How to grow Dwarf Chinkapin Oaks (DCOs) from seed

[Blitz]

How do DCO react to fire? Our pasture is set to be burned next spring. I would like to plant DCO along our fenceline someday, but the fenceline will be burned out every 3-5 years when we burn pasture. If I wait until next fall to plant, that would give them the 3-5 years to grow above flame height. Do you think that would work, or should I seek some other plant?

T-Max, I've never seen a burned site of DCOs. However, it's not a fire species (American hazelnuts aren't either). Not like bur oaks that have evolved to tolerate fire. DCOs will undergo one of the two things: Fire will either kill them off totally OR the main stem will get killed off and heavy suckering will occur. It all depends on the fuel load present!

What part of Kansas are you from? Eastern? Interesting to know for recommending another plant.

 

[T-Max]

Junction City, so kind of East Central. We are on the very Western edge of the Flint Hills. We have plum and dogwood thickets around here everywhere. Unfortunately my dad hates them and sprays them. I figured if I can find something with a nut instead of a fruit I can convince him to let them be.

 

[Jason Broom]

Blitz,

I'd like to try my hand at growing some DCO's. I would be planting them in central IN and northern MI. I planted a dozen of these (as seedlings) last year and would like to buy some from you for this fall/winter. Should I send you a PM with my contact info?

ETA - Is the process for growing Northern Red Oak from acorns pretty much the same?

Thanks!
Jason

 

[Blitz]

Blitz,

I'd like to try my hand at growing some DCO's. I would be planting them in central IN and northern MI. I planted a dozen of these (as seedlings) last year and would like to buy some from you for this fall/winter. Should I send you a PM with my contact info?

ETA - Is the process for growing Northern Red Oak from acorns pretty much the same?

Thanks!
Jason

Jason, please send us an email to dconebraska@gmail.com. We still have acorns available (1/2 lb. for $ 10.00 and 1 lb. for $ 20.00, shipping is $ 6.80).

Northern Red Oak need a stratification period of 60-90 days in order to germinate whereas white oaks (like DCOs) grow a radicle once they drop on the ground assuming conditions are favorable. They "anchor" themselves in the ground in the fall.

 

[Blitz]

Junction City, so kind of East Central. We are on the very Western edge of the Flint Hills. We have plum and dogwood thickets around here everywhere. Unfortunately my dad hates them and sprays them. I figured if I can find something with a nut instead of a fruit I can convince him to let them be.

Have you thought about planting a line of DCOs along your fence line and keeping a clean strip along this line so fire won't affect them? It means as if your dad likes to spray, so maybe he'll agree to spraying pre-emerge early in the season.

 

[Prairiesneak]

I've got 1.5 pounds of acorns on the way. I'm sure this has been covered but haven't seen wether or not the DCO acorns should be float tested like any other oak? Thanks

 

[Blitz]

I've got 1.5 pounds of acorns on the way. I'm sure this has been covered but haven't seen wether or not the DCO acorns should be float tested like any other oak? Thanks

We pick our DCO acorns directly from the shrub, none off the ground. When we de-cap them, we screen them for weevil damage and then float test them. Floaters are discarded. However, from our experience, even floaters have a high germination rate.

 

[Needmorebrush82]

The acorns are high quality. Received mine last week and have them in trays and happy to report already have a few with a taproot in the rm18's. Blitz can these stay out 2 weeks without pushing top growth? I didn't plan on them popping instantly.

 

[Blitz]

The acorns are high quality. Received mine last week and have them in trays and happy to report already have a few with a taproot in the rm18's. Blitz can these stay out 2 weeks without pushing top growth? I didn't plan on them popping instantly.

Glad to hear you are happy with the quality of our acorns!!
This is a crazy year, we believe. They ripened a lot earlier than usual, and we are not surprised to hear that they are already pushing a radicle. Maybe the rain in the past few weeks contributes to their quick root pushing. AND it shows how fresh they are .......

IMO, you can leave your planted RMs out for the next two weeks. Just keep them in a cool spot and monitor their root establishment (see thread). Once the root is established (2-3 inches long), put the trays in the refrigerator (see thread).

 

[Needmorebrush82]

Glad to hear you are happy with the quality of our acorns!!
This is a crazy year, we believe. They ripened a lot earlier than usual, and we are not surprised to hear that they are already pushing a radicle. Maybe the rain in the past few weeks contributes to their quick root pushing. AND it shows how fresh they are .......

IMO, you can leave your planted RMs out for the next two weeks. Just keep them in a cool spot and monitor their root establishment (see thread). Once the root is established (2-3 inches long), put the trays in the refrigerator (see thread).

If I have my acorn fridge set as warm as it will go 55 degrees will they still root in trays? It's still 90 plus here and the south wind blows hard all day. Really concerned my trays could dry out if I miss checking on them for a day or two. The fridge would eliminate the severe temp and wind issue. If not I will let them stay out for another week and then put them in the fridge and crank it down to 35 or so.

 

[Blitz]

If I have my acorn fridge set as warm as it will go 55 degrees will they still root in trays? It's still 90 plus here and the south wind blows hard all day. Really concerned my trays could dry out if I miss checking on them for a day or two. The fridge would eliminate the severe temp and wind issue. If not I will let them stay out for another week and then put them in the fridge and crank it down to 35 or so.

I understand your concerns. You don't have to go through the hassle of cranking up your fridge. If you are worried about them drying up outside during root establishment, put the trays in your house, your basement, your garage, shed, etc.

 

[Blitz]

Thanks to Yoderj from the old forum, we've been able to retrieve some previously asked questions and photos/comments that might be of interest to you:

Gator asked:
So what do you do when your DCO's put on top growth before you move them into cold storage??? I planted less than 3 weeks ago and this morning I checked on them and 3/6 have top growth now. I've read it'll kill the tops if I go to cold storage now so I'll just go without. Do I move the other 3 right now to cold storage? Opinions needed.

Gator,
I'd move the ones that haven't sprouted into cold storage asap. The others, keep them as cool as you can. What zone are you in? How cold does it get in your area in the winter? Can you find a spot where it doesn't get below 32 F outside?

Blitz,
Zone 7 but no way there's any spot outside that won't freeze. I did move the ones I could to cold storage. Guess I'll have a good comparison .
For what it's worth, they were planted less than two weeks ago so they shot up top growth pretty quickly.

 

[Blitz]

Grapevine's DCO burial site:
A few photo's of my DCO fall planting: My DCO grave.

Filled with germinated seed.

Mulched.

Hardware cloth installed.

 

[Blitz]

Grapevine's cold storage:
My cold storage room.

Germinated seed in cold storage.

I still have about 100 growing in the greenhouse, I'll probably put some in cold storage and bring some inside in the sunroom for the winter. I ended up planting in a mix of Promix BX with pine bark fines. Also managed to get a bag of Promix BRK with fungicide. Also planted some in Jiffy forestry pellets. We'll see what works best. As I type this, Sandy is howling outside. Amazingly, still have not lost power.

 

[Blitz]

Grapevine,
GREAT to see that you are trying different methods and don't put all your eggs in <u>one</u> basket; this way you can see what works best for you.
Just keep an eye on the moisture for all approaches. As letemegrow noted, if you leave them in the 'grave' too long in the spring, the taproot might grow out of the rootmakers. Just monitor them.

Grapevine responded:
They will be pulled in early March or as soon as the ground thaws and placed in a heated greenhouse. Doubt there will be much taproot then. As Blitz said, this is an acorn storage method, not a seedling storage method.

 

[Blitz]

Gator asked:
Do DCO's need to have aluminum screen put around the trunk to protect from rabbits/mice?

Gator,
We recommend protecting your seedlings with a cage made out of hardware cloth, fine meshed chicken wire, or tree tubes; a material rabbits won't be able to chew up.
Letemgrow has had a lot of success growing them in tree tubes. Check out his tips and pics on this thread.
Whatever method you choose, it's important that you keep the immediate area around the trunk clean. If mice can get in, they like to build nests in the cages or tree tubes.

 

[Blitz]

What is the minimum number of DCOs to plant in a group/cluster to achieve good pollination/acorn production:
In another thread, Gator said 10 DCO's, and we believe that's a realistic number.
To get proper pollination/acorn production, please know that it is of UTMOST importance that you have genetic diversity in your planting. That means not all plants should come from the same mother plant.
DCOs are wind pollinated, so don't plant them extremely far from one another. We said 12-15 ft. in this thread; 10 ft. will do it, too.
If you're interested in propagating DCO's from seed at some later point in time (like others on the forum do), it makes sense not to just use your own crop but to buy in some acorns from other locations to mix up the gene pool.

Oaks easily hybridize within their own group (i.e., white with other whites, reds with reds). That's the 'joy' (or 'curse') of planting oaks.
Let's say you have a huge standard chinkapin oak planted in the vicinity of your DCOs, there's a good chance that pollen of this species could get widely spread and blown on your DCOs (which might have flowers receptive for pollen at the same time as your standard) which are much lower in height. So if you think about propagating these DCOs from seed later on in time, you might actually end up growing hybrids.

 

[Blitz]

NE PA QDM asked:
When do i remove the hardware cloth? Right after the acorns start to sprout vertically?
also, how high up the base of a new plant do i need to cover with window screen if using a tree tube? i have 5' treepro tubes but still planned on covering the bases with protection against smaller rodents. any recommendations?

I'd remove the hardware cloth as soon as I see the sprout emerging from the ground. If you wait too long and the seedling leaves fully extend, you'll tear them off when you remove the hardware cloth.
However, I'd immediately protect the seedling with your grow tubes, since DCOs are rabbit candy, as mentioned by other forum members. Do NOT leave them unprotected.
If I were you, I'd monitor the mouse population in your area on a regular basis. If you start seeding nests in your tree tubes, then I'd cover them with window screen (covering all holes since mice are good climbers).
It's not only additional work but also additional expenses to drape the tubes with window screen. I think money is better spent on keeping the area around the seedlings as weed free as possible. Letemgrow stated that he treats a big area around his DCO's with gly to keep it as bare as possible. Mice and other rodents don't like to cross bare areas since they fear predation.

 

[Blitz]

Bad LT asked:
This past fall I planted a couple of R/M trays of SWO, DCO and Chinkquipin, with the intention of putting them in my shed once the the root sprouted. Something got them in my shed. All of the nut remains on top of the soil are gone. I fished around a few of them and there is still a root in the ground. Will these come back? Anyone have any experience with this? I just trying to figure out if I should start over or if the root is enough for the growth to continue.

Bad LT,
Sorry to hear about your dilemma. If you have no shoot or seed (= energy storage for the seedling) left, most likely the seedling won't make it. If it did, it would be severely stunted. So my advice: Start over again.

 

[Blitz]

Question asked by strawhead on another thread:
I looked thru your thread and didn't see how far north your dco's will grow. Sorry if I missed it. We are in zone 3b, nw Wi. Will a dco grow in this climate? Thank you for all your insight.
Strawhead,
According to the USDA plant data base you should be able to grow them in zone 3b.
However, I believe you're really pushing it and you'll have marginal success getting them established there. Winter kill is probably going to be your problem. I mean, where do you even find a protected site in this climate? You could try and plant them on an experimental basis only (and eventually let everyone on the forum know of your success).
BUT let me point out that there's a nursery in North Dakota, Lincoln-Oakes Nursery, (Bismarck, ND) that has had some success growing DCOs. So if I were you, I'd contact them and see what they are saying tel. (701) 223-8575. (As far as I know, their seed source is actually from SE Nebraska - zone 5 -, but please check with them.)

letemgrow replied:
Some place in Ontario grows them too I think.

NH Mountains replied:
I've got 4 that have survived 3B winters since 2009. They are about 3-4' the last I checked. The rest I planted were dug up by bear because I didn't remove the nuts when I planted them. They'd be a little taller if they hadn't been eaten back the first year. Cages got knocked over. No nuts yet. Mine came as seedlings from Morse.
Here's my take on whether they will survive in colder climates. I think they can if they can get established. They will grow at a slower rate. When they do reach bearing age, they may not produce every year due to later snow and frosts.