Starting a hickory tree

[MrMoo]

Hi Folks,
I got a couple hickory nuts from a tree near where I work and
I'd like to plant then and see if I can get a tree to grow. It maybe kind of crazy but I figure what the heck it can't hurt to try.

They have the hulls on them. I am not sure how to go about planting them.
Should they be started in the fall or should I wait until spring?
Can they be started indoors & be planted outside in the spring?
I am also not sure how deep to plant them or soil type.
If I should wait until spring how do I store them until then?

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

[Tom]

One of my "old-timers" told me, when I asked him about Black Walnut,  "When the nuts fall from the tree just walk around and step on them".  That plants them deep enough.

I don't know. :-/

I did see lots of Black Walnut trees coming up where he said he had done that.

He said it works for pecan and hickory and lots of nuts. :-/

(in our sandy soil a nut that has been stepped on will find itself at soil level, or half way buried at least.)

[DanG]

Hickory and Pecan are pretty close kin, so they should germinate similarly, I suppose.  Several years ago I buried a water line that passed under a pecan tree. A bunch of nuts got buried in the trench as they fell, and I had a nice row of seedlings in the spring. Squirrels bury them a couple inches deep and get a pretty good stand, also.
Maybe you should just toss'em in the ground and see what happens. It seems to depend more on the nut than the soil.