May 13th, 2012
Because of the abnormally warm/early spring I started my chestnuts and acorns outside in late March and the variable temps definitely slowed or delayed germination compared to the 24/7 steady temps inside the house. Germination in the house is usually rapid and even but not so outside at least not in early spring.
The Chinese hybrid chestnuts were the first to sprout but the Timburr chestnuts were nearly 3 weeks late and acorns nearly 60 days after planting in the Root Maker cells!
Unfortunately being first up was not necessarily a good thing this spring and even though I knew it was going to freeze I forgot to take the trays in on the one night it dropped to 23 degrees... freezing every emerged seedling and at first appeared to kill them.
Eventually however the determined seedlings have begun to re-emerge, many a full 30 days or more after being froze!
It stands to reason that this will happen in the wild so nature gives the tiny seedlings enough energy to keep growing!
Had these been protected they would have been a foot tall by now!
The Timburr chestnuts emerged after the freeze and are growing to beat the band!
I use a little Osmocote fertilizer on the seedlings once they get growing and they respond very well!
My Dwarf Chinkapin Oak acorns from NE did not sprout but a few of the native Iowa chinkapin acorns did finally come up, again...more then 2 months after planting!
and some continue to emerge after all this time!
My friend Rich collected some burr oak acorns from a very prolific tree on his farm and though they did take more then a month to emerge (also outside) they finally did and are growing well!
Rich wondered "when to plant them"...
I like to let them grow as long as possible to develop large robust root systems that displace most of the soil in the cells. So his seedlings could be planted any time now but every week in the cell the root systems develop and are air root pruned...something that will affect their growth forever.
Knowing this I plant very late spring or keep the seedlings growing in the cells all summer and plant in the fall...so you have options. I have planted in mid summer during wet years however there could be high mortality if we have a late summer drought like last year.
Tube these seedlings, use herbicide to control weeds and they'll grow like crazy and be yielding acorns far before conventionally grown seedlings and all for pennies a piece.... :way:
