How to encourage fast growth from Post Oak Acorn?
slimwhitman
9 years ago
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years agobrandon7 TN_zone7
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Encouraging caudex growth
Comments (21)Oh ..... many a plant has given its life to further someone's understanding - mine included. Too many people miss the boat when it comes to keeping their plants attractive, because they're afraid that if they prune something the plant will surely die. I always encourage the grower to be the one in control of a plant's growth habit instead of allowing the plant to have its way, but as in all things, there is a balance that must be maintained to avoid jeopardizing the plant's ability to keep its feet on this side. ;-) The one plant appears to have already lost its footing in this world, but the one with the viable cambium might well have made it - and still might. I'd paint the wound with wood glue, or smear it with Vaseline to prevent a massive scar on top of the caudex, and to help preserve the moisture therein. After that, I'd keep it VERY dry until at least the first of May or maybe even mid-May, to prevent the caudex from rotting. The idea is to jump start the plant only when it can wake up to a world that currently favors good growth. If you have no foliage to use water from the soil via transpiration, watering becomes extremely critical, especially at this time of year, unless you're using a really chunky soil - so please keep that in mind. I think it's best to let the soil go dry for now - except for maybe a light misting of the soil surface every week or so. Best luck! Al...See MoreHow to prune an Oakleaf Hydrangea to encourage denser growth
Comments (3)Sorry, I just saw these responses... thought I had signed up for email alerts. Ken, yes, I am a newbie. I moved into an old house with virtually zero landscaping (aside from the inevitable azaleas and nandinas etc. - that older hydrangea was actually a 10' transplant I got from a neighbor) a few years ago, and have been transforming the yard into a garden during the past three years. I'm fine giving the shrub time. I have just been stunned by how huge it has gotten in the three years since I planted it, and was wondering if I should cut it back a bit and thereby could encourage denser growth. I thought pruning through July was fine with regard to next year's flowering. But it sounds like I might better leave it alone. Thanks for the advice!...See MoreHow does one encourage sedum growth?
Comments (11)Thanks for the quick responses. I've been growing the kam... for several years now (also from Bluestone, Kevin!) so I am familiar with its habit. I've planted it closely enough that it clumps together nicely. It's just that the plantings from last year and the year before are just not getting bigger. They are only about 3 or 4 inches in diameter. The other plantings seemed to grow MUCH more quickly. Like I said, I may just be being impatient. Kevin, we too have had a ton of rain, and that's why I hesitate to water them even more. I'm going to watch the newer ones and see how they do, and if they take off then perhaps I'll try watering. This slope is so hot, dry, and rocky I don't think I could overwater if I wanted to, lol. But if all the extra rain seems to have helped this year, I'll help them along with some supplemental watering over the summer. I've tried a few other sedum here and K seems to do the best. I actually planted straight-up K by accident - I had a big swath of K. Weihenstephaner Gold going nicely, then bought the plain K from Bluestone, who at the time had great deals on flats of groundcovers (boy, do I miss that!). It wasn't till it was planted and growing that I realized I bought the wrong stuff! But I like the plain K better anyway, so I am continuing with that. I really tried to get John Creech established, since I love that, but it's not taking so well. I'm giving it a bit more time, and then if it doesn't thrive, I'll replace with K. This is why I posted awhile ago looking for places to buy bulk sedums. The slope is about a hundred feet long and 4 to 6 feet high. That's a lot of sedum! Thanks guys! Dee...See MorePlan to grow oaks from seedling and acorns.
Comments (37)OP has delivered!!!!! Here are the pics I promised. I didn't read through all the comments again to see if I ever explained what I had done so I'll just do a quick shake down. I bought seedlings from the Idaho extension acorns from a website called acorno.com. I planted the seedlings in 1 gallon rootmaker pots, 3 gallon rootmaker bags, and some in my garden boxes. I planted the acorns in the little 2.5"x 2.5" rootmaker pots and a few in my raised beds. I planted bur, n. red oak, and a couple pin oak acorns. The seedlings were all bur oak. I build a little potting bench from scrap wood I had lying around and put all of my pots on top of that on the east side of my house. They get good sun until about 1300 hours then shade. The ones I planted in the garden boxes get full sun and there isn't great drainage so the box soil is basically always wet. (Its my first year with those so I have some work to do this fall/spring getting the drainage issues figured out.) We have had the hottest summer on record and have been in the mid 90's basically since the beginning of June. I have tried to water the potted plants every afternoon when I get home from work and have only missed a few days. As you can see, the small potted acorns have all died. I think that the pots were just too small to store moisture during the day heat and dried out before I could get to watering them after work. The 1 and 3 gallon potted oaks look great other than a bit of leaf scorch. The oaks planted in the raised beds seem to be doing just as well. They have some scorch but the little guys are green and have good leaves. I haven't gotten any real growth out of any of them. I'm not sure if its the heat, lack of water/ too much water, or anything else. I am not sure where to go from here. This was totally just an experiment but I need to decide what to do with them before winter. I have a spot in the back south west corner of my yard that is just dirt. I haven't gotten around to doing flowers there yet and have considered planting my oaks in tidy rows there to have them mature a bit and bare root them when they get 4-5 feet tall. I still haven't decided on that though. Here is a link that might be useful: Oak Seedling Album...See Moreslimwhitman
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