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first timer got more than he bargained for when he opened the germination box

Started by Lanier_Lurker, April 06, 2008, 10:48:42 PM

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Lanier_Lurker

I'm new at this.  I've taken the advice from some of the kind folks here, mixed in a little guesswork on my part, and now I have more germinated acorns than I can deal with.  :D

The Northern Red Oak and the Scarlet Oak are particularly vigorous - and the Shumard Oak are doing pretty good as well.  Here is a picture from one of the boxes containing Scarlet and Shumard acorns.





In this picture most of what you see sprouted is Scarlet Oak, but there is one Shumard Oak in the upper center of the picture that has popped out.

I was able to get 4 dozen potted today before I ran out of potting containers.  Hope the ones I left in there can hold out for a while until I get more pots.

I'm still waiting on the hickories.... ???

Sprucegum


WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

SwampDonkey

"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

SeeSaw

That looks real nice!  I have tried to do this myself with little success.  I would like to hear your technique also.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, completely worn out and loudly proclaiming, WHAT A RIDE...!

Lanier_Lurker

Quote from: WDH on April 07, 2008, 07:57:06 PM
Could you explain your technique?

First of all, when collecting and float testing acorns and hickory nuts last fall I was very aggressive in culling out those with a low probability of germinating - as I had plenty to work with.  If they did not sink such that they thumped the bottom of the water pail I fed them to the squirrels.  (But, one thing I have learned about float testing acorns and hickory nuts is that they can be full of grubs and still sink).  :-\

What I did was quite simple.  I got some "Sta-Green" tree and shrub potting mix and used some plastic storage bins with the snap-on lids.  I also used some kitty litter buckets that also have snap on lids.

(Gotta keep the squirrels out.  They have been on a rampage lately with the warming weather).  >:(

A layer of potting mix, a layer of nuts, a light misting of water with a compressed air sprayer, another layer of potting mix, and more misting of water with the sprayer.  I don't know that it mattered, but I did not soak it.  Just got some decent moisture into the potting mix.

I put the lids on and left them outside for about 17 days (ending last Saturday).  I added some mist from the compressed air sprayer once during this time. 

I think perhaps I waited a little too long.  Some of the little tap roots (I guess that is what they are) had reached 3 or more inches in length.

The hickory nuts have not done anything yet, and frankly I don't know that they should have.  This is all untrodden ground for me. 

But the acorns sure seem to like it.  ;D

One additional question I have: when I pot these things how deep in the potting mix should they be?  I've been covering them with about an inch.

SwampDonkey

"Hickories exhibit embryo dormancy which is overcome naturally by overwintering in the duff and litter or artificially by stratification in a moist medium at 1° to 4° C (33° to 40° F) for 30 to 150 days. In forest tree nurseries unstratified hickory nuts are sown in the fall and stratified nuts are sown in the spring. Usually less than half of the seeds are sound , but 50 to 75 percent of these will germinate. The hickory shuckworm (Laspeyresia caryana) can seriously reduce germination."

[Source: USDA]
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

SeeSaw

LL,

Thank you for sharing that I will try this method myself.  I have some property that has hardwoods but no oaks on it.  I have oaks where I live so getting acorns is not a problem but getting them to germinate like yours have, Well that's another story.  Thanks again!

SeeSaw 
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, completely worn out and loudly proclaiming, WHAT A RIDE...!

Lanier_Lurker

Wow, I am amazed.

My germination rate on the Scarlet oak acorns is almost 100%.  I got more of them than I can deal with.  :(

The rate on the Shumards is not as good - yet.  They seem to be lagging behind.  Perhaps they require more warm days since they range further south?

I'm almost afraid to open the bin with the Northern Red Oak acorns.....

WDH

Where were the acorns before you put them in the bins in the soil mixture?  Were they stored outside?
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Lanier_Lurker

Yes, they were stored outside in freezer bags - and kept safe from the squirrels by being inside the same snap-lid plastic containers I'm now using as germination bins.  They got gnawed on a little bit, but they did their job.  :D

I also soaked the acorns in water for a couple of days and let them dry for a day before bagging them last fall and setting them outside in the bins.  There was enough residual moisture in them to produce some condensation inside the bags.

I wish I had some better vessels to plant them in.  I'm using 24 and 32 ounce drink cups that I have been saving from lunches during the week.  I figure for the first couple of years, vessel depth is more important than width with oak seedlings.  They need vertical space to send down a tap root.  If anything, I wish these cups were taller.  I've been thinking that one of the best things to use might be the cardboard cylinder from the center of a paper towel roll.  They are sturdy enough to last a year or so, and you could cut it apart when done with it and keep the root ball intact for transplanting.

When leaves start to appear I will add some pictures to the post.

Oh, and this "Sta-Green" tree and shrub potting mix has some fertilizer in it too.  I think that may be helping.  ???

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Lanier_Lurker

Ok, here is an update.

The Northern Red Oak had a pretty good germination rate as well.  I would say 70 to 80%.





This one definitely stayed in the germination tank too long.  I hope it survives being (trans)planted.  :(






And the mockernut hickories have start popping also.





I'm going to try and be better prepared next year.  :-\   

I don't have enough containers to pot them in.  I've been walking around sowing a few of them, and gave a coffee can full of potting mix and scarlet oak sprouts to a coworker.  His son is in the Boy Scouts and they are going to see what they can do with them.  Should be a fun project for them.  :)

Lanier_Lurker

Ummm, yea.... :o

This has turned into madness.

When you count the number of sprouted acorns and hickory nuts you have in the 100s then you have too many - unless you are in the tree seedling supplier business, which I am most certainly not.  I have a full time job which includes 8 to 10 hours behind the wheel every week.



The scarlet oaks are like weeds.




The northern red oaks are just as bad.






The hickories are starting to go crazy also, as well as the shumard oaks, which as I feared were lagging behind the scarlets and reds a little bit. 

It is just too much.  :( 

I have neither the patience nor the time to play Johnny NutTreeSeed for the next week or two.  Besides, it is pretty DanG hard to find places to plant trees around here anyway.  I have potted well over 100, and that is quite enough.  I'll have trouble enough dealing with them later.

Next year I will not put all my stored seeds into germination bins at the same time - and try to stagger them more. 

Probably won't keep as many seeds either.  ::)

This has definitely been a learning experience.

WDH

Pretty soon you will be running down the street pulling your hair out like a madman screaming, "I just can't take it anymore!" :D.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Lanier_Lurker

Yes, it could come to that.  I should know by the end of the day today.   :D

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Lanier_Lurker

 :D :D

Yes, I've come to grips with the fact that I am going to have to sacrifice many dozens of "would be" trees.  :(  I'll try feeding them to the squirrels, but I'm not sure they will want them.

Spent some time today getting the pump I keep down at the boat dock (for my baitfish tank) situated in the "trout stream" that flows behind my house where a *lake* is supposed to be.  With that in place, I don't have to run 300 feet of hose down there to water the 150 potted seedlings that are sitting on top of the boat dock.  I had to get them away from the house before the wife had a fit, and that seemed like the best place.  With no lake, she does not go down there much.  And, they will get full sun down there unlike up at the house, which is almost completely under canopy (and getting more so every day now).

Stan snider

L.L.  I Know a fellow that figured out a way to grow pecan that might work for you. He cuts the top and bottom out of a barrel and fills it about half way up with sand and then adds about a foot of half and half peat and sand and plants them thick. after a couple of years lift up the barrel and you have bare root seedlings falling out.

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