Fishman
Active Member
So who is ready for acorn season 2018? I checked my notes and this sawtooth started dropping acorns on August 16 last year, so it should not be long before I am collecting more acorns and other seeds.
I checked a couple of swamp chestnut oaks and white oaks today. The swamp chestnut oak that I collected most of my acorns from last year doesn’t look loaded this year. The acorns from this tree have really produced some nice seedlings that I will be planting later this year. One is topping 40”, while there are a handful over 35” and another twenty or so over 30”. It is hard to believe that these trees were acorns earlier this year. It should be a good year for the collection of white oak acorns. One tree is really loaded.
I direct seeded over a thousand acorns last year and while I have some seedlings growing from the effort, I think I am going to change my methods this year. I used a dibble bar and planted every acorn last year. The squirrels really enjoyed all my hard work, but they did forget about a few of the ones that they dug up and then reburied. I am going to try and put piles of acorns out over the course of several mornings and let the squirrels plant them for me. They will eat some and I am sure other critters will eat some, but my effort will be a lot less than dragging a dibble bar around dropping acorns in the holes. Has anyone ever tried letting squirrels plant the acorns for you?
I used some RootMaker trays this year and have decided that it is just too hot here in the south for them. I have to water the trees every day and that can really cut into your ability to travel or take a vacation. I have had the best success with a raised bed. I only have to water it once a week if I have to water it at all. The care and maintenance on the bed is a lot less than the RootMaker trays.
I had good success trading seeds on the nut/seed exchange last year and I am looking forward to acquiring some more this year. I screwed up trying to stratify my chestnuts this year, but a member kindly sent me several hundred pre-stratified chestnuts in June. Thanks Roy. This is a great forum and I look forward to someone starting the nut/seed exchange 2018 thread.
![42858133335_00aa95f3f8_b.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Ffarm2.staticflickr.com%2F1792%2F42858133335_00aa95f3f8_b.jpg&hash=587ba422afce8f53804f9fb623d1f683)
I checked a couple of swamp chestnut oaks and white oaks today. The swamp chestnut oak that I collected most of my acorns from last year doesn’t look loaded this year. The acorns from this tree have really produced some nice seedlings that I will be planting later this year. One is topping 40”, while there are a handful over 35” and another twenty or so over 30”. It is hard to believe that these trees were acorns earlier this year. It should be a good year for the collection of white oak acorns. One tree is really loaded.
I direct seeded over a thousand acorns last year and while I have some seedlings growing from the effort, I think I am going to change my methods this year. I used a dibble bar and planted every acorn last year. The squirrels really enjoyed all my hard work, but they did forget about a few of the ones that they dug up and then reburied. I am going to try and put piles of acorns out over the course of several mornings and let the squirrels plant them for me. They will eat some and I am sure other critters will eat some, but my effort will be a lot less than dragging a dibble bar around dropping acorns in the holes. Has anyone ever tried letting squirrels plant the acorns for you?
I used some RootMaker trays this year and have decided that it is just too hot here in the south for them. I have to water the trees every day and that can really cut into your ability to travel or take a vacation. I have had the best success with a raised bed. I only have to water it once a week if I have to water it at all. The care and maintenance on the bed is a lot less than the RootMaker trays.
I had good success trading seeds on the nut/seed exchange last year and I am looking forward to acquiring some more this year. I screwed up trying to stratify my chestnuts this year, but a member kindly sent me several hundred pre-stratified chestnuts in June. Thanks Roy. This is a great forum and I look forward to someone starting the nut/seed exchange 2018 thread.