how to protect direct seeded acorns

[TreeDaddy]

last fall i attempted to protect direct seed white oak, chinkapin oak, and live oak by cutting 5 ft tree tubes into thirds and securing to ground withPVC

i scratched soil with fork end of small hammer,planted seed and secured with above described protection

abysmal failure as 90% were destroyed and dug up by rodents,hogs,etc

how do others protect seeds

thanks,

bill

 

[chickenlittle]

I don't know how you'd keep them from hogs.

I used tin cans inside an 18"plastic mesh tube for chestnuts I put out a few weeks before last frost. That worked good until the chestnuts were about a foot tall and a squirrel figured out he could chew through the plastic mesh.

 

[The Fishman]

Someone on this site or another site used 12-18" of 3-4 inch PVC and window screen. They planted the acorn, drove the PVC 4 to 5 inches into the ground, and then shoved the window screen into the top to close the top opening. This will work with rodents, but probably won't work with hogs. You will need to remove the PVC once the seedling gets started and replace it with a tree tube.

I tried direct seeding acorns with no protection last year and had a 5-10% success rate. Squirrels got alot of them, but they did not find them all. I used a dibble bar to make a hole to drop the acorn in and then covered it with my foot. I did this about every three feet.

 

[yoderjac]

last fall i attempted to protect direct seed white oak, chinkapin oak, and live oak by cutting 5 ft tree tubes into thirds and securing to ground withPVC

i scratched soil with fork end of small hammer,planted seed and secured with above described protection

abysmal failure as 90% were destroyed and dug up by rodents,hogs,etc

how do others protect seeds

thanks,

bill

I understand that your climate may not allow what mine does, but protection is one of the reasons I don't direct seed. I found it a lot of work trying to protect nuts through the winter and early spring. When the nuts don't germinate or germinate but are weak seedlings, I put in a lot of time with nothing to show for it.

That is why I investigated root pruning and starting them early indoors. When I plant a 5+ foot tree after one growing season, I have high confidence the tree will be successful. While it is even more work, I find it a fun cabin fever cure so I don't count that time as lost. However, any time in the field protecting nuts that don't end up being quality trees I count as time lost. By starting with many more nuts than I can handle, I can cull down to the best trees.

While this works well for me, I can see where direct seeding may be a better choice for folks in drier climates.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[The Fishman]

Catscratch has recommended the PVC and window screen method. Here is a photo of his protection method.

This researcher paper discusses a cage that protects against rodents and boar. I don't think anyone sells them and it looks like an awful lot of work to make one.

 

[Catscratch]

Catscratch has recommended the PVC and window screen method. Here is a photoof his protection method.

This researcher paper discusses a cage that protects against rodents and boar. I don't think anyone sells them and it looks like an awful lot of work to make one.

Good find! I doubt that system would do much against a hog though.

 

[Lee Haakenson]

Direct seed a bunch in small area and drop a mature tree (top) over that area.

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[Redonthehead]

Below is a picture from 5 years ago. Look close to see a 5" chestnut sprout. Aluminum flashing rolled in a tube and sunk 2-3 inches deep. I did have a few stomped on by deer - since I've had great success I go ahead and add a tree tube now and don't put the cup over it. I let the seeds sprout in the fridge and plant them in late February. I don't have hogs or bears though.

 

[yoderjac]

Direct seed a bunch in small area and drop a mature tree (top) over that area.

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Seems like that would attract the squirrels even more!

 

[Lee Haakenson]

Direct seed a bunch in small area and drop a mature tree (top) over that area.

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Seems like that would attract the squirrels even more!

In WI, we have too much snow for the squirrels to get to the acorns!

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[yoderjac]

In WI, we have too much snow for the squirrels to get to the acorns!

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It's got to melt sometime if the trees are going to grow and those squirrels are probably pretty hungry by then!

 

[IkemanTx]

One thing I plan on doing to help direct seeded areas is to keep it mowed very short around the nuts, and I plan on installing some perches for birds of prey to sit on. We have a VERY healthy population of kestrels, red tailed hawks, and screech owls that I hope take advantage of the strips of short grass (and perches) for hunting.


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[scott44]

Has anyone tried using 18-24" tree tubes for direct seeding? then after thry reach out of the tube cage them?

 

[j-bird]

I did some direct seeding with hardware cloth tubes... But these where in a plot and not in some sort of mass planting... I made the tubes pretty narrow and 12" tall or so and you have to stake them to the ground or the little @#$% will knock over the cages or pull them up to get to the acorn.

I'm sure I have pics if I dig in my land tour thread....

 

[yoderjac]

Has anyone tried using 18-24" tree tubes for direct seeding? then after thry reach out of the tube cage them?

Back when I first started with chestnuts I did a lot of reading of ACF information. They suggested not using tubes taller than 18", so that is what I started with. I used 18" solid tubes with mesh tubes (https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/products.php?mi=16201&itemnum=17045&redir=Y) slid over the top of them. I was planting small seedlings not direct seeded nuts. The only problem I had with these is that often the central leader would grow through one of the holes in the mesh and deer would nip it off. After that I went to taller tubes.

I still have a bunch of 18" and mesh tubes left over. One thing I'm considering is to start with an 18" tube on the bottom with a mesh tube on top like before. My 18" tubes are Protex tubes that are flat sheets that you roll to make tubes. So, I'm considering taking a second 18" tube and rolling it up so it fits inside the mesh and is just held in place be the outward spring pressure. The concept is that I would slide the tube up as the tree grows keeping the central leader from growing through the mesh holes until it is out of the top.

I don't think I would want the maintenance burden with high volumes of trees, it may be something I want to do with special trees.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[TxA&Mhunter]

I cut down cedar trees in to sections and drag the tree to where I'm planting and use it in kind of a brush pile method... direct seeded(dibble bar planted) 100 or so trees with this method last year.

As of October we had a healthy survival rate I'll know more in the coming weekends when spring grew up happens.

We started doing his because we stated seeing the growth from previous years acorns tossed in to brush piles... One year we got delayed planting and I simply went about broadcasting acorns in to brush piles, and brior patches and dewberry vine clumps... have several dozen 3 year old sawtooth That are about 4-6 ft tall now Because of it... they had no weedmat or supplemental water during the two previous dry years...

 

[TreeDaddy]

Has anyone tried using 18-24" tree tubes for direct seeding? then after thry reach out of the tube cage them?

Scott,

This is what I tried and they were destroyed

I did not sink them in the ground,however

i may try again this spring and try burying the bottom of the tube 3-4 in . Perhaps use a post hole digger ?

bill