Sewing Oaks :)

[Troubles Trees]

I have a large quantity of various Oak and hybrid Oak acorns one of the members on here (that wants to remain anonymous) was generous enough to gift me for the cost of shipping. They also sent me 20 Northern Pecans :() I am very excited about Spring planting already!! I also bought 50 or so Sawtooth Acorns before the member told me he could hook me up.
So I have a ****load of acorns that I am storing over winter, one type I had to plant already because they had long radicals when they arrived, which worked out well because we had a warm spell and I had just enough room. I want to be prepared for the worst case scenario in case I start seeing more radicals in the middle of winter storage in the fridge. Oaks are notorious for long tap roots so I would need containers that are tall, and looking online I see these but they don't seem to be wide enough and feel they will restrict root growth and cause circling, except the tap root. Ideally I would prefer biodegradable containers but that is much less of a concern.
These containers look ideal if they were wider, and the cost for a 1 time use is pretty ideal. It would likely only be a couple months indoors so maybe I am just being paranoid here. Does anyone have better suggestions? Please don't say RB's... I know they are the best option, but they are crazy expensive for a 1 time use even though I might use them again somewhere down the road, for now and looking ahead I would never need 150-200 containers lol maybe 20-30 but not that many.

Cone-tainers Tray

The Cone-tainers Tray is 24" L x 12"W x 6.75" H and can hold up to 98 of the SC7 and SC10 cells.

www.greenhousemegastore.com

 

[Catscratch]

I like what you found.
I've made long cones out of posterboard and newspaper. Rolled them up, filled with dirt, wedged a bunch into 5 gallon buckets, and grew oaks/chestnuts/persimmons in them. It worked really well. The initial taproot growth is fueled by energy stored in the nut. Once that is used up the plant relies on photosynthesis to keep growing. Taproot growth slows considerably once the carbs in the nut is used up. You'll feel like the taproot is going to outgrow your pots but they typically stall after passing the foot mark a little.

 

[Bill]

What you found does look good. Certainly cost effective..

 

[Hoytvectrix]

I used very similar conetainers for grad school and post-grad research. They are definitely the best when it comes to quickly and efficiently planting things from seed. I'd recommend cotton balls at the bottom of each conetainer before adding in your potting mix. If not cotton balls, then ripped up paper towels will work too. I'd also try your best to buy an extra tray or two as well. It will help with the initial planting, and allow you to spread them out as the seedlings start to get bigger and leaf out. You will eventually need to go every other spot in the tray as the seedlings get bigger.

 

[loshonhora]

Did you see these from the same site?

Deepot Tree Pots

Start hardwood tree seedlings the right way with Deepot polypropylene cells that train young roots while letting you do the most with available growing space.

www.greenhousemegastore.com

 

[The Fishman]

What is your game plan in the spring? Are you going to direct seed these acorns or are you going to try to grow them for a year? It sounds like you plan to direct seed. Planting an acorn with any type of radical whether in a pot or by direct seeding is a pain. I have done it and won't do it again. The radicals are very fragile so you have to be careful when planting them. Being careful really slows you down. Only the white oak acorns will grow radicals in the fridge and most of the white oak acorns probably won't even grow them if they are kept cool. While it is great to plan, I think if you keep the acorns cool and moist, you will not have to worry about long radicals growing while in the fridge.

 

[Lucky_P]

There's nothing magical about a taproot. Most Forestry nurseries growing them in mass-planted beds, anymore, 'root-prune' but undercutting at about 6 inches or so.
I've grown Oak, Pecan, Hickory, Pawpaw seedlings in all manner of pots... and yes, get some taproot circling &/or exiting through the drain holes. I just chop off the circling or exiting roots when I transplant or up-pot. It doesn't kill them, 'life force' doesn't drain out the bottom of the severed taproot (lol), they just start developing a more lateralized root system earlier than would if they'd been direct-seeded.
The original 'Whitcomb' pots (named after forestry researcher Dr. Carl Whitcomb) were really nothing much more than bottomless paper milk/OJ cartons positioned on raised wire racks so that when the taproot exits the bottom of the growth medium, it is 'air-pruned' and the seedling begins developing a more lateralized fibrous root system, which translates to greater transplant survival - and, likely, earlier fruiting, as well.
As I said, I've mostly used half-gallon milk/OJ cartons, and recycled nursery pots, ranging from 1 gallon to 3/5/15 gallons in size.
Steuwe & Sons would be my go-to if I were looking to get into large-scale oak/nut tree propagation, but paper plant bands like the ones linked below would probably work just fine for small numbers, and are biodegradable.

Zipset Plant Bands - Pack of 16

The Zipset bands are made of bleach board, which provides exceptional strength, even when wet, and is 96% biodegradable. These tree seedling containers are 3" W x 10" H and come in a pack of 16. Zipset Tray sold separately.

www.greenhousemegastore.com

 

[j-bird]

Very interesting....I typically re-use 2 liter bottles and sort of do the same thing. But I don't try to do ~100 at a time either!

 

[bigbendmarine]

I enjoy growing oaks from acorns and have been keeping my eye (and mind) open for something that can be repurposed for really tall oak pots. Wish I could say I've found something ideal, but not yet... do, however, I'll try to remember to post here.

 

[Troubles Trees]

What is your game plan in the spring? Are you going to direct seed these acorns or are you going to try to grow them for a year? It sounds like you plan to direct seed. Planting an acorn with any type of radical whether in a pot or by direct seeding is a pain. I have done it and won't do it again. The radicals are very fragile so you have to be careful when planting them. Being careful really slows you down. Only the white oak acorns will grow radicals in the fridge and most of the white oak acorns probably won't even grow them if they are kept cool. While it is great to plan, I think if you keep the acorns cool and moist, you will not have to worry about long radicals growing while in the fridge.

I am definitely planning on direct seeding in the spring.

 

[Troubles Trees]

There's nothing magical about a taproot. Most Forestry nurseries growing them in mass-planted beds, anymore, 'root-prune' but undercutting at about 6 inches or so.
I've grown Oak, Pecan, Hickory, Pawpaw seedlings in all manner of pots... and yes, get some taproot circling &/or exiting through the drain holes. I just chop off the circling or exiting roots when I transplant or up-pot. It doesn't kill them, 'life force' doesn't drain out the bottom of the severed taproot (lol), they just start developing a more lateralized root system earlier than would if they'd been direct-seeded.
The original 'Whitcomb' pots (named after forestry researcher Dr. Carl Whitcomb) were really nothing much more than bottomless paper milk/OJ cartons positioned on raised wire racks so that when the taproot exits the bottom of the growth medium, it is 'air-pruned' and the seedling begins developing a more lateralized fibrous root system, which translates to greater transplant survival - and, likely, earlier fruiting, as well.
As I said, I've mostly used half-gallon milk/OJ cartons, and recycled nursery pots, ranging from 1 gallon to 3/5/15 gallons in size.
Steuwe & Sons would be my go-to if I were looking to get into large-scale oak/nut tree propagation, but paper plant bands like the ones linked below would probably work just fine for small numbers, and are biodegradable.

Zipset Plant Bands - Pack of 16

The Zipset bands are made of bleach board, which provides exceptional strength, even when wet, and is 96% biodegradable. These tree seedling containers are 3" W x 10" H and come in a pack of 16. Zipset Tray sold separately.

www.greenhousemegastore.com

That is all very good information bud. So far just the Chinkapins (and a couple sawtooths) had a radical and I’ve planted them. I added peat moss and checked the bags but so far they are behaving lol

 

[The Fishman]

If you are going to be planting everything out next Spring, I would go buy a large storage tote, poke holes in the bottom, throw in potting mix, and plant away. You can easily move the tote around to your planting sites and dig them up as needed to plant them. I use totes for planting some species for a year without root problems. They will do fine for a few weeks.

 

[Troubles Trees]

I enjoy growing oaks from acorns and have been keeping my eye (and mind) open for something that can be repurposed for really tall oak pots. Wish I could say I've found something ideal, but not yet... do, however, I'll try to remember to post here.

These that Lucky shared a link to see to be pretty spacious for a long tap root type tree. They appear to be biodegradable too so possibly just plant the whole container as opposed to pulling the tree from the container to plant.

Zipset Plant Bands - Pack of 16

The Zipset bands are made of bleach board, which provides exceptional strength, even when wet, and is 96% biodegradable. These tree seedling containers are 3" W x 10" H and come in a pack of 16. Zipset Tray sold separately.

www.greenhousemegastore.com

 

[Teeder]

Did you see these from the same site?

Deepot Tree Pots

Start hardwood tree seedlings the right way with Deepot polypropylene cells that train young roots while letting you do the most with available growing space.

www.greenhousemegastore.com

I've been using these for a couple years now for acorns and highly recommend them. I use a coffee filter in the bottom to keep the soil in.

 

[Nightvision]

For the sawtooth, just push them into the top of the ground. I have three huge trees in my yard that drops thousands of acorns. IEven though we run over a bunch and the deer eat some there are always about a hundred or so that sprout and grow. I have transplanted many.