Oak in june ?

[wil_1890]

Hello I would like to grow a white oak tree but for this I need acorn and in june there is no acorn on the ground or something.

I would like to know where can I find acorn and if is it hard to grow.

[rainbowgardener]

You are right, wrong season for acorns. But look around carefully, I have oak, redbud, box elder, and ash tree seedlings popping up all over my yard. Wrong season for acorns, but a good time to find the seedlings that sprouted from them.

[wil_1890]

Okay thanks for the information.

But do you know if maybe it's growing in all forest or is it unusual to find them there ? Where can be the best place to find an oak tree with sprouted seedling ?

[rainbowgardener]

It is not unusual to find oak seedlings where ever there are oak trees. Like I said, I have them popping up several places in my yard, places where there aren't any oak trees visible. I think the squirrels bury the acorns and squirrels prefer to dig in my nice soft garden beds rather than my hard clay native soil. So they keep planting trees in my garden beds for me. I just dig the seedlings out and put them where I want them.

I don't know where you are and I don't know what else to tell you about where to look for oak tree seedlings where you are, except to keep your eyes open. They are definitely not rare!

[img]https://interwork.sdsu.edu/fire/resources/images/BlackOakSeedling_000.jpg[/img]

Oak tree seedling. I think that is black oak, not white oak, but the white oak seedlings would be similar.

[wil_1890]

Ok thanks but I heard that the oak tree is more resistan to disease but it grow slower but oak tree I think we see them less frequently but a red oak would be okay too.

So I will look for them maybe near of oak.

And do you know if it's hard to keep him alive when he just growed ?

[rainbowgardener]

No, not hard. Dig it up with a good area of dirt. Oak trees even seedlings have a long tap root. You will be surprised how deep the root goes on a tiny oak seedling. Dig down and get as much of the tap root as you can. If you can dig it up without injuring it too much, it will do fine.

I generally stick it in a large pot with potting soil and keep it where I can keep it watered for the first year or so and then plant it where I want it to go. I have a whole tree nursery full of little tree seedlings.

[wil_1890]

Okay thanks I will look for it when I am going to have some acorn.

But I think white oak are more unusual to find? because they are growing slower ?

[tomc]

About now it time to get your search on for acorns.

Autumnaly collected acorns in zone 4 through 8 will sit till the next spring before germinating.

IMO white oaks grow a bit faster from acorns, than red oaks do.

I put my germinating pots in a mouse proof cage till spring.

I leave those pots outdoors in the winter weather so that its inhibitors will break down and seedling trees can come on in the spring.

[applestar]

Thanks, tomc -- great reminder!

I want to go to a small arboretum run by a retirement community in the neighborhood to see what kind of native oak trees they have and collect acorns (advantage of going to an arboretum is that each tree will be labeled )

I meant to do that last year but missed the opportunity. When I called, they did tell me that the oak tree species drop acorns at different times throughout autumn, so several repeat visits are indicated.

[tomc]

Applestar keep your serenity up. Oak do not crop every year.

Shrugs

[applestar]

Ah. I guess we'll find out what they are doing ths year.
Thanks.