Jared1991
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Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2015 4:32 pm

Need advice for growing oak seedling until bigger

Hi this is my first post here and I'm not sure I'm in the right place but I've been growing Palm trees indoors for a while now and know basically the care needed for them lol. However I went on vacation a couple weeks ago and come back and there's a baby oak sapling right in front of my steps. It was 4" high with 3 leaves. I knew it was going to die if it stayed so I dug around it and put it in a pot just a minute ago. Anyway caterpillars are bad here or I'd moved it to a different area in yard. All other saplings are half eaten. So I guess my question is how do I care for it until it is bigger. I used outdoor soil it was in. So my questions are will it survive the transplant and can I bring it in until it gets bigger. My house don't get a ton of light because I have 80ft tall trees surrounding me and shades the whole house

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rainbowgardener
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Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Hi! It always helps to let us know where you are; there are hardly any garden questions that can be discussed without regard to location and climate.

But no, I'm doubting your oak seedling will be able to handle being indoors, unless you can give it lots of light, like a bright south facing window plus artificial light. And I wouldn't leave it in the garden soil in a pot. In containers, garden soil tends to compact, get too dense and smother out air and water. Potting soil would be better or potting soil mixed with extra perlite, coarse sand, etc. And you want a big, deep pot not the little 3" seedling pots. More like 1 gallon nursery pot.

Can't say for sure whether it will survive the transplant. Depends on the care and conditions you can give it, and how many roots were damaged in digging it up.

Best Wishes! Keep us posted how your little seedling does.



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