Acorn Planting Method?

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My 7 year old daughter collected acorns last fall because she wanted to help dad with the land. We float tested, stored all winter and have about 500 or more acorns that are ready for planting this spring.

She really wants to show me she can plant them herself. Any suggestions on best method so I can let her go and monitor from a distance?

 

[PackerBacker]

Haha... can tell I'm getting old. If I had to bend over that many times, my back would be killing me the next day. Didn't even cross my mind to give her a little hand spade.

 

[PackerBacker]

Oh... her shovel. She got this one last year to help with the apple tree plantings.

I thought she might end up digging to deep of a hole if she used this. I would like her to have a little success so she isn't discouraged. She already wants to flag each one cause she thinks I will run them over with the 4wheeler and kill them. Could probably explain not to put in ground past the top of the sticker.

 

[j-bird]

Spray paint the end of it to the depth you want.

You can also grow some in a 5 gallon bucket of potting soil as well - that is how I get my seedlings and then transplant once dormant. The bucket may give her something to "mother" so to speak and really take some ownership of. My youngest and I - plant a cherry tomato plant every year. She loves to eat "her" 'maters.

 

[Redonthehead]

If the ground is soft, just use your boot to press them into the soil then kick some soil over the top.

 

[j-bird]

When I grow mine in buckets I simply press them into the soil enough to get them covered (I lay the acorn on its side) - mother nature does the rest.

The difficult part with direct seeding - even with 500 acorns is that every critter in the woods will dig them up and eat them if they find them. Even with my buckets on the porch and 3 (50+ pound) dogs running around the tree rats will still steal them right out of the buckets once they find them. The dog must have gotten a hold of one once - I saw a squirrel with only a nub for a tail - I nicknamed him "BOB"!

 

[PackerBacker]

Scheduling just isn't working out to get this project done. Was planning on doing this weekend with her but she decided she would rather go to Frozen on Ice with mom and her cousins in Minnesota. Next week is post-tax season family vacation, and weekend after that got notice that the 9500 trees I ordered from the DNR are coming in.

If radicles are already popping out in the fridge, can I leave there until the 1st weekend in May? Or would it be best to plant in containers until fall and plant then? If the latter, I have never grew trees in containers. What do I need to pick up from the hardware store? I can built a table for them to sit on outside and I know that I will need to enclose so yard-rats don't eat.

 

[j-bird]

Once they start growing you really should get them into some soil in my opinion - they will dry out and die in the fridge. I plant like 5 or 10 in a 3 or 5 gallon bucket - just to allow them to germinate - you can then transplant to individual containers later if needed. Just add drainage holes in the bucket so they don't hold excess water. I simply fill the buckets with potting soil as it is easier on them when transplanting as the soil crumbles much easier - just what I have done.

 

[PackerBacker]

Haven't had a chance to get the majority of the acorns in the ground but did a little family project yesterday afternoon and got all my chestnuts potted as well as some chinquapin and burr acorns.

I think the kids had more fun pretending they were zoo animals inside the cage than they did potting the chestnuts and acorns.





Hoping to get up north next weekend and get the rest of the pin, red, burr and swo direct seeded.

 

[PackerBacker]

If I potted the above on May 9th - should I expect to see something poking out of the soil yet or am I being impatient? Wondering if the late frost killed of the nuts.

 

[PackerBacker]

There is a little of everything in there. The plastic containers and a few of the others are chestnut, then the rest are Burr, SWO, Chinkapin, Pin, Northern Red and white oak.

The red and pin both had radicles when I pulled from the fridge.

 

[PackerBacker]

Took a look at most of them - majority have this going on but nothing poking through the top.

I've never potted chestnuts or acorns before - do I need to move them to a different container or is that normal?

 

[PackerBacker]

Thanks - it is really odd. That patch I planted has no top growth whatsoever but of the handful I checked, the nuts are cracked with green poking out and really long roots.

I hand seeded a bunch the week after and what I couldn't get in the ground, I threw in buckets and put on the porch. Those all have top growth but very short roots.

 

[PackerBacker]

Yes - the roots were growing between the pots and the deck. I got half of them put into a larger container yesterday. I will get the rest taken care of tomorrow night. Thanks for all the help. Without any top growth, I had assumed they had just died.

 

[PackerBacker]

The cage gets direct sunlight throughout the entire day. I have the buckets I planted late right next to it and those already have top growth.

I'm thinking it is a combination of the exposed roots and potting soil. My wife and daughters took care of the nuts in the cage and she only used her potting soil that was left over after putting flowers in baskets around the house. The buckets are a mix of top soil and potting soil and seem to be doing a lot better.

Hoping the rain breaks tonight and I can look everything over and re-pot. Can give a better update at that point.

 

[aerospacefarmer]

Mine were planted in my root trappers over the fall in with my apple rootstocks that failed to produce a successful graft. This was done by squirrel or chipmunk getting his food stored for winter he didn't think I would put them in my garage lol. This spring I noticed something growing and now have 8 inch oaks in my root trappers. Not sure what to do with them but will probably plant them. I think that is the easiest way to plant them Kim

 

[PackerBacker]

I got everything re-potted last week and starting to see a little growth. About 50% of the chestnuts that I had planted where extremely soft when I checked them and when I gently squeezed, turned to mush. Screened in side was planted early. Right side I put out about two weeks later.



Not sure this was the best way to re-pot but got the roots covered and seeing top-growth with a few.



Some of the cups feel apart while inspecting to planted directly into the big clear bucket.



These are the oaks that are on the right hand side. Mostly PIN but a few Burr oaks. Makes me wonder if I should remove the black screen from the other and see if the additional sunlight might help.

 

[PackerBacker]

That has been a big concern but so far my two beagle mixes and the stray cat that lives up in the woods behind the house have done a good job keeping the chipmunks and yard rats away.

Is it as easy as peeling the remaining acorns from the trees or a little more involved?

 

[PackerBacker]

PB,

The chipmunks are going to eventually find them if they still have their nuts and they're not caged. Believe me.

You were right. Forgot all about the trees and took the family and dogs up north for the weekend. Didn't take long for the squirrels to move in.

 

[j-bird]

I took this pic the other day of the white oaks I have in my buckets. Some have done better than others thus far. Once they go dormant I will transplant the entire mass in it's location this fall and start all over again. They seem to be doing well with all the rain we have been getting.