Direct planting acorns

[Wind Gypsy]

My house is on 6 acres in zone 4a just northwest of the minneapolis metro area a little ways and I'd like to plant a handful of oak trees. I have too many projects on the books to deal with potting acorns or planting bareroots for the next couple years but I do have easy access to a large supply of white oak acorns and likely plenty of reds too. Any reason it wouldn't work to collect a pile of acorns, 24hr float test them and direct plant a few hundred shortly after with that "squirrel" acorn planting tool? I could protect any seedlings that are looking good at a later date. Anything different with timing of reds and whites that should be considered?

Other factors:
- There is very low deer browse pressure as my property borders a neighborhood with zero wildlife value.
- Planting will be into what is currently a dense buckthorn jungle that I am clearing out.

 

[yoderjac]

From a plant perspective it works great, just like nature. However, keep in mind that nature's germination rate is very low (total nuts that drop vs new trees that mature). Your success rate is completely dependent on predation. Squirrels and other critters can dig up nuts. All kinds of creatures can nip them off. Some that germinate will naturally be slow growers and poor performers. The reason I went to starting trees in rootmakers under lights in the winter is because of the improved success rates. There are several opportunities to cull trees so when I get to planting them in the field, they are the best and brightest growers. That let me feel comfortable investing in protection of the young trees.

Another option that has worked is direct seeding and protecting the nuts from squirrels with screening and tubes. The problem with that is the investment in time and cost for protection for many nuts that won't germinate or will struggle.

When you are time limited, there is nothing wrong with just "squirrel planting" nuts, just be prepared for low success rates.

 

[Teeder]

What yoder said.
You could plant a few in the ground per spot, put brush/branches around them for protection and the protect the best that come up.
Whites and reds germinate at different times. A lot of white varieties should have quite a bit of root by now. I planted mine in pots in the basement 2-3 weeks ago and I have a bunch sprouted now. Reds germinate later in the spring.
I do have a handful of a possible swamp white hybrid leftover that I got from b116757 that i could send to you. I put about 30 in pots and they're just starting to root.

 

[Angus 1895]

If I was you I would wait till spring and get some trees dug up.

I can’t believe the amount of oak growing from Forest Lake to Moose lake I am very envious indeed.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

To clarify, I’m talking about collecting acorns next fall and planting them then. There is an amazing stand of mature white oaks on the city land directly across the street from my house. That was going to be my primary source.

Clearing nearly 6 acres of buckthorn jungle is going to take up most of my spring and summer at home and it’s going to get a nice blanket of herbicide so I don’t want to plant anything until that is done.

 

[Teeder]

Oh, well that works better!

 

[Teeder]

If you ask nicely, maybe someone on here will send some other varieties next fall.
Would be nice to have diversity.

 

[Angus 1895]

The way I understand white oaks are not nearly a hardy of an acorn. I would suggest gathering them as soon as they drop and store them in a refrigerator that doesn’t have produce in it. I got a bunch of White oak mid summer a few years back near Cambridge, they germinated very well.

 

[trapperm]

I believe it to be a low success rate doing so. If you want to enjoy the process have at it but if you want an end result to enjoy, personally I think you’d be well served buying seedlings and transplanting instead.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Thanks for the input thus far. I looked at it as an easy way to get a few trees growing even if success rate is low. It sounds like collecting a few hundred acorns, float testing them, and then using a squirrel tool to plug em in the ground quick might be just as much work as sticking 20 seedlings in the ground and protecting with a cage.

I can hunt on this little spot now but its not worth much and I'm assuming I'll be a 10 acre block of woods that's surrounded by residential development within 5 or 6 years. So really what i'm going is trying to make my home property "nice" by replacing the buckthorn jungle with more desirable trees knowing there wont be hardly any deer use in the near future.

 

[Native Hunter]

I have a white oak in my front yard that drops a lot of acorns in some years. I can remember a few time when I did my first lawn mowing the next spring that I would mow down over a hundred small oak seedlings about 4 inches tall. They would somehow be able to get a grip in the short grass, germinate and come up that quickly.

 

[b116757]

I like to plug the acorns in the spring and flag them then come back latter in the summer and tube any that germinate. I find that fall plugging is much less productive do to predation.

 

[The Fishman]

I have direct seeded thousands of acorns over the years. I planted a few hundred this afternoon. The main problem I have with direct seeding is that you never know where you are going to get seedlings. Things grow quickly in the South and the hardest part is trying to keep the competing vegetation down. You may be able to handle this since you live on your property. Try it next fall and see if it works for you. Direct seed the white oak acorns in the fall. Keep the red oak acorns in the fridge and direct seed them in the spring. Use the squirrel tool if you already have it. If you don’t already own it, use a dibble bar or metal rod to form the hole. That squirrel tool is expensive for what it is. This article may provide additional useful information.

https://extension.msstate.edu/sites/default/files/publications/publications/P1588_web.pdf

 

[b116757]

Amazon.com

My acorn planting weapon of choice what is this squirrel tool?

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I like to plug the acorns in the spring and flag them then come back latter in the summer and tube any that germinate. I find that fall plugging is much less productive do to predation.

Is there a particular storage method that should be used over the winter?

 

[b116757]

Amazon.com

My acorn planting weapon of choice what is this squirrel tool?

I found the squirrel planter

 

[b116757]

Is there a particular storage method that should be used over the winter?

I keep them in a fridge in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel in the bag. I open the bags about every 3 weeks I don’t really know if that’s necessary but I do it.

 

[b116757]

The white oak group of acorns maybe better planted in the fall because the radical on some verities of them gets quite long even in the fridge to the point it’s difficult to do anything with them without injuring it.

 

[nwmn]

What I've done in the past (this fall was most rescent) is collect a bunch with my bag a nut collector and then broadcast them either through a broadcast spreader (I borrowed my local co ops fertilizer spreader for my 20 acre planting years ago) or load them in the back of your truck and use scoop shovel to manually do it and have someone drive while you try and stay upright in the back and throwing them out the back. The first time I tried this I did it into harvested wheat and had the ground disked lightly to cover seed and this fall I had ground prepped and then went over it with a multiweeder to get some coverage.

Maybe this is a different method than what you're looking to do. I was planting bur oaks, which is the only variety in my area. They tend to send out radicles quickly so fall planting is ideal. Reds would probably work in the spring? My DNR does a cost share payment for this project so it covers the fuel and time spent doing it.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Oakseeds is the "direct seed" authority

His posts and techniques are helpful and informative

bill