advantages on root development. Letemgrow needs to chime in here as well .

Side note.... can’t recall all of pics or posts I’ve put up. Here’s a few years of variation I do in my back yard. Some years I grow a lot. Some I don’t. Fun, easy, lower cost and easy to keep after em. I move em up over a year and then put in my nursery (I think 1st pic is nursery where I got 5 year old trees). Dco, chestnuts, crabapple, pear, persimmon, u name it. Finally dialed in soil and water needs for different trees. Pics r maybe 3 different years & all went to nursery later.

.

 

[Hardwood11]

Has anyone ever taken out cedars and then planted oak/acorns in the same area. My plan is to slowly create more diversity in a large block of cedars....with creating hardwoods, and areas of native grasses.

 

[Hardwood11]

This one is planted bur oak tree in Minnesota, guessing 9-10 years old.

 

[Sligh1]

Thx to a certain someone on here! I did some picking today. I also picked acorns from about 100 Dwarf chinkapin oaks on my farm. Lil natural treasures.

Do some digging. Keep ur eyes peeled and pretty cool what u can find!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bryan95]

Thx to a certain someone on here! I did some picking today. I also picked acorns from about 100 Dwarf chinkapin oaks on my farm. Lil natural treasures.

Do some digging. Keep ur eyes peeled and pretty cool what u can find!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dang!! I need to get me some of those!!

 

[Sligh1]

Looked like a warzone under them. Most the trees had critters get acorns off the trees too.

There’s a Couple that picks acorns in NE & posts on here for sale. Pretty cheap. Watch that. I’ll be buying some of those too. Biggest challenges: making sure critters don’t get em & putting in a well drained soil. They sure are a great tree!!! 5 years and acorns too.

 

[Sligh1]

Did full segment on acorns & oaks. Will air that later but this part touched on dco’s. My ugly mug is maybe half way through. Can see my tree nursery for a second in this segment too. Way more to come. . Hopefully make dbltree smile a bit from above.

 

[Jbohn]

Looking good Skip !!

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

Always great work as usual Skip! Looking forward to seeing some videos of your tree plantings and how-tos on them!

 

[Tim Hull]

The key with any acorn around here is to get the sucker to survive until you can get it into some

Best luck for me is direct fall planting. They have stored the best for me in the fridge with just them an no peat moss or anything. Everything else I store does best with some peat. Try some both ways and see how it works for ya.

Direct fall planting into the ground? or putting them in a rootmaker until around november and then inside???