Foggy47
5 year old buck +
Any Burr Oak or Pin Oak up your way?
This is definitely going to be an interesting year for acorns
- Thread starter Hoytvectrix
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BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
If you get up a few miles north of me there is a lot of pin oaks. On the east side of Lake Winni towards Ball Club and Deer River LOTS of pin oak. I don't have a single one on my property that I know of. There is burr oak in my immediate area. SD's property is very close to mine and he has quite a bit of burr oak. Mine is loaded with red oak and only 3 naturally occurring burr oaks that I know of. I have about 60 planted burr oaks, 20 burr oak gamble, 50-60 swamp white oak, and 3 pathetic schuette's. I am getting some white oak next year and possibly a few pin oaks and then my oak days are gonna be done on that property.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
I kinda thought that your land may support lots of burr oak if they were there at one point in time.
When I logged my pines several years ago.....I made the logger leave any burr oaks. I was somewhat surprised to find thousands of small burr oaks in my pines.....and logging released those stunted trees so that today I have scads of Burr Oaks across my property....along with lots of hazel, birch, and aspen.
Feelslikefar.
5 year old buck +
There's lots of acorn threads, so I figured I'd just tack on one.
What's the trick to keeping them viable? Last fall a gathered a bunch of white oak acorns and handful of black walnuts. Float tested them all, floaters went outside for the squirrels.
The black walnuts went in the fridge a few weeks sooner, in a ziplock bag with a moist paper towel, not sealed up. Acorns I just stuck in a plastic bowl, bottom drawer of the fridge.
Decided it was time to do something with them the other day, put a couple in some pots. Was planning on doing some more today and decided to float check them again first. They all float, oaks and walnuts.
What's the trick to keeping them viable? Last fall a gathered a bunch of white oak acorns and handful of black walnuts. Float tested them all, floaters went outside for the squirrels.
The black walnuts went in the fridge a few weeks sooner, in a ziplock bag with a moist paper towel, not sealed up. Acorns I just stuck in a plastic bowl, bottom drawer of the fridge.
Decided it was time to do something with them the other day, put a couple in some pots. Was planning on doing some more today and decided to float check them again first. They all float, oaks and walnuts.
There are 2 ,major reasons why they float and surprisingly, they can be related. The number 1, and most frequent reason is because they lost moisture content ... either got too hot or when refrigerated suffered evaporation (need to check periodically on those in fridge to ensure the paper towel remains damp). Reason number 2 involves acorn weevils. Some acorns have multiple weevils in them (2 or 3) and the weevils eat enough of the acorn to reduce acorn weight and/or to prevent germination. Secondly, if the weevils exit the acorn (little holes) long before the acorns are removed from a stratification container, the holes allow air to penetrate the acorn and reduce moisture. Sufficient moisture (and heat) is the key to germination. You would have been better off to place your acorns (in a crisper in the fridge) in a closed container with a damp paper towel or two.
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Teeder
5 year old buck +
What OakSeeds said.
I put acorns in a ziplock with slightly moist sawdust and keep that in the beer crisper in the fridge. Usually poke a few holes in the bags, and check about once a month through the winter. I don’t mess with walnuts other than throwing them out of the yard.
I put acorns in a ziplock with slightly moist sawdust and keep that in the beer crisper in the fridge. Usually poke a few holes in the bags, and check about once a month through the winter. I don’t mess with walnuts other than throwing them out of the yard.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
Not much to add on. Just collect about 2-3X the amount you need. Weevils and bad acorns are very common.
I collect a few hundred acorns every year and tend to have much better luck with whites than reds. Some are direct seeded in the early spring and some I put into pots in March/April to be transplanted in the fall. Regardless, all go in a partially closed Ziploc with peat moss and from there into the crisper drawer until they are used.
I collect a few hundred acorns every year and tend to have much better luck with whites than reds. Some are direct seeded in the early spring and some I put into pots in March/April to be transplanted in the fall. Regardless, all go in a partially closed Ziploc with peat moss and from there into the crisper drawer until they are used.
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
I stopped at the MN landscape arboretum today in Chaska, MN. About 15-20 miles SW of downtown Minneapolis. I went there cause I was looking for some white oak acorns. I wanna direct seed a couple on my land in northern MN.
The crop that these trees are carrying was nothing short of spectacular. The big tree in the middle picture is truly impressive. Much wider than it is tall. That sucker was bigly LOADED. I thought now way a tree could have more acorns than that one, but I found a different tree that had even more. You can see those in the last picture.
I collected about 100 acorns from 4 different trees that were fully loaded. Very impressive. A few have started to hit the ground. Most were still hanging in the trees.
The crop that these trees are carrying was nothing short of spectacular. The big tree in the middle picture is truly impressive. Much wider than it is tall. That sucker was bigly LOADED. I thought now way a tree could have more acorns than that one, but I found a different tree that had even more. You can see those in the last picture.
I collected about 100 acorns from 4 different trees that were fully loaded. Very impressive. A few have started to hit the ground. Most were still hanging in the trees.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Imagine the scrapes that would be around that wide boy on a deer farm!
Just left my land, looking like a good acorn crop on the red oaks this year.
Just left my land, looking like a good acorn crop on the red oaks this year.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
Great plan there. I did this on some trees in New Ulm at one of the parks that had similar acorn crops. I just heel stomped them in the ground about ten years ago. These are in a sanctuary area.....and I cannot say I ever entered again to see if the trees are coming along. Maybe find time this fall.
TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Great plan, Buck. Those trees in your pics are loaded! Good luck with the acorn plantings on your place.
It'll take some years before the acorns you plant will grow trees big enough to produce their own acorns, but anything you / we plant is a benefit for the future. Any of the acorns on the ground sprouting root radicles yet? I like how those radicles burrow into the soil where they land. Chestnut oak acorns do the same when they're on the ground.
The pic with the wide white oak reminds me of one in the middle of an open AG field where I first started to hunt in 1970. Shot my first squirrel there. Pic brings back memories. White oaks in open areas get crazy wide & massive with no close competition. Thanks for posting those pics!!
It'll take some years before the acorns you plant will grow trees big enough to produce their own acorns, but anything you / we plant is a benefit for the future. Any of the acorns on the ground sprouting root radicles yet? I like how those radicles burrow into the soil where they land. Chestnut oak acorns do the same when they're on the ground.
The pic with the wide white oak reminds me of one in the middle of an open AG field where I first started to hunt in 1970. Shot my first squirrel there. Pic brings back memories. White oaks in open areas get crazy wide & massive with no close competition. Thanks for posting those pics!!
SD51555
5 year old buck +
It’s raining bur oak acorns here. I think I understand why the crops come a few years apart. There have high winds here the past couple days, and not only are the acorns falling, but they are taking 6-9” of the branch tips and leaves with them.
If they are yielding so high the cluster breaks off the tips, it’d make sense they need a few years to regrow those tips.
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If they are yielding so high the cluster breaks off the tips, it’d make sense they need a few years to regrow those tips.
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356
5 year old buck +
I was scouting Watkins Mills State Park and was surprised at the number of acorns that have dropped. I didn’t take pictures, but the number of Bur oak and post oak that had dropped was surprising for August. The deer were clearly adjusting their patterns to take advantage of this new food source.
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
Hate to break it to you captain obvious, but wind didn't break your branches off, the critters did. Squirrels, mice, chipmunks, turkeys, coons, bears, birds, etc. are probably all eating the ripe acorns right out of the tree before they hit the ground. Did you bother to put a camera on a loaded tree to see what is all eating the acorns?
When I was at the arboretum yesterday there was all kinds of acorn pieces falling out of the trees. Freshly chewed apart. The critters were actively working the trees above me. There was more chewed apart pieces hitting the ground than full acorns.
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
Like this. Seems like it’s gonna be a tough year to bear hunt again.
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Burr oak acorns are going to be cleaned up fast. Beaked hazel is all gone, raspberries are all gone, choke cherry crop wasnt great, blue berry and black berry crop wasnt great. Bear season is still 1 week away and last for an additional 6 weeks. Should be very easy to draw in a nice bear if you have a good bait and are hunting a productive spot. If you aren't seeing bears its time to change tactics.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
I've watched porcupines here up in the outer branches of oak trees cutting limbs off by chewing. 1 porky chewed off probably 3 dozen limbs as I sat in my tree stand. All fell to the ground. I assume it drug them off to its den area to store them for winter? I didn't hang around long enough to see what the porky did when he climbed back down that oak tree. For a while, it was raining limbs!
Teeder
5 year old buck +
I just got a picture of one on my hunting property. I've never seen one this far west in pennsylvania.
