While laboring with his new fancy weeder, my husband uncovered a sprouting acorn! Looks like it was buried somehow last fall, spent the winter underground, and was almost mistaken for a weed! Very wondrous to see for me, a former Boston street kid!
Fortunately my DH is a master gardener and was curious enough to look below the surface where he found a sprout emerging from an acorn still in its shell, and new roots growing down from it. I've always dreamed of growing a tall oak tree from a little acorn...As a little girl, I searched the sidewalks for perfect acorns, and even planted some in my 5' X 5' patch of front yard. Of course, nothing happened.
I took the sprout inside, washed it gently with warm water like a baby (totally unnecessary, but I wanted to see the whole miracle beneath the dirt), and planted it in a flower pot. As you can see, my "oak tree" is doing well...I look at it and imagine the potential in that sprout, probably at least 60' tall and 1 ton :-) As it grows warmer, I'll put the pot outside in the sun...step by step..."From a small acorn, a mighty oak does grow." Yup, I'm hooked on my mighty oak tree (and proverbs about them)!
Lila P.S. Several days later 2 more sprouting acorns were found in the same place in garden. I gave one to an amazed friend who had never seen such a small oak "tree," and the other was planted in another pot by me...so now I'm beginning to grow a forest! :-)
1 Sprouting Acorn = Potential for 1 Ton Tall Oak Tree
Will you have somewhere to plant the tree? It is quite amazing to think that a majestic tree of that size will start its life with you and hopefully will be admired by generations to come!
Have you looked around the neighborhood to see "who" might have been the mama tree? That will tell you the species, and therefore the type of habitat where you should plant the seedlings.
As you transplant them from the pots, take care to unwind any circling roots. Oak seedlings try to send down taproots which then start to wind around as they hit the bottom of the pot. If you don't straighten them, they eventually will strangle themselves and the tree will die.
Squirrels, mice, and chipmunks will try to dig up the seedlings to eat what's left of the acorn until it's been depleted (end of summer), so keep them fenced awa for the next several months. And when you plant the seedlings outdoors, keep rabbits and deer away from them.
Guy S.
Awwwl, you got teepeed. What a shame! Durn teenagers.
Scott
I'm sure it will grow into a majestic oak.
Wow, never seen moss on one quite that heavy. It must be near plenty of moisture.
Starhill Forest has good advice! He is an expert on Oak trees, BTW. I have never encountered anyone more knowledgeable about the Quercus species.
Oak seedlings have major tap-roots, and I predict the pots will be too small, very soon! Almost looks too small, already.
My advice is to get some big, several-gallon plastic plant containers, the kind that nurseries use, or, find a permanent location for the seedlings now.
If you plant such tiny seedlings in the ground, now, mark them with stakes so they don't get mowed over or inadvertently pulled out.
It's amazing how fast Oak seedlings outgrow their pots.
This message was edited May 24, 2006 11:42 PM
We have several very old oaks on the property, and in fall the squirrels bury lots of acorns; so in spring, we have many volunteer baby oaks appearing in our garden beds. If anyone else would like to try raising seedling oaks, I could supply the world next spring... They are beautiful, but not in the flower beds; and we really don't have room for more giant oaks. More than enough shade already, thanks. Let me know if any of you would like a baby oak.
I appreciate all the responses about my "oak trees"...thank you!!! This former city street kid is learning a lot from you!
I have a dream of it growing into the sky :-) BUT on the other hand, am wondering if it's possible to keep it a small oak tree, a bit like an "oak bonsai" but only larger...? Maybe it's overly sentimental, but I'd like to be able to keep the tree near me, and that, seems to me, means tamed in a large pot, or large bucket if necessary, and in the house. Is it possible to train an oak sprout to be a house plant? (I do hope that's not a dumb question!)
Bless you all...
Lila
This message was edited May 27, 2006 12:46 AM
We keep more than 100 different species of tropical oaks in pots because they would not survive our winters outdoors. We don't Bonsai them formally, but we do use Bonsai-like techniques to keep them downsized. Every fall they go into a cool greenhouse. Here are some of them this spring as they were coming back outside for their summer vacation.
Guy S.
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