Field grown trees anyone?

OakSeeds said:

I would very rarely - if ever - plant a seed / acorn in a container above ground! On that other site (the one that went kafluey), I demonstrated how I developed the milk-carton method of seedling development where I planted acorns in milk jugs in the ground. Unless you have gobs of time to play with your above ground container trees, mother nature is much better at regulating temperature and moisture retention than most of us will ever be. I direct seed whenever possible , and with very little effort protect my seeds from rodents. I always plant 2 acorns in each spot (15" apart) and guess what, more often than not both germinate ... It's easy, just plant acorns that have shot a radical. The attached photo is a picture of a 15 mo old Regal Prince columnar white oak that I guarantee you has a well established root system that will ensure it's rapid growth. Here it is Aug 14 and it is still shooting new growth (picture taken today). Unless it gets extremely dry, I won't have to water it more than once/twice before it goes dormant (and I would water it to promote additional growth not to avoid death) I have no problem with folks who like to putter with above-ground container trees
it's just that I have too much other habitat work and other interests to devote the time and energy that is necessary.

The Regal Prince columnar white oak in this photo is 15 months old with - I guarantee you - a well developed root system. It was a container tree I grew from seed in April 2015 and transplanted September 2015. I expect it to really take off next year.

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OakSeeds said:

Excellent question ... and a big secret to growing nice sized trees in the shortest period of time. I believe the two most important dimensions of getting small trees up and running include a.) eliminating competition - see the mulch around the tree, and b.) providing suffi9cient moisture during the first 2-3 years ... aha, the value of the landscape pot. Studies at Kansas State U. demonstrated that grass growing under an oak tree could/did cut it's growth rate ny 1/2 to 2/3. Eliminating competition is easy - spray with gly before planting and MULCH (I like wood chips - I get them free). Sometimes I place landscape fabric under the mulch (wood or stone mulch). Here's how I answered this question when ask by a nice person in TX some time ago.

Originally Posted by OakSeeds

Even though I am planting a small acorn, I prepare a "planting hole" that is 2-3 feet in diameter and 12-18 inches deep. I plant the acorn (lay it on it's side so the radical grows downward) about 3-4 inches deep (it will be only a couple inches under the soil after moisture compacts the loose soil in the planting hole). I cover the acorn with a piece of hardware cloth or other piece of metal to keep squirrels/other rodents from eating the acorn. I take a 3-gal black plastic landscape pot and cut the bottom out of it; then, I place the pot over the planted acorn and push it down 2-4 inches into the loose soil. The landscape pot serves 3 important purposes; first, it helps to keep rodents and rabbits away from the newly planted acorn or newly growing seedling. Second, the black plastic absorbs sunlight and gives me a greenhouse effect in the early spring with cool days. 3rd, the pot makes watering the tree very efficient with no runoff; all the water goes directly down to the root zone. Finally, I almost always place a cage over the newly planted tree; if you don't, it is very likely deer will browse the central leader off them (make bushes of you tree). I always give direct seeded acorns a good watering when I plant them to ensure the radical has good contact with the soil and that it has the moisture necessary to promote growth. Good luck; contact me if I can be of help in any way.
Thank you very much!!
QUOTE=Tree]I enjoy your threads on direct seeding oaks very much
What is your method of direct seeding white oak acorns in the fall?
Thank you very much..... - Tyler Texas

I removed the person's name simnce I had not secured permission to post his post.

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b116757 said:

My new planting this next spring of a around 500 trees. I’m very seriously considering planting acorns instead of seedlings at least some acorns. I may not be able to source some of the verities of oak that I want as acorns so those will be seedlings. I’m still planning on weed matting and grow tubes for the entire planting.

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ncstewart said:

I have had very good luck over last few year direct seeding. Everyone has there own goals and what not so every situation different. For me though money and time are issues so direct seeding helps me out a lot. I still grow in pots and am trying a new system of planting in raised beds this fall and transplanting next fall.


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yoderjac said:

Rather than simple raised beds, look into Missouri Gravel beds. They had demonstrated some impressive root systems that are easy to extract intact for transplanting. Of course you need a quite large hole to accommodate them.

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ncstewart said:

I’d like to play with that one day. Where I grow tho I have no water nor the time now to invest in that setup. Looks interesting though


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b116757 said:

I am more interested in direct seeding because of the long tap root development and it’s making the trees more drought tolerant from a yong age. I only watered I think 3 times this last summer and it was a chore for 150 or so trees. I’m thinking 500 next year is more than I’m interested in fooling with watering so I was hoping direct seeding may save trees that would die if transplanted. Could get lucky and not need to water at all but that’s a pretty big gamble in my area. The year before this would of very likely wiped out any planting without supplemental watering do to a mid summer drought that ran into late fall. We fed 500 round bales that year it was brutal.

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ncstewart said:

Looks interesting. I just wait till feb or March when ground it good and soaked then poke a hole, drop nut, step hole in and move on


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