Help with sprouting Chinkapin seeds

[Ouachita]

I was just given a coffee can full of moist potting soil with Ozark chinkapin seeds with about 1/2" root radicle sprouts. Should I try to keep them in fridge and plant this spring? Should I pot them now and send them to a friend with a green house? Should I try to grow them inside the house with fluorescent lights? I am reluctant to plant them outside now, but that is what I would do with white oak acorns. Thanks

 

[yoderjac]

My experience with chinquapin has been starting them indoors. They will germinate almost immediately. In nature, they produce the root radicle and then go through a winter and then produce top growth in the spring. If you put them in the fridge in a ziplock bag with no added moisture (but well hydrated nuts), you can delay the production of a root radicle.

One year, I planted some immediately when they sprouted in the fall and grew them under lights. I did not have enough containers to transplant them and I didn't think they could grow for 12 months without dormancy, so I tried to force a short dormancy. That failed and they died.

Last winter I tried a different approach. I let them develop small root radicles and then planted them in 36s. I placed each tray in an XL ziplock storage bag and placed it in the refrigerator. This is called vernalization. The root radicle grows slowly under these conditions like in nature but no top growth is produced. By the first of the year, I pulled the trays out, removed the bags, and put them under fluorescent shop lights. They produced topgrowth. I then transplanted to 18s, 1 gals, and finally 3 gals in late spring. Here they are now:

I'll be planting these at the farm next week.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Ouachita]

Vernalization it is then . I am ordering the 18 and 32 cell trays. Thanks , Jack

 

[yoderjac]

The 32s allowed me to vernalize more nuts fitting more in the same space in the fridge. However, I didn't really like the extra transplant into 18s. If you have few enough nuts that you can fit them in 18s in the fridge, I would go that route. I also really like the 18 express trays over the regular 18s. They will last much longer and you can rearrange cells in the tray. This allows me to arrange my trees by height. I use fluorescent lights because they are cool and can be placed close to the tree. I hang my lights so I can adjust the height. I hang them at an angle so tall trees on one end are the same distance from the light source as the smaller trees on the other end.

This year, I only have about a tray's worth of nuts, so I'll probably go straight to 18s. Just thought I'd pass this on if you haven't ordered yet.

Thanks,

Jack