The Little Man has been askin about the veritable meteor shower of fallin acorns around the house. I want to ather a few with him and plant them in a pot on his window. Am I settin him up for a traic dissapointment? I know we can’t et a whole tree out of it, but a sprout and a mini-tree/stem would be fun and interestin.
If it’s possible, what should I look for best chance-wise? There are yellow ones, brown ones, mixed, and some with caps on and off. Does it make a difference? Do we need to dry them first (any way to speed up the process to keep a six-year-old enaed)? Full sun or partial?
Bonus question: what the hell happened to my ‘g’ key? (I c&Pd that one)
If you’re experiencing an overabundance of acorns, perhaps 5 to 10 times normal, your tree may be in a mast year. We had it last year and the volume was astonishing and perhaps related to the previous drought.
The squirrels have stored these nuts everywhere, including in most of my many planters and there are now small oak trees coming up in near all of them. Pulling them I see that most were planted a couple of inches deep and the orientation was random as some of the stems are straight and others curved. My watering schedule was generally daily to every other day and they’re growing in pots both in sunny and shaded areas but I’d think you’ll need some sun exposure, a couple of hours if you can get it, just to get them started. As to which to choose why not try a mix, one or all are bound to come up.
Good luck with the “g” key and have fun with the Little Man. Cool project.
In general, acorns (and many other seeds) need to be “stratified” before they will germinate, that is, exposed to the same conditions like cold that they would experience outside. You can’t just gather them now and plant them. You may have to put them in the refrigerator for a couple of months.
This may depend on your location. It would be helpful to know where you are and the species of oak you are trying to grow.
Yep, a few years ago I saw the most impressive oak ever while paddling the shoreline of a lake. I collected a bunch of nearly golf-ball sized acorns and took them home. I tried a number of germination techniques. The only ones to germinate were the ones I stratified. Out of the few that germinated, only one continued to grow.
At the end of its first season in a pot, I brought it into the garage to overwinter. The following spring it was still alive and had some new growth. Then a chipmunk killed it.
To clarify on Colibri’s accurate post: I can say that (most/all) oaks of the ‘white variety’ (versus the ‘red oaks’ family) need no stratification - they send out the initial tap-root and maybe a bit of early trunk growth in fall or early winter from the acorn then lay dormant the rest of winter (until it warms again). If the acorns are dried out (of all oak types), they won’t germinate, for the most part, so conditions/location are critical to where a white oak acorn will germinate all on its own. I’ve germinated lots of various oaks and other woody plants, and whites always came out first of the oaks.
Here’s a link about care of acorns if the intent is to plant them at a later date. Fwiw, it is not hard to find already-germinated white oak acorns under cover of fallen leaves in early winter if you carefullly look for them, IME.
I’ll second that. It could last a lifetime; in seventy years time he could still be able to see the relatively young, but still impressive oak, and think back to the day when he planted that acorn.
My father and I planted a Magnolia tree in the front yard the weekend before my first day of school, some 55 years ago. The house was sold many years ago, but that tree is still there and it’s a beauty. I still remember than day and my father saying to me, “I’ll bet you remember this day for the rest of your life.”
I have several oak, hickory, and maple trees in my yard. Out of all, the only ones that seem to never propagate on their own are the oak trees. Usually there are several of the “pig nut” hickory trees that spring up in the flower beds every year. They seem to be the best at the “bury it and it will grow” plan of action. I’d suggest trying one of those if you have them.
Ah, now thr you’v got m, although I don’t think it’s just the “g” ky ncssarily. On this kyboard I think it’s just suffring from ovrus (my “” ky, clarly). I hop th problm dosn’ sar o sprad, ohrwis hings could quickly bcom complly unmanagabl.
I i dos, I guss i’ll b im o say “uck i” and spring or a nw kyboard.