Direct seeding acorns and chestnuts into a tree tube.

[Flo1919]

I remember a discussion about direct seeding acorns and chestnuts and then putting on a tube. I think Letemgrow may have posted some success. I'm really interested in doing that soon. Is as simple as it sounds? Should I bury them a touch or just press them into worked dirt? One nut or two? How was germination? I'd appreciate anyone's input who has tried this method. Sure beats digging a hole for a seedling.

 

[catscratch]

Not exactly the answer to your question but something I've done with success and is similar. I've used PVC cut 12 - 18 inches long, hammer a couple of inches into the ground, drop a nut in, drop a cup of soil in, walk away. If you want you can put a cone of window screen in the top to make certain nothing gets in. No stakes, no digging, no rodents, no worries until they sprout and outgrow the PVC tube, then you have to protect them from deer. I like this method for taproot trees.

 

[j-bird]

I have direct seeded some acorns before and because of the horror stories I have read about tubes (weak trunks) I simply make wire mesh cages (1/4" hardware cloth) and stake them. I am sure this slows their growth, but this does seem to make them self supporting. I often times plant multiple seed per spot and will simply cull the weaker ones later. I actually grew some sawtooth from Catscratch this way and the best ones are now 5 feet tall. As the trees get bigger - I simply add a larger cage like I use for fruit trees and allow the smaller hardware cloth to serve as trunk protection from chewing critters. I tend to try to at least get the acorn down into the dirt (mostly so it doesn't dry out). Remember white oaks will want to grow yet this year, while red oaks have to be chilled before they will germinate. You can over winter white oaks as well until spring if you wish. I do not have any experience with chestnuts. I have also grown some acorns in containers, but root circling becomes as issue/concern (I used 2 liter pop bottles).

 

[catscratch]

That's great that your Sawtooths are doing that well! Your's may be doing better than the one's I planted that year. Ever need more Sawtooth (or DCO, Burr, or Chinkapin) let me know.

 

[TreeDaddy]

I tried the direct seeding with 20 inch tubes on ~ 300 acorns last year

i even buried the tubes 4to 5 inches into ground

Dismal failure due to predation from feral hogs

bill

 

[j-bird]

That's great that your Sawtooths are doing that well! Your's may be doing better than the one's I planted that year. Ever need more Sawtooth (or DCO, Burr, or Chinkapin) let me know.

I had to go back and look...but what started out as acorns in October of 2016.....are now 3 to 5 feet tall! Not all of them have done well (my fault), but those I took care of have done well. The 2019 picture is in a 5' tall cage (best of the bunch). And to the OP...no tube!


You will see that I closed the top of the cage to keep the deer off of the seedling. As the seedling grew I replaced the wire cage with one that was bigger (2018 pic) and then that stayed while I added the 5' tall cage later. I only did this for a handful of trees where a larger planting would be far more time consuming.