Float test.

[Angus 1895]

How predictable is the float test.

i harrested these “ green” air dried them, the have meaty white kernels but float. Thanks.

 

[OakSeeds]

Picking them green likely little or nothing to do with why they floated. Acorn weevils (larva) inside the acorn can consume the "meat" of the acorn creating an air space causing the "float."
Also dehydration (possibly from drying too long or too much heat) can cause shrinkage (and loss of weight with removal of moisture) within the acorn ... a dead air space and promoting floating.

If many or all floated, it's likely they are not viable.

 

[Angus 1895]

I must have dried them too much. The meat in them has no larvae, and they taste great!

Can they rehydrate?

 

[Angus 1895]

I soaked a bunch over night over a dozen of them now are sinkers.

I put the rest in water today.

 

[hunts_with_stick]

They are acorns and they taste great? They aren’t bitter?

 

[Angus 1895]

These are wonderful.

Just a slight astringency at the end.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

With some tree species I stopped doing the float test altogether. It isn't quite fool proof and it's really more of an estimation for seed viability. You don't know until you try to get them to germinate.

 

[Catscratch]

What species are they? Float testing works well for me, but I usually have an abundance of acorns and don't need to fool with trying to save iffy nuts. Plus I know the species I work with pretty well and know the float test works good enough. If I had only a few and there was no apparent bug damage I'd try to soak them to see if they became viable. Will they need cold stratification? I'm guessing not if they taste ok.

 

[Angus 1895]

I think some were English oak, and some were Garry oak, and some were hybrid reds. I gathered them over a period of a month in the Pacific Northwest. I was working and didn’t have refrigerator access . Some did fine ( most of them were gathered at the end of the trip.)

I had quite a diversity of them, it’s disappointing but hey, one has to learn some how.

I will have a cooler with peat moss next year.

The ones pictured below are the ones that sank!

 

[Angus 1895]

I soaked a bunch of “ floaters” that I most likely let dry out. ( white oaks) either Garry or English???

In under 48 hours they sank.

They are now sprouting.

 

[Native Hunter]

They are acorns and they taste great? They aren’t bitter?

There are some species of acorns with very low tannins, and humans can eat them without any leaching. One of them is Swamp Chestnut Oak. I tried some the other day. They tasted to me like a chestnut that was still a little on the green side - not bitter, but not sweet.

 

[Angus 1895]

Here is a floating English / White cross I got from Teeder!

looks like it’s a sprouting nicely!

 

[Teeder]

I neglected to tell you, they were also crossed with a pontoon boat.

 

[Angus 1895]

That’s over my head!

 

[Angus 1895]

Ok I get it.