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Acorns to Oaks!

Is the bottom of your bin a screen or all one plastic mold with holes in it?

Experimenting with this years fridge germ'd chestnuts. Some Burr and Swamp White as well. Started several inside, individual in both 5 gal and 2 gal grow bags, and the rest in community pots for the summer.

In the same boat, not sure if I should break up and pot them or let em ride. Maybe fall plant a few of those and carry the rest through winter. Not sure what's best
This what i did.

 
Wondering if this isn't a better method than individual potting. Trees are fighting for sunlight and growing taller quicker than they do in pots.
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How easy will it be to separate the trees/roots when planting in their final spot?
I have 10 growing in a mineral tub and that's my concern. You have a whole lot more than I do, what's your thoughts?
 
I hope so! Curious when I should expect to see some growth popping up?
Chestnuts will die if frozen under 25 degrees F is my understanding. don't know where you're at, but many will mulch them if planting as a nut outside and winter temps dip below that.
I put mine in the fridge and it took 4-5 months for me to see roots. I seen some guys say it only takes a couple months but mine took a lot longer than that.
I currently have 26 trees from 32 total nuts from last year. 70 percent survival is expected from what I read.
 
Even with efforts carrying over chestnuts seems to be a fruitless endeavor. Most die on me. Oaks carry over much easier.
I think peat moss is the ticket for stratification in the fridge. I initially just had mine in a plastic bag with a moist paper towel but after 3 months of not seeing much progress I put moist potting soil in the bags for another couple months and that seemed to help get them going.
 
I think peat moss is the ticket for stratification in the fridge. I initially just had mine in a plastic bag with a moist paper towel but after 3 months of not seeing much progress I put moist potting soil in the bags for another couple months and that seemed to help get them going.
I was talking about carrying over actual potted trees thru the winter (not seed)
 
I was talking about carrying over actual potted trees thru the winter (not seed)
Did you say most of your potted carry over chestnuts die? I don't like hearing that as I was going to try that this year for the first time. Is the work around to just get them in the soil or I wonder what the solution is to that....
 
Did you say most of your potted carry over chestnuts die? I don't like hearing that as I was going to try that this year for the first time. Is the work around to just get them in the soil or I wonder what the solution is to that....
Yes. Dead. Far better fall planting if growing in pots thru summer. I kept them in my garage over the winter. Didn't work for chestnuts. Worked for all the oaks.
 
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Did you say most of your potted carry over chestnuts die? I don't like hearing that as I was going to try that this year for the first time. Is the work around to just get them in the soil or I wonder what the solution is to that....
If you have a barn or some other structure that will keep them dormant but more temperature constant that'd help a lot.

Best solution is to just plant them in early fall to give them plenty of time to "settle" in for winter.

Last fall, some ozark chinquapins I transplanted out of some 2-3 gallon bags are looking great this spring
 
Experiment (seems I keep doing them)

Full disclaimer!!! This may fail miserably.

Took a small amount of my potted trees and keeping them in kiddy pool with couple inches of water.

Idea being the soil will absorb moisture from the bottom significantly reducing or eliminating my need to water.

Trying small amount. See how it works. Could scale up big time if successful.

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Experiment (seems I keep doing them)

Full disclaimer!!! This may fail miserably.

Took a small amount of my potted trees and keeping them in kiddy pool with couple inches of water.

Idea being the soil will absorb moisture from the bottom significantly reducing or eliminating my need to water.

Trying small amount. See how it works. Could scale up big time if successful.

View attachment 127687
It works well for the species i've tried it on,

I do that with persimmons and gamagrass.
 
I've done this exact thing in tubs with the cone-tainers and for most oaks it is the best way hands down. That said, seems like chestnuts dont respond well to it. Interested to hear how it works for you!
 
The vigor off a white oak I’ve found continues to impress me. We’ll see if this young progeny holds the same traits, but thus far that seems to be the case.

The tree growing next to it is a swamp white oak with various Concordia grafted on top. The alba has a fair amount of acorns still holding while the concrodia has a considerable amount more.

4’ ladder for reference. The alba is averaging ~2.5’ of growth a year thus far.

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Planted acorn to growing acorns 2016-2024.

It’s holding them this year and they’re good sized.

This is the type of Quercus alba that may get people to bite for planting in the urban landscapes since it has more vigor than most white oaks.

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Walked a good bit of mine today. Lots of Huge Burr Oak.
Found only one that is producing a good crop.

Last year, this time, bout all oaks had this amount.
 
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