The mix of sowing medium is probably fine, what you've done incorporating the Jiffy mix into the Miracle Grow is lighten up your end product with more peat and vermiculite. All of the nutrients for germination and early growth are already contained in the acorn, you don't need to concern yourself with that right now. Thoroughly wetting the sowing medium initially is good. From there, rather than on a schedule, you'll want to insure it's continuously damp, neither wet nor allowed to dry. It sounds like you may have your acorns a little shallow - "Stratification: Cold stratify for 30 days or until radicle emergence. (this has been done for you by mother nature and you are seeing the radicle/root in the acorns you collected) Germination: Sow seed 1 to 2 inches deep, tamp soil, keep moist, mulch seed bed." (suggestion for sowing outdoors) There is the chance if rain has fallen since the tree incident the chemical was moved through the soil to the area from which you collected the acorns, but don't despair - it seems propagation of these trees has been in effect for quite some time. Not to say you should not be attempting to grow your own, but "Auburn University's School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences has been growing -- and selling -- baby Toomer's Corner oak trees grown from acorns from the same historic trees"...From what I'm reading they have some at different ages now - it will be years before the original trees can be replaced with the now seedlings but there steps are being taken to decontaminate the soil, reinstate them.

Hi Carol, I am in Sarasota also and have the privilege of having a very old, huge oak in my yard. When we were building this house, we called a respected arborist in to help us protect this tree from construction since it was the reason we bought this property. We also wanted to remove the 8-12 foot round of 'saplings' growing around the trunk to start planting things. He told us that these are not saplings, they are suckers which come up directly from the root system of the tree. The old tree is not as thick in foliage as it was in its youth, and this is one of the ways it tries to get more energy, by producing more foliage in the way of suckers. He strongly advised us not to dig up or spray them in any way, as it would make the tree decline, and perhaps even die. We asked him if it we could trim them (some were 2 feet or more tall). He said that would be fine as long as we kept most of the foliage. Since then, we have weed-whacked the suckers at an even level of about 8-10 inches once or twice yearly, I would estimate. We have planted ferns at the edges, which has grown into this a little, and there is also cast iron plant and firecracker plant at the edges which have grown into the suckers a little. I think the suckers look nice like a groundcover around the tree. In fact, it looks a lot like the asiatic jasmine around town. As an aside, our neighbors have many oaks and a very manicured yard. Their gardener sprays the suckers around some of their oaks a couple of times a year. These oaks that get their suckers sprayed have declined noticeably and don't look beautiful to me any more. An old, huge oak is a beautiful, beautiful thing. Nothing you plant around it will be as valuable or beautiful. My advice would be to just trim at a lower level, plant non-harmful things at the edges, or go for pots under the tree. If you'd like to see it in person, I'd be happy to show you my suckered tree. I think it looks nice. By the way, it's just my opinion, but I think part of the majesty of an old oak is seeing the gorgeous trunk base. For that reason also, consider not planting close to the trunk so that it can be visualized to its fullest! Good luck with your beautiful tree. Anna

I have a large area prone to erosion under a huge Arizona ash, under which is complete shade. I needed something to fill in fairly quickly. I've got Kimberly Queen Fern (I think that's it). It borders on invasive the second year, but I need it to be there. It doesn't mind a little standing water, loves the shade, and just leaving the leaves there to rot works just fine as far as feeding it. If we go through a long dry spell, I water a little bit (I run a sprinkler for a hour every other week), but that's it. It's not that hard to control, either--just dig up or pull. I got mine pulled up from a friend's garden, not even in dirt and in a five gallon bucket that sat out for two days. I put down twenty five "plugs" and now I'd estimate the crowd at about 150 ferns. I've also had what I think is called mondo grass under there. It's the common variety, came with the house (I don't care for it, so I pulled most of it up.), but was thick and lush and happy. In the shade, it's very dark, almost black. Caladiums are fun in shade, but I have to either dig them up or replant every year, as they rot down here in 9. My other ground cover is an undesirable....Indian strawberry...I swear that stuff will take over the world.

I think mailing success has more to do with how you package them rather than when you mail them. In other words, I would not send them bare-root. If you minimize root trauma, they should mail well in Fall or Spring. The heat of the summer might be bad if they sit in a package in the sun. And, I would probably not send them in late winter if they had already come out of dormancy (have tender new growth) and you are expecting them to sit on someone's doorstep during an arctic cold invasion.