Well i had wanted to try growing some trees from seed for a while, and i knew it would be hard and that most of them don't grow. But today i was walking in my wood and i looked closely at some acorns and i found 5 that had already started germinating, just laying on the ground. So i snaffled them It looks like they've only been growing 1 day and i can't tell if it is a shoot or a root on them. My question is.. how do you grow them? I've just rested them on some soil for now to keep them damp but i want to get them in pots asap, and i'll grow them indoors for a bit. What sort of soil should i use? I've only got a bag of compost at the moment. And also.. which way up do you plant them? Sideways or longways?
Great. Those are the start of roots. Here's some links to some good info: http://www.wildbirds.org/oaks/oaks.htm http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/biology/mnps/papers/reed1999183.html http://www.elkhornslough.org/andrewway/how_to_plant.htm In general, use a real deep pot. The roots will want to get long, very long quickly. Use a mix of your compost & some soil from where the oaks are growing ... about 1/2 & 1/2. Put the acorns about an inch (2cm) deep, with the root end down. I must say, I've never seen acorns that look like those, but I've not seen the Pyrimids either.... Hope that helps ... be glad to try to help more if needed. Peace, poor_old_dad
I've grown oaks from acrons several times. From my experience, oaks generally don't like to grown in containers. I am not an expert of this but I recommend not leaving them in a container for more then a year or two, once they sprout.
We have a live Oak tree in our front yard that my youngest son and I grew. We were working in the garden and Justin picked up an acorn that was just sprouting. He asked if it would grow into a tree, so I said let's give it a try. It's about ten feet tall now. I think about that day every time I see it.
That's a great story. Frankly, it brought a tear or two to an old hippie's eyes. My sons and I planted & transplanted many trees here at the farm. They've moved on now, into their adult lives. Like you said, everytime I look at those trees, walk by them, etc., my sons are here with me. In fact, I often visit trees I've planted, some as long ago as the late 1950s. To me, visiting those trees is like a time machine. They transport me into the past & give me a glimpse into the future. Also I've been meaning to say, I like the [size=-1]Uriah Heep album cover too. Music is another time machine. [/size] Peace, poor_old_dad
Good/bad news Well i had put them in these tiny little pots and just watered them when i could be bothered and pretty much forgot about them So today i discovered that one of them has a little shoot It's only 5mm tall but it's something, it's taken nearly a month. So the bad news.. i looked under the pots and found out that the roots have been growing looads. I need to repot asap but i don't want to damage the roots! How do i go about doing it? Here's a pic of the worst one:
i tried growing an oak tree from scratch in soil without anygermination. it has been about 2 months and still no sign of a sprout. ive been keeping one in my refridgerator for about 3 weeks, because i heard that it would help growth.
Yeah the ones that i have (now 5 with shoots ) were all germinating when i found them, with a few mms of root. Just had to look around on the ground at all the acorns to try and find them. I haven't had any luck with the ones that weren't already germinating.
oooh, this sounds like a fun project. I'll have to try and do it sometime - maybe on a friend's property so I can come back to visit, instead of this rental house we'll probably be leaving in a couple of years. Trees are a time machine - I can definitely understand that. I've never grown them from seeds, but I've planted tiny saplings with my dad when I was a kid and I was blown away last time I saw one!
