Direct Seeding Acorns

[T-Max]

I was in Manhattan, KS this weekend and did a little walking around the Kansas State University campus and found the oak trees there are LOADED with acorns. Our property is composed of plenty of trash trees but the only oaks are bur oak. I collected a few acorns on my trip, but in a few weeks I could probably gather many hundreds of acorns from various species of native oaks. Has anyone else tried to direct seed acorns in high volume? I seem to recall somebody here broadcasting acorns as an attempt. Perhaps use my dibble bar and try to get some beneath the surface? Anything else? So far I have identified: chinkapin, white, swamp white, pin, northern red, black, overcup, and shumard (actually had a marker for the tree). I am looking to diversify our property and would like to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

[Native Hunter]

Direct seeding works very well. Your worst problem will be squirrels finding the nuts, but if you put out a lot of them, you should get some to make it. I have some big white oak trees in my front yard, and some years they put out lots of nuts. There have been times when I do my first yard mowing in the spring that I'm mowing down dozens of little oaks about 5 inches tall. These manage to sprout and take root, despite falling in a fescue yard.

I've direct seeded chestnuts, sawtooths and chinkapins with good luck. The most successful place I ever seeded was the edge of a ditch between two native grass fields. Why was this such a good place? The main reason is that squirrels don't use native grass fields. Best wishes!

 

[RGrizzzz]

Check these out. "Squirrel acorn planter"
Search Results | Forestry Suppliers, Inc. (forestry-suppliers.com)

 

[Fishman]

Direct seeding can work great in some situations and be a total failure in others. It really depends on your squirrel population. I have done several thousand and have several trees to show for it. I still do it to some extent, but for me growing and planting seedlings works better. I would direct seed the white oak acorns this fall, but store the red oak acorns in your refrigerator and direct seed them next spring. The white oak acorns will germinate this fall while the red oaks won't germinate until next spring. Protecting the red oak acorns in your refrigerator will reduce the rodent predation over the winter. A dibble bar will work fine for planting them. My experience has been that any acorn that is not buried will soon disappear.

 

[T-Max]

May be time to do some squirrel hunting! This is probably the third time in the last 5 years I have seen the trees on campus absolutely loaded. If I can do this a few times over the course of the next decade and get even a few each year to make it, then it could be considered a success. I'm working in about 10 acres, so I can concentrate quite a bit of effort here.

 

[OkieKubota]

Sawtooth and white oak just volunteer here for us. Sawtooth are very easy to get going with acorns and a dibble...

 

[9x56MS]

My wife and I “plant” about 200 white oak acorns every other year and I have found over a dozen trees from 8-16” that are growing from the 2 plantings so far. We use ski poles to get them below ground. Not great success but some success.

 

[T-Max]

My wife and I “plant” about 200 white oak acorns every other year and I have found over a dozen trees from 8-16” that are growing from the 2 plantings so far. We use ski poles to get them below ground. Not great success but some success.

Ski poles! Nice! I have trekking poles that would punch a nice hole.

 

[Buckly]

Ski poles! Nice! I have trekking poles that would punch a nice hole.

How deep?

 

[9x56MS]

How deep?

4-6 inches. We try to do the planting after a rain so the ground is soft and we can just step on or kick dirt to close up the hole.

 

[weekender21]

My wife and I “plant” about 200 white oak acorns every other year and I have found over a dozen trees from 8-16” that are growing from the 2 plantings so far. We use ski poles to get them below ground. Not great success but some success.

That’s not a horrible success rate. I’m at 0% for direct seeding. Chipmunks and squirrels are efficient hunters!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[T-Max]

4-6 inches. We try to do the planting after a rain so the ground is soft and we can just step on or kick dirt to close up the hole.

That deep? I thought it was supposed to be like 2"?

 

[9x56MS]

At 2 “ the squirrels and chipmunks can smell them and dig them up. Getting a bit deeper and thy overwinter better and come up in the spring. At least that’s what I tell my wife. Damn gypsy moths this year destroyed acorn production on my seed white oak . Not one acorn on it.

 

[Deadeye]

Used to be an old saying, and I've found it to be true, that White Oaks have Acorns Every Other Year and Red Oaks have them Every Year.

Might help in your picking up Acorns and Planting as well.

For a FACT Deer prefer the White over the Red any day of the week. SO---- If you could plant some Whites Every Year (if you could find them) then you would have a Deer Magnet each year.

 

[T-Max]

One thing I find interesting is that we only have bur oak on our place. I have scoured the woods my whole life and have never found another. One doesn’t have to go far (my aunt has a pasture near town just a few miles away) and you encounter chinkapin and white. The chinkapins seem to be prolific producers there so I have gathered and scattered acorns in the distant past with seemingly zero success. The reds Would be purely for diversity as I have never seen a native red anywhere near us.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[9x56MS]

Used to be an old saying, and I've found it to be true, that White Oaks have Acorns Every Other Year and Red Oaks have them Every Year.

Might help in your picking up Acorns and Planting as well.

For a FACT Deer prefer the White over the Red any day of the week. SO---- If you could plant some Whites Every Year (if you could find them) then you would have a Deer Magnet each year.

Our white oak has some acorns every year but definitely heavier every other year and this year should have been a heavy crop but for the gypsy moths. They stripped the tree clean not a leaf left on it. The good news is it did set new leaves but not one acorn.

 

[sagittarius]

One thing I find interesting is that we only have bur oak on our place. I have scoured the woods my whole life and have never found another. One doesn’t have to go far (my aunt has a pasture near town just a few miles away) and you encounter chinkapin and white. The chinkapins seem to be prolific producers there so I have gathered and scattered acorns in the distant past with seemingly zero success. The reds Would be purely for diversity as I have never seen a native red anywhere near us.

Makes sense, natural prairie oak savanna. Young bur oak, even 4-5' tall, develop the classic thick cork insulating bark. This protects bur oak from periodic prairie fires that would kill most other oaks.