Growing Bur oak acorns to seedlings?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

Hey folks,

I have three Bur oak acors that I want to try growing. I collected them a few days ago from a tree. Acorns are starting to drop around here so I figured they were fine to pick. I left them outside for a couple fo days (it was cool and rainy) away from sun and rain (under an awning on my front porch). I then brought them in and removed the tops (came off fairly easy). I placed them in water overnight (they immediately sank to the bottom of the container and I've read this is a good way to test their viability.

Now, I live in a cooler climate (Southerm Ontario) and it's already in the upper 40s here at night. Bur oaks grow well here. Should I put these three acorns into containers now with some soil from my garden? Should they be in seperate containers? And where should I place these containers? East facing? Direct sun area? Shaded area? What happens if we get some hard frosts soon? I doubt that they will sprout now that it has gotten cooler (although our days can still hit low 70s occassianally). What do I do with the pots when it gets really cold and things freeze over (Dec? Is this a matter of keeping the containers moist and waiting until next spring for seedlings? Should I bring the containers indoors and place in a cold room in the basement (goes down to low 30s)

Thanks!

Featured Answer

splaker
Original Author

last year

Update on the acorns/seedlings - all three acorns collected made it to become seedlings but one was eaten by a critter in the pot it was in. I still have the other two growing well in 2 gallon pots. I am thinking of planting them soon or perhaps plant in the spring. Am I going to have higher success with a fall or spring planting? If waiting til spring can i store them in a cold room that goes down to about 34F through the winter?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

bengz6westmd
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I just put them in the ground an inch or so right now where you want them. Prb'ly best to remove the husks, but I didn't. I planted the below just as an afterthought in a dirt-pile, but did then transplant some out to better spots. Burr oak seedlngs a year after planting:
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years ago
why did you only get 3??? .. if you have gotten a few more.. you could have tried various methods ...

the problem with the ground is vermin ... no need to feed them ...

i would probably put them in a pot ... and wait until spring for them to sprout ... and protect the pot for winter ... from both too much water when frozen .. and from vermin ... you can just lay it on its side in january.. out of sun that might heat the black pot...

one thing for sure.. i used to have plenty of pots that dam squirrels put them in. and they sprouted.. so how hard could it be for me to do the same thing.. lol ... dont overthink it all ...

ken
Related Discussions
Plan to grow oaks from seedling and acorns.
Q
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 More
Transplanting Bur Oak Seedling
Q
Comments (12)
i would have waited until the leaves fell off .. and then i wouldnt have to worry like you are now ... but i would still sit around all winter wondering if it would bud out in spring ... the tree went stress dormant when you dug it up ... it simply shut down the leaves.. if they actually hadnt all ready done so ... getting ready for Oct ... it will continue to grow roots [a tree dormant above remains active below] ... until very late into fall ... so keep it properly watered.. and mulched.. but dont drown it.. this time of year.. with cool days.. and cold nights.. you dont really need to provide a lot of water.. but you do need to check it.. insert finger ... all my transplants are bare root.. that is irrelevant.. IMHO ... as was .... IMHO.. the tap root .. i would have favored speed of transplant.. over spending excessive time on the tap ... timing could have been a bit better.. after the leaves fell off.. but i suspect your friend wanted it gone.. and you did what you had to do ... dont worry about it.. at worst.. you got some exercise.. and spent some time with a friend ... and you have a pre-dug hole for a new one.. if this one dies.. lol ... ken
...See More
WANTED: Bur oak acorns
Q
Comments (3)
Hi I wouldn't of known the name of my tree, but for some reason I was asking on a brewing wine website about pruning for Oak I have over 100 year old Bur Oak 120 years I think-------- They said people use White Oak, But anyways Im not to sure if I will have any plantible ones until the fall, but maybe we could trade Im interested in seeds. I don't know how much Shiping would be for plants, but if shiping cuttings are cheap. Im just going out side now where I seen them. It was snowey out side ,but I did find where I seen some and there where one or 2 more near the area maybe when the snow melts I can find some larger ones there is 1 large one two that are "alittle" smaller, and 3 a little larger than marbles probaly no good. I just remembered I did PULL up a small oak tree in my bushes that i trans planted with the same dirt in a toco bell cup I found, but the few leaves it had droped, and nieces friend pulled out the other it has a tiny leave, but sorry I wouldn't wont to risk shocking that tree or sending somthing not worth it.
...See More
WANTED: Bur Oak acorns
Q
Comments (3)
I have some Bur Oak seeds collected this fall from two trees, one is very big in a golf range and the other is a young tree on the street. I tired to grow trees from seeds but so far no success. I have planted Bur Oak seeds for more than three weeks, nothing happend so far. Have you ever done this before? Yiqing
...See More
L Clark (zone 4 WY)
last year
Nice. I love griwing from seed. I’ve got butternut and ohio buckeye from seed
BillMN-z-2-3-4
last year
Yeah, great job!

I've grown oaks from acorns before but never planted the seedlings in the ground in the Fall.

It is a good time to plant them now because trees do a lot of root elongation in the Fall before the ground gets too cold.

The only thing is you'll have to have some protection from varmints like mice chewing them off during winter, like a hardware cloth cage/surround of some sort.

If you want to keep them in the pots for the winter, they'll need to stay cold enough to keep them from coming out of dormancy and growing too early, before winter is over, yet not get so cold to freeze the roots.

So, if you don't have a cold frame to keep them in, you'd have to sink the pots in the ground anyways, just to keep the roots happy and then still have to protect from varmints. And if I had to do all that, I'd just plant them in the ground now and be done with it.

That way your seedlings will go into dormancy naturally when the outside temps go down and sun strength diminishes and then be ready to grow when things warm up in the spring.

Besides, the longer you keep them in pots, the more chance there is for the aggressive tap root that oaks produce to start winding around inside the pots. You'll then have to deal with that upon planting in the spring.
BillMN-z-2-3-4
last year
Oh, and the room you mentioned would be fine if it only goes done to 34dF. The problem would be if it gets warmer than, say, mid to high 40's during the winter.

Growing Bur oak acorns to seedlings?

splaker
Original Author

Comments (6)

bengz6westmd

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Related Discussions

L Clark (zone 4 WY)

BillMN-z-2-3-4

BillMN-z-2-3-4

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Growing Bur oak acorns to seedlings?

splakerOriginal Author

Comments (6)

bengz6westmd

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Related Discussions

L Clark (zone 4 WY)

BillMN-z-2-3-4

BillMN-z-2-3-4

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

splaker
Original Author