Quercus seed propagation

I've got almost no experience (at least thus far) growing trees from seed, but I'm trying to change that. Last fall I collected three Horse Chestnut seeds from a nice specimen up in Ashland, WI, and sowed them in a bed, with the plan being to move them at a later point. They all came up and survived the droughty summer. Last week I collected a couple of acorns off a Heritage Oak at a nursery (I think the tag said it was a cross of Bur and English Oak, but not sure about that), and I'd like to grow them in a container for a few years before finding a permanent home for them. What would be the best way to do this? They're both big, healthy looking seeds and passed the water test. My thought is to plant them in 1-gallon containers, and then place them in ground over winter. Would this work or would it be preferable to sow them directly in ground and then dig them when I decide upon a permanent spot? Finally, how long do you think I can safely wait on the Aesculus before digging them? Do they transplant readily, or is this something I should try to do in the next year or so? I feel like such a beginner and I'm somewhat embarrassed to ask these questions, but I have to start somewhere.

I do it a little differently than you.

I start by using a utility knife and cutting off the upper portion of a 2 liter of pop. I then flip the 2-liter over and stick the red hot tines of a fork into the bottom to create drainage.

I fill these 4/5ths with a 50/50 mix of top soil and moisture max something or other that I am too lazy to get up and go find the name of. I water that down and add more to bring the level back up to 4/5th.

I place all of my 2-liters in sterilite trays and fill the trays up with water up to about 2".

From there, I soak my oak seeds for a few days making sure to change the water every 24 hours.

After that, I take my nice acorns and gently push them down into the top of the medium. I leave them about 2/3 in the medium and 1/3 exposed.

I take the trays and stash them in an unheated screened in porch I have that gets full morning sun. I would set them directly outside but the squirrels have wiped me out every time I have done that.

I keep the medium damp, not moist. About a half an inch will do from time to time and it will wick up. And yes, the water in the bottom of the trays freezes solid.

Sometime around April 1st, I move my trays outside on to the patio in direct sun.

After they germinate, I pot them out directly in the ground. So far, this simple cottage industry method of winter sowing my seeds has resulted in germination rates of Quercus in excess of 90%.

I'll try to go get a photo of one of my seedlings still sitting out there in a tray that I have set aside to mail out to somebody.

Photo below.

Forgot to mention that I've grown Aesculus from seed before and I did the same with them that I did with the Quercus. I can't answer your question because once they germinated, I planted them in their permanent home. I can tell you that they have one heck of a tap root like the oaks.

Please look at my Cladrastis. I am so proud of those. Those are the last two of what I propagated to go in the ground. They are only there in the tray because I still can't figure out where to plant them. I have learned that species does not like being transplanted so once I stick them in the ground, that's it. Come to think of it, I have a few Chionanthus and Fagus that I need to get in the ground that I germinated from seed and the clock is ticking.

Hope this helps. Not all that sophisticated but it works for me. I think I had a sum total of 30 trays this spring all filled to the brim with 2-liter pop bottles of dreams.

I do it differently than Equil--I put them in the fridge in a bag of moist peat. I pull the bag out in Spring, wait for the root to sprout, and plant them where I want them to live, or into pots. There are several ways to skin this quercy-cat.

Hey, when I click on my image I end up back at the home page???

Hey Kevin, I did it your way with Q. velutina. By accident. I forgot them in the garage. They did fine. One slight difference, mine were in Long Fibre Sphagnum Moss.

Great advice from Equilfibbulator and Kneevin. Two things I would do slightly differently. Regarding Equil's advice, if the Sterlite tubs are placed outdoors, I would cut a drain hole in the Sterlite tub at about 2" from the bottom. That way, water would never be deeper in the tub than 2" and the risk of the seedlings drowning would be minimized.

Squirrels! Cursed beasts indeed. You MUST protect your acorns or buckeyes from squirrels, mice, voles, and chipmunks. Not just until the seeds germinate, but for almost the full first growing season afterwards. Cotyledons on these plants are enormous and stay folded right at ground level. These little morsels of fat and protein are high up on rodent's menu of delicacies. If they get to these cotyledons before the young seedling has drawn enough energy from them, the seedlings will whither and die.

Therefore, since I keep my seed pots outdoors over winter, and then the young plants in pots, I build a plant prison of hardware wire and wood. This keeps the plants in and the rodents out.

Great yellowwoods EQ. The more I garden and go see trees around, the more I just LOVE that plant!

Scott

Want one?

Forgot to mention drilling holes on the outside like Scott suggested. I didn't do that the first year and some of my plants got drowned out. I was constantly tipping the trays to manually drain them. I use a 1/4" drill bit and that seems fine. Go kind of slow or you will crack the plastic.

I'll second that on the ziplock bags. I started white oak seeds that way last year. As long as you keep the bag sealed you don't have to worry about them drying out. Just make sure to check them every few days for germination. I have found that the tap root of oaks will grow very fast. It doesn't take long for them to get root bound in a container.

http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/agopp/arc/agopp027.txt

What a wealth of information--I really appreciate it. I'm still not sure which way to go, and who knows, maybe I'll try all of the above. I didn't realize squirrels were such a problem. They didn't bother and of the Aesculus nuts I planted out, but I suppose once they realize where they're at it becomes a problem real quick. Thanks again to everyone. Oh, and EQ, if you're having a difficulty finding a suitable place for the Cladrastis, I've got room for them. I've got a feeling that mine is going to live up to its reputation and fall apart at a young age.

Bob

Q. robur x macrocarpa 'Heritage' is one of Earl Cully's introductions. It came from a rather ratty-looking tree in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Urbana that I never thought excelled in any way and is no longer standing. Unlike some of his other selections, IMHO this one is mostly hype and marketing. But that won't matter much because you probably don't know the pollen source anyway, so if your seeds grow they will be some unknown backcross. On the plus side, they probably will germinate well and grow vigorously for you. I just wouldn't give them a prime location unless the seedlings show something better than the pistillate parent.

You can dig your Aesculus as soon as they defoliate.

Guy S.

Guy makes a good point.
At one time, I planted a row of a dozen or more F2 macrocarpaXrobur seedlings alongside a stretch of my driveway. I'm presuming they were seedlings of the "McDaniel" selection. Only one of the group was worth preserving as a specimen, and I've subsequently grafted all the rest over to the true "McDaniel" selection or to a seedling selection from the 'Ooti' oak, a hybrid of bur, swamp white, and chinkapin oaks, which has nice habit, and pleasing copper/bronze new foliage which matures to a good clean, glossy dark green as the season progresses..

What do you mean Cladrastis falls apart?

They do have the Bradford gene, although not nearly as bad. Pay close attention to training and structural pruning when the tree is young.

Guy S.

I don't think I understand the reason for crossing English oak with Bur oak. Wouldn't it basically create something that looks like a white oak?

burenglish oak may grow faster
and produce acorns sooner than
white oak. I have a few bur-gambel oaks also. Jim

It's mostly for those (like me!) who collect curiosities. The cross wasn't made anyway, it occurred by accident. Sometimes people will name any plant that's new as a cultivar regardless of merit. I know one nurseryman who(m?) I believe has given cultivar names to every oak or baldcypress he's grown! Some are good, others are mundane. There are some oak hybrids with real advantages, but IMHO this isn't one of them -- picture a white oak with rather poor form and no fall color. In this case I think either parent species has more to offer than the hybrid.

Bur-gambel (Quercus xmazei) is more interesting if only because it survives in the wild in places where both parent species have retreated from their formerly sympatric ranges. There are studies goiung on right now on some of these isolated populations, and one of the papers at the oak copnference (see "THE Oak Conference" thread) will feature them.

Guy S.