Picked a bunch of red oak acorns last week( only kind of oak we get up here ) gonna stick these in the freezer just so none of them get eaten or rot and then I will plant them in the spring. It will be nice to get some good oak growing on the property seeing as how I have just a single oak to my name right now. It might help bring the deer in after 25 years or so, just in time for me to retire
I had thought about doing the same. They can be difficult to get going. They need to freeze before they will sprout.
Just looked it up again. Some will be ruined by freezing, but may need to be refrigerated for several weeks.
I suggest you read up on it. There's a lot of info if you Google planting acorns. Doing a float test helps you to weed out the ones that have bugs eating them.
Nice! I've been doing the same thing, for the same reason. I only have about a dozen mature oaks. On a related topic, I still have plenty of nice healthy ash trees. I'm thinking about gathering as many seeds as I can, and seeing if I can wait out the EAB storm. They're so efficient at wiping out their own food source; perhaps they'll cause thier own extinction in my lifetime. Anyone have any ideas about the best way to store them?
May not have to put them in the freezer. You could store them in garage or outbuilding until spring. Then come spring, take where you want them to grow. But, DO NOT plant them! Simply put them on top of the ground, preferably where sun will hit the nuts. They will sprout and the sprout will naturally go right into the ground and then the nut will rot. We've planted them other ways and found many ways that fail but have always had great luck doing it this way. Actually, we don't even move them in the fall but wait until spring and take the ones we want (we have millions to choose from), just before the sprout gets into the ground. We move them then where we want them and let them grow. If you have a dry year (probably not where you live), sometimes it might pay to water them that first year. Also it will pay to have bare dirt for about a foot around the tree rather than grass or weeds. It will help the new tree a lot.
Thanks for the good info, I might just stick them in my shed for the winter instead and save the freezer space then. I could even borrow the in-laws rototillar and make a bed to set them on in the spring
I would not even make a bed for them; just make sure you have bare ground. Sometimes you may have to spray some roundup or something similar and if you do, make sure you do it 1-2 weeks before you put the nuts out.
It's good to hear that ash is still in good shape in other places. I've got a fair bit of healthy ash as well but I'm keeping a close eye on them. It's really becoming one of my favorite woods to burn and tree to have on my property.
Growing trees from seed is fun. We've so far planted oaks, cherry, catalpa, silver maples, walnut, honey locusts (residential- no thorns) and redbud. Well actually the redbud was a baby transplant. Also planted poplar, pines, dogwood, sugar maples, crimson maple, apricot and bing cherry trees from bare root babies or potted youngsters. Most rewarding so far are 3 s.maples 18" DBH planted from helicopters 22 years ago.
Sorry I caused that confusion - by s.maple I should have said silver.maple (not sugar). Sugars never grow that fast. The silvers are growing either between the lakeshore and septic drain or between 2 vegetable gardens, irrigated well. Only way to explain their fast growth. We are between Caledonia and Middleville in SW Michigan.
That makes more sense haha. I grew up in Muskegon and then lived in grand haven for 2 years before I moved up here.
If you want to stratify acorns just use the right term for your search and I bet you get more results. stratify acorns - Google Search
