Oak Growers......"normal" growth?

[CAS_HNTR]

I grow a bunch different species each year. Sawtooth far outpace the majority of varieties, but I have noticed that my white, red, swo, burr, etc seem to just stall for months then this time of year they take off. Hard to imagine they sit at the same height from may to july.....they grow 2-4 times their height in july and august.

What gives?

 

[Turkey Creek]

I have read that oaks are a two phase grower. Roots actively grow, top rests. Then the top takes a jump and the roots remain fairly inactive. Cant say that it is absolute fact, but it does seem to make sense. I have read that it is best to under cut oaks that are grown in a nursery bed following a top growth flush.

 

[Goldentriangle]

I have noticed the two stage deal on the bulk of my oak plantings also. I remember I hybred oak that Geo had on his Iowa farm that never stopped growing. Man I wish I could've gotten some of those nuts before he sold his farm.

 

[yoderjac]

We have plenty of red and some white oaks in our riparian buffers. These are old mature trees that produce well, so, I don't grow many oaks. Years ago, I planted sawtooth but stopped because they dropped all their acorns before the season and provided no attraction which was my objective at the time. I've since learned that there are several strains and some hold acorns longer. At any rate, the only oaks I'm working with now are Dwarf Chinquapin Oaks. I've found them to be very slow growers. I started them under lights this winter and the largest is now only 23" tall.

So, what I'm about to say is not specific to oaks and my or may not apply to your growing technique. I start my trees indoors under lights in the winter using a root pruning container system. I've been acclimating them to the outdoors about April 15th as soon as our last threat of frost has passed. I'm noticing a general spring stall with my trees. For one reason or another, I had a few trees that did not get acclimated as soon and they didn't seem to stall. My plan for next year is to keep them indoors longer until spring nights warm up more. While above freezing, I think our cool spring nights causes my trees to stall for a bit in the spring instead of keeping growing continuously.

All trees have growth flushes, but what I'm experiencing is beyond that. I don't know if any of this applies to your situation but it may.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[CAS_HNTR]

Jack.......I pretty much do what you are doing regarding growing trees indoors and then moving out in late spring, but you may be onto something with the colder nights in spring making them stall out for a while. I may have to consider doing some of each next year.

Seems odd though as some species, chestnuts specifically, don't ever seem to stop growing where my SWO and Burr oaks have been pretty much the same height for over 6 weeks under the exact same conditions.

 

[yoderjac]

Jack.......I pretty much do what you are doing regarding growing trees indoors and then moving out in late spring, but you may be onto something with the colder nights in spring making them stall out for a while. I may have to consider doing some of each next year.

Seems odd though as some species, chestnuts specifically, don't ever seem to stop growing where my SWO and Burr oaks have been pretty much the same height for over 6 weeks under the exact same conditions.

I actually noticed it with my chestnuts first. Last year for one reason or another, a couple chestnuts got left behind under lights and didn't get moved out as soon as the others. They are the subjects of this thread: http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.p...h-rootmakers-transfered-from-qdma-forum.5556/ I think the most significant part of the accelerated growth is due to the timely transplant to larger containers, but I think some of it may be due to the lack of a spring stall.