If you can reach most or many of the lower limbs, spread a tarp under the tree and shake the limb. Also, you can throw a rope over limbs shortly out of reach and pull on both ends of the rope simultaneously to shake the limb. Pick up the 4 corners of the tarp sending acorns to a pile in the middle of the tarp for easy pickup. This way you'll have fresh acorns right off the tree that have not touched the ground for possible contamination.
Collected Acorns yesterday.
- Thread starter BuckSutherland
- Start date
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Well Buck - you don't suffer from lack of help !! Those girls are gonna be watching for baby trees hatching come spring.
Good luck on the oak trees. Long-term project but well worth the effort. Nice set-up for winter under the lights.
Good luck on the oak trees. Long-term project but well worth the effort. Nice set-up for winter under the lights.
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
They are starting to germinate. A few of them the tap root seems like its all the way to the bottom of the cup already. LOL. Nothing poking upward yet, but I am happy to see the germination. I have pretty well settled on planting 50 trees into tubes and laying down cardboard around the base to suppress weeds at the hunting land next spring. The rest of the trees will be given away or planted in other spots. I will probably have 150 trees in total growing in the basement this winter. I might hold onto some of them and grow them for two years before I finally plant them up north, but that will mean moving to much bigger pots along the way.
![IMG_6692[1].JPG](https://habitat-talk.com/data/attachments/26/26496-6361ae1670a19ab53f19bb983dadfd85.jpg "IMG_6692[1].JPG")
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
Last Wednesday I finally had one emerge. This is what it looks like 5 days later. 23 more have emerged since. I have about 20% have not sprouted yet. I ordered new air pruning pots to put them in and they should be here soon. Think I’m gonna have way too much fun with this.
MilkweedManiac
5 year old buck +
Great thread! I had read somewhere else that acorns from the white oak family do best when they can put down a radical in fall, but then have a few months of cold before pushing up top growth (vernalization I think?) in the spring, but I have wondered how they would do just skipping the “fake winter” process of refrigerator storage and growing in pots immediately with no dormancy period.
They look great.
They look great.
finahol
A good 3 year old buck
Looking good Buck! I have done it both ways. Much because I am impatient. My experience is that it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference starting in fall vs. late winter, but they grow much more slowly during winter and there is no real difference by next summer in size of the seedlings. So now i tend to leave them in the fridge until feb/march and don't have to worry about over/underwatering them all winter. Go for it if it makes you happy! I will say that putting a fan near the seedlings on a timer for a few hrs each day helps them grow to a bigger caliper for the springs transplants into 1 gal root pruning pots in my experience. Always learning.
finahol
A good 3 year old buck
Another thought. You will be amazed at the taproot those oaks will grow and the styro cups just aren't the best for them. I have started using rm-18's or 10" deep plug type starter pots to grow the seedlings. It's a bit of an investment but they get a better start and the taproot doesn't circle around the bottom. You will always lose a few, but the survivors have a better chance to grow to adulthood. Learning from experience. Best of luck!
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
Just so we’re clear.....I have no idea what I am doing. LOL. It was just an idea for me to have something to putz with this winter. I am gonna put them into these root pruning pots most likely on Sunday during the Vikings game. I have 25 one gallon pots to eventually transfer some. I still have about 750 acorns in the fridge that I will experiment with along the way. Goal is to plant and tube 50 of them on the hunting land next spring.
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
The taproot is poking out of the bottom of the 4” cups on a bunch of them. I have slots cut into the cups. Hopefully by Sunday night they are in those air pruning pots. They were recommended to me by Dudley at Nativ Nurseries.
MilkweedManiac
5 year old buck +
I know. It’s such an addiction when you get into it. I’ve made fun of my students for playing Minecraft but I guess I’m guilty of the same kind of thing trying to put nut and fruit trees strategically around food plots!
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
I ended up getting about ten trees to germinate and grow out of this tree with the massive acorns. I don’t have a window on the south side of the house so I have been relying mostly on my grow light for the majority of the winter. They are really starting to look good and I am getting them some good sun on the west side of the house a few days a week. I hope to get them in the ground about 75 days from now. They are in one gallon pots. They will get some time outside on the deck during warmer days.
Scarecrow
Yearling... With promise
Just throwing this out there in case you didn't know. I learned the hard way and hate to see you lose some trees. Windows (and grow lights) filter out certain rays from the sun. You want to gradually introduce those trees to the outside sun. The 1st few times (for a couple of hours) you bring them outside do so on overcast days or in the shade. Then start moving them outside in the sun early morning or very late afternoon for a few hours at a time.
The 1st time I started trees (chestnuts and oaks) inside from seed....and even cuttings (ROD)....I burned up quite a few because I moved some outside into direct sun. It only took an hour or so and I cooked quite a few trees.
The 1st time I started trees (chestnuts and oaks) inside from seed....and even cuttings (ROD)....I burned up quite a few because I moved some outside into direct sun. It only took an hour or so and I cooked quite a few trees.
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
^^^Thanks for the heads up. I have been having the fan blow on them once in a while to simulate wind.
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
So with being stuck at home for the past few weeks I have been slowly introducing my basement trees to real sunlight. I am now leaving them outside in full sun for 8+ hours a day when it’s nice out. I found a bunch of deer shit behind the house and dug that into my potting mix along side the trees roots. They are looking pretty darn good. They have really started to perk up with the poop and sun. Must say I’m pretty happy. Hope to socially distance myself and get them into the ground by the hunting shack around May 1. 30 days and 187 miles to the shack never seemed so far away.
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