Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Acorn ?

ajadams

ajadams

PMA Member
I was going to try and get more oak trees going at the farm by just planting acorns randomly in the undesirable tree areas. Not sure how it will work but its worth a shot. I have found quite a few acorns laying around already but they are a little green yet, will they still be alright to plant this fall? I will probably still buy some trees bare root in the spring but I figured shoving some acorns in the ground couldn't hurt either. If 1 out of 100 would grow I would be happy. I'm not much of a tree person, I'm lucky my apple trees have lasted 2 years and I actually have 2 apple on one this year. Thanks, Andy
 
You will want to plant the white oak this fall and the red in the spring. I think that is the rule, but someone will verify. Also if you dump them in a bucket of water toss the ones that float...
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Field Service</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You will want to plant the white oak this fall and the red in the spring. I think that is the rule, but someone will verify. Also if you dump them in a bucket of water toss the ones that float... </div></div>


Right on FS... the white oaks will germinate and start growing soon after they drop so be sure to get them in the ground quick. I like to store the red oaks in the fridge in damp peat moss and plant them out the next spring as they take the cold weather to make them germinate.

Phil
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ajadams</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was going to try and get more oak trees going at the farm by just planting acorns randomly in the undesirable tree areas. Not sure how it will work but its worth a shot. I have found quite a few acorns laying around already but they are a little green yet, will they still be alright to plant this fall? I will probably still buy some trees bare root in the spring but I figured shoving some acorns in the ground couldn't hurt either. If 1 out of 100 would grow I would be happy. I'm not much of a tree person, I'm lucky my apple trees have lasted 2 years and I actually have 2 apple on one this year. Thanks, Andy </div></div>

Not all acorns are created equal in a whitetails eye. White oaks are sweeter because of the tannin content. Red oaks are more bitter because they have the or more tannin in them. I would not go with all white oaks tho. Red oaks seem to have more reliable acorn crops in my area while the white oaks are loaded about every 3 years.
 
Remember that RED OAK species can be planted in spring (I keep them in fridge after sweeping up tons of them) AND White oak species are better for fall planting. *Also, if you're going to invest much time in this, I'd wait til fully mature acorns are just falling so you know for sure you have live acorns. My strategy is to keep a dust pan, bucket and broom in my car for when I see a tree by the street- easy to collect Ba-zillions of them, then I bag them later.

White oak also includes burr oak, swamp, etc
Reds include black oak, pin, shingle, etc.

I'd round-up the areas now and before you seed if possible. *Once they are sprouted, well the weeds might come up like crazy too, might want to consider bucket (cover tree) spraying round-up later to let them really take off.
 
We direct seeded 24.7 acre about 6 years ago. We planted Burr White and red oak I had Duane Oaks from Oaks Forrestry do the seeding, he recommended fall planting and was very particular about seed storage. He also said he has the worst luck with the white oaks. I collected all the Burr oak soaked them for a day in water then took them to Duanes place he has a walk in cooler just for seed storage. We planted in Nov. at planting time the white oak seed had about a 3/4 " root poking out. So if you collect some white oak seed I would put them in the ground immediately and all they need is soil contact I saw seed the following spring laying on top of bare soil and one side of the nut had a leaf sticking out and the other had a root going into the ground pretty cool. Hope this helps. I'll try to post some pics.
 
I collected them, soaked them overnight and planted them the next day. All white oaks. We'll see what happens.
 
AJ, I think thats the best you can do with whites. Another thing I forgot to mention is the duds or non viable seeds usually drop first so you might want to collect some more in a week or so if theyre still dropping and try again just in case. Maybe you already know this but you can check the seed by cutting one open randomly while collecting and see if the hull is filled out.
ajadams said:
I collected them, soaked them overnight and planted them the next day. All white oaks. We'll see what happens.
Click to expand...
 
I just threw away all the floaters, never cut any open. Don't think I will have a chance to get any more this year but we'll see. Thanks for the info.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom