Last year or so I posted a thread asking about how does one properly plant an Acorn. I received many replies and I was very happy. So was the large Acorn I planted. Of the 8, I got one to grow. I placed it on it’s side, half in semi-acidic black-as-can-be soil. I kept it in the garage and kept it quite moist. Now he’s about 8 inches tall, a few small leaves.
Should I bring him in for the winter or leave him to natures devices? I’d like to wait till he’s about chest high before I put him where’s he’s going to grow big and tall…is that too long?
If you bring it into a heated house, it will probably dry out and die - many deciduous trees actually need a period of chilling/dormancy.
I’m assuming the parent tree grows outdoors in your locality… if this is the case, the best way to get your tree through the winter is to leave it outdoors somewhere. To prevent the roots from freezing and the pot being blown over, dig a small hole in your garden soil and sink the pot into it so that the two soil surfaces are approximately level. Unless you get unusually dry winter spells, you shouldn’t have to apply any water this way.
Well, I’ll tell my own experience. My brother and I planted an acorn which sprouted in a large pot. The first winter we were worried about it so we brought it inside. Mind you, my parent’s house is always on the chilly damp side, but it did not dry out and die. We placed it away from any direct heat source and watered it when we thought of it (rarely). The next summer we put the pot back outside and left it to its own devices. By that fall we planted it in the ground, where it thrives to this very day, getting near on 10 years old.
Hmm. Maybe I’ll leave it under the porch…I like Mange’s idea too…
If you leave it under the porch long enough, you’ll have another tree house…
Another method of protection, rather than dig a hole for the pot, is to just pile dirt around the pot so that it’s buried, but not in the ground. I believe this is what nurseries do with their stock over the winter.
I’m betting it’s a white oak? Then here goes some very valuable info…worth reading:
Seedling Development- Germination is hypogeal. Sound white oak acorns have a germination capacity between 50 and 99 percent (30). Seeds germinate in the fall soon after dropping, requiring no pretreatment for germination. For germination to occur, the moisture content of acorns must not fall below 30 to 50 percent. Germination is favored at soil temperatures between 10° and 16° C (50° and 60° F). Germination is severely limited after 15 days of exposure to flooded conditions (1). When acorns germinate, their roots begin to grow but the shoot remains dormant. This trait serves to protect it from damage by freezing (11).
After germination, root growth continues until interrupted by cold weather. Broken radicles are replaced on freshly sprouted seeds. Root and shoot growth resumes in the spring, and after the first growing season, seedlings 7.6 to 10.2 cm (3 to 4 in) high normally develop a large taproot 6 to 13 mm (0.25 to 0.50 in) in diameter and more than 30.5 em (12 in) long.
Oak seedling establishment is best on loose soil because the radicle cannot penetrate excessively compact surfaces. A humus layer is especially important because it keeps the soil surface loose and porous and because it mechanically supports the acorn as the radicle penetrates the soil (28).
If climate and soil are favorable for germination, white oak reproduces adequately from seed when: (1) large seed trees are within about 61 m (200 ft); (2) litter cover is light to moderate (but not thick); and (3) light reaching seedling level is at least 35 percent of full sunlight. Reproduction is least abundant on moist sites that have a thick carpet of ferns and lesser vegetation (6). Seedlings persist more readily in open stands typical of dry exposures but can be maintained on moist sites if adequate sunlight reaches the forest floor.
Although important, soil moisture is probably not a critical factor in determining early seedling survival except under unusually dry conditions. At least one study has shown that when available soil moisture was 19 percent of oven dry soil weight, white oak seedling survival was 98 percent; at 3 percent available moisture, survival was 87 percent (28).
A Missouri study has shown that despite an adequate crop of sound acorns, the number of new white oak seedlings produced in any given year is low compared to other oaks, particularly black oak Quercus velutina). However, these individuals may persist in the understory for many years (90 years) by repeatedly dying back and resprouting. This phenomenon permits the gradual buildup of advance reproduction that is often taller and more numerous than the advance reproduction of associated oaks.
Under ideal growing conditions it is common for individual seedlings to grow 0.6 m (2 ft) or more a year. However, white oak seedlings established at the time of overstory removal normally grow too slowly to be of value in stand reproduction. Mean height of seedlings 10 years after overstory removal on sites with a site index of 13 to 19 in (43 to 63 ft) at base age 50 years in Missouri was slightly more than 0.6 m (2 ft) while seedling sprouts and stump sprouts averaged 4.9 and 6.4 m (16 and 21 ft), respectively (27).
Hmmm. I think it is a white oak. But I have several varieties of oak on the property. I just picked about a hundred of the nicest, largest acorns I could find and started the seeding process. Of the 8 I put in one of the buckets one sprouted roots. I think I’m going to leave it to the elements and keep an eye on it.
Very good info Phil!