Growing an oak tree from an acorn

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Growing an oak tree from an acorn
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Hannah

Joined: 24 Feb 2005
Posts: 277
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 10:58 am Post subject: Growing an oak tree from an acorn
Without wanting to sound really thick how easy is this to do? Do you just plant an acorn and let it grow or is there more to it than that? What time of year should I doing this? I would ideally like to plant it in a pot first (as we will be moving and taking them with us) .... any help most gratefully received. Thank you Hannah

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 11:26 am Post subject:

It's very easy Hannah and great fun - just scatter your acorns on top of a pot or two of loose compost in the autumn. Over the winter you will notice a root come out of one end which will go down into the soil and pull the acorn down after it. In the spring a shoot comes out of the other end. Magic

.

My pot grown oaks are over 10 years old now, and I'm still hoping to buy a piece of land to plant them in one day. The are incredibly forgiving and will survive in a small pot for ages. Then when you pot them on they grow like mad.

Good luck.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 11:36 am Post subject:
Lost count of how many potted oak trees I grew and gave away as a kid, grown just the way Marigold said. Some are easier than others; never had much joy with holm oak or turkey oak, but the others seemed easy enough.

Hannah

Joined: 24 Feb 2005
Posts: 277
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 11:38 am Post subject:
Great, thats what I wanted to hear! Thanks very much .....Should I wait until the drop off the tree before planting them, or pick from the tree?

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 11:41 am Post subject:

They germinate easily & as Marigold says very forgiving. My only advice would be cover the pot with some 1/2 inch wire netting as squirells, mice, magpies & jays love acorns. If you want to be scientific put some long term slow release fertiliser (Osmocote) in the soil/compost & water every two or three days when it's not raining. Also cover the acorns with course grit helps to increase the humidity needed for a good germination rate.

hardworkinghippy

Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1110
Location: Bourrou South West France

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 11:41 am Post subject:
I cheat and look around for ones that have sprouted already, then I pot them up using the leaf mould where they came from. I've five eight year olds that are now planted as the only windscreen that has survived on clay in front of the house.

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 11:46 am Post subject:

Hannah wrote:

Great, thats what I wanted to hear! Thanks very much .....Should I wait until the drop off the tree before planting them, or pick from the tree?

I collected mine from the ground - in Savernake forest one autumn when they were incredibly prolific (maybe they always are loads there, but I was only there the one time

). Walking through the forest we were surrounded by the sound of acorns plopping off the trees... I was fascinated by the fact that the acorns were all different shapes and sizes. Prior to that I hadn't known many oak trees and just thought they were all the same

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 11:46 am Post subject:

Hannah wrote:

Great, thats what I wanted to hear! Thanks very much .....Should I wait until the drop off the tree before planting them, or pick from the tree?

Depends on how many squiggles you've got running around. Back as a kid I could rely on picking them up of the ground in the Denes in Low Fell, Gateshead, pretty much from autumn through to summer. Get them off the floor of the woods in Spring and they germinate a doddle, from the forest floor in Autumn you need to grow them as described above. If you're fighting the squirrels for them you might have to be a bit more cunning.

I should imagine (although I don't know) that you'll want the acorns as ripe as possible. I'd guess that Tahir would know, or maybe Truffle.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45694
Location: Essex

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 11:53 am Post subject:

cab wrote:

I'd guess that Tahir would know

No practical experience at all, but I'd imagine that tree ripened would be best, although of course like any other fruit/nut you get a pre ripe "drop" so you need to wait till the bulk are ripe and ready to drop, at which time you may as well tree harvest.

I've been asked by someone to harvest some hornbeam seed for him, he wants it off the tree (it's a really nice tall, straight specimen) not the floor. Wonder if I should raise some for my own purposes too?

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 11:58 am Post subject:

Unlike a lot of our native trees (Hawthorn, mountain ash to name two) Oaks don't show a lot of dormancy. If the acorn is showing reasonable colour they should germinate. Hawthorn & sorbus are better picked when the berries are just starting to colour, put through a mincer & the resulting pulp mixed with water & agitated, the seeds will sink & the pulp will float. Sown this way a good percentage will germ the following spring. If yoyu wait for the berries to ripen the seeds will have obsorved the chemical which induces dormancy & they could take 3 or 4 years to germ.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 12:03 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

I've been asked by someone to harvest some hornbeam seed for him, he wants it off the tree (it's a really nice tall, straight specimen) not the floor. Wonder if I should raise some for my own purposes too?

It isn't like you haven't got the space for it. Hornbean coppice is meant to be lovely to see.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45694
Location: Essex

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 12:09 pm Post subject:
I'm intending to plant some hornbeam coppice this winter, maybe I should raise my own and plant next year.

bluebell

Joined: 19 Aug 2006
Posts: 189

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 1:20 pm Post subject:
I can remember planting as a kids along mums long path to her washing line, around 70 ft long and both sides. 90% of the germinated and my brother and I spent hours digging them up and biking the up to the woods as our punishment

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46296
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 3:38 pm Post subject:

ive done some as above but a bag of acorns and a catapault can seed an acre in a few minutes

after nearly 35 yrs and a few goes i have started a small forrest in one little valley

even bracken scrub and ex industrial can become woodland
bringing them on is ok but a fertile oak produces many acorns ,distribute them and many oaks result ,not as many will thrive as a % but plant 20 and get 15 or spread 10000 and get 2000 the maths works .
happy planting however its done .
oak good

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 06 4:32 pm Post subject:

hardworkinghippy wrote:

I cheat and look around for ones that have sprouted already, then I pot them up using the leaf mould where they came from.

Same here, in the spring you often find them just starting to grow. Although we don't have any oaks near by there are plenty growing in our back garden, I assume jays have planted them or perhaps the squirrels (although don't they nibble out the bud?).

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