I think its so cool that you like Oaks and raising them from acorns! I know it's a bit geeky but I really look forward every Fall to collecting different types in hope of propagating them. I have never heard of another person doing so. I don't have a ton of experience, I have only been doing this for two years. However, I was lucky enough last year to get a red oak acorn to sprout. I planted about 25 acorns the previous Fall in a 4 gallon pot. (I even did the water test where if they float they are bad (the little white grub))However, I only had one come up. I left it in the pot in the shade all Summer and planted in the fall when the leaves dropped (There were only 2 or 3). It grew about 5 inches high. I was quite surprised how extensive the root system was! Maybe 10 inches deep and 5 inches wide. I ended up just digging all the way to the bottom of the pot and planting (scooping) the whole amount (versus bare root). Its doing quite well this year in it's new home. I had a single Burr Oak seedling come up this year too which was pretty cool. So in my opinion I would transplant them to different pots, sooner than later. I base that on the whole transplanting in the Fall deal. It would be pretty hard to seperate them. Hope this helps!

The one thing i've learned is that you have to space them out alot and try not to disturb the roots too much. I'm sure they will be fine. Sounds like alot of fun. I am doing it right now with hickory suckers that have popped up all over the back yard. So far I was successful with one and 3 dried up :(. But thats the fun of it!

Transplant them to individual pots, bigger than the one-gallon size - if possible, 5-gal. - since, as said above, the roots would be totally intertwined come fall. The less disturbance of the roots, the better, when you come to put them in the ground.

In the interests of keeping them watered, find a place in dappled or part shade, and check daily to see if they need water - don't count on a passing shower to get the pot/soil wet - it may have or may not. Having them near a hose also helps a lot!

Thanks for the input.I have started reducing down to one tree per five gallon bucket.Hopefully the ones I moved to other buckets will survive.I put the acorns in the buckets in mid March and was supprised to find the tap roots on some were already up to a foot long in just 10 weeks.

first... in my zone 5 .. the oaks just leafed out .... i wouldn't be digging them up just now ...

then there is this whole bucket thing.. why buckets???? once out of the ground.. just root prune them .. and stick them in mother earth .... why not just plant them where you want them now??? why the whole need for putting them back into the bucket .. so you can dig them out in the fall???

IF IT WERE ME ... i would leave them as is.. 5 new born babies in a large bucket is NOT too many .. if just for the first year ...

after leaf fall ... pull up the bucket.. bare root them.. untangle the roots.. and plant them ...

why stress them now.. and again in fall ....

you are over thinking this to the max ... BE THE SQUIRREL .... ohhhmmm ... insert nut in soil ... grow tree ... try to avoid replanting too often ...

i presume you are having fun ... so do whatever makes your day ... but with multiple buckets.. try different things .. experiment ... one method will work better than the rest... that way if you mess it up .. they don't all suffer the same fate...

have fun

ken

Reason for planting in buckets is I plan on giving them to friends and neighbors.I read an article on the internet about a woman in Minnesota who did this and gave the trees to boy scouts clubs.She did this because of the Oak trees being killed by the Oak Wilt disease. The boy scouts would transplant them for club projects.Thought that was cool but I want to make sure I can get a good product before I try that. This is my 1st year at trying to get tree started.Have about 45 trees started in 12 buckets.Maybe I will thin 5 of the buckets and leave the other 5 with 5 trees each.Live and learn.

there you go .. try it both ways ... ken

Growing Oak trees from acorns is a lot of fun. After doing that long enough to feel you have discovered what works best as you try to grow them in pots; you might at one point also begin transplanting newly sprouted volunteer oaks.

To successfully do that, simply follow the next described 8 steps.

Step 1: From mid May through early June, find some fairly young oaks which still produce and drop large amounts of acorns. If you look closely you should find many new baby oaks trying to grow beneath the canopy of the tree. Also check under other neaby shrubs such as holly or photenia growth habit type shrubs. The ones you dig should be no more than 3-4 inches tall and still be growing out of the acorn which they sprouted from.

This size of volunteer oak should have a tap root that is about 6-8 inches long so it can be helpful to first use a garden pitchfork to start making your tiny rootball. Then use a hand held garden trowel to scoop up the rootball using the other hand to hold the soil around the roots.

Step 2: If you are too far away to immediately take the volunter oak to the nursery bed system you have set up for them to grow in, then at least wrap the root ball with a moistened section of burlap. Handle gentily while doing this process, because it is very important, for the success of your mission, that you do not break off the volunteer's sprouted acorn. After securing the tiny rootball and burlap with a tie, lay the baby oak on its side. While making certain that you keep the rootballs moist for any and all the baby trees you dig.

Step 3: Once you are finished collecting your baby oaks, immediately take them to a nursery system you have set up under the dappled light shade of a mature tree on your property. That nursery can be a group of 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled into them and that are filled with a good quality, well draining potting soil. These buckets do not need to be buried in the soil.

It will be best to plant only one of these volunteers per 5 gallon bucket. Keep them well watered all the rest of the spring and fall. 5 gallons of water is best poured into each bucket every time you need to water them. Since your are protecting them in the shade of a mature tree, and running so much water through the pots, it will be good after you start to see some new growth to feed the tree with a non-burning and slow-release type food. I have found Osmokote to work well for this purpose.

In the winter you should be able to decrease the watering. It will not matter if the soil in the posts freeze, as long as the young trees in your pots have gone dormant.

Step 4: In the next year just when their buds are about to swell and break dormancy, transplant them into deeper pots and move the pots into an area where they can begin to experience full morning sun and afternoon shade.

An easy way to make a deeper bucket is to drill drainage holes into a new five gallon bucket. fill it with potting soil which you compress with water and a little pressure. Next cut away the bottom of the five gallon bucket in which your tree has been growing. By this time the roots of your tree should be nicely incorporated into the soil enough that you can simply insert the cut off bottom of that bucket into the top of the new bucket you just filled and water packed with a little pressure. Once the tree breaks dormancy it will not take long for the tap root of the tree to incorporate into the soil of the bottom bucket.

Step 5: Continue to care for the trees in these buckets and grow then on the north side of a building where they get some shade, and some west and east sun at different times of the day. Keep them well watered.

Step 6: After the following winter, just prior to them breaking dormancy pour 5 gallons of water through the young tree's pot. Lay out a fairly larger sheet of burlap onto which you have shoveled about a 4 inch depth of clay soil, remove the still dormant tree from its container, and set it on the layer of clay soil. Next you can pullup the sides of the burlap while adding more clay soil around the side once all the burlap is completly wrapped around the rootball tie it off in a manner which will not harm the root flare or lower trunk's bark.

Step 7: Put the trees in larger pots which have been sunk into the ground. in a sunny location. Back fill those pots with a well draining sand mixed with wood fines soil until the rootball tree can stay stable in the pots. Keep the trees watered in this condition, but do not feed them. Once they leaf out let their leaves do all the work to produce any food their roots need.

Step 8: By the time the trees either go dormant in the following fall, or just prior them breaking dormancy after the following winter's end; your trees should be ready for you to give away and to be planted in the ground where they can be left to continue growing.