Growing oaks from acorns

[Anonymous]

I'm interested in growing oak trees from acorns. What's the technique? I have them in pots with rich soil but no signs after two months. Should I have started them in water?</p>

[Anonymous]

Jim, I have grown various types of oak trees from acorns. In all cases I started with mature acorns free of beetle holes. I simply place the acorns in a moist towel and place them in a warm area such as next to the water heater. I rinse them every day until that sprout. Typically I get a 95% germination rate. Good luck. </p>

[Anonymous]

Some people put acorns in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. When they sprout you get to plant them.</p>

[Anonymous]

I'm no expert, but here's a cautionary tale. Inmy first and only, so far, attempt to grow acornsI gathered berberidifolia and dumosa acorns in thefall, soaked them overnight, put them in the fridgefor 3 months to emulate winter weather, and thenplanted them outside in gallon containers.

3 weeks later I came home from work to find thatall had been dug up and were nowhere to befound. I'm 100% sure the culprits were scrubjays. I suspect that the acorns sprouted thatday and the jays homed in.

Moral: If you have scrub jays in yourneighborhood, enjoy them but protect youracorns.</p>

[Anonymous]

For growing oak acorns, take a look at http://www.growtube.com/directseeding.html</p>

[Anonymous]

Jim,Both Walt and Cindy's comment are good ones. Could i ask what species this is? Just curious. As Walt mentioned they should be free of telltale beetle holes about an 1/8inch wide so you know the kernal itself is uneaten/undamaged. I have heard of some people putting them in a bucket of water and throwing out the ones that float. The sinkers are the solid, good ones. Cindy pointed out the use of ziplocks in the fridge. I might add to that, we normally use a moist vermiculite or perlite#2 medium surrounding the acorns within the bag. When roots are seen forming, gently remove and pot-up in deep containers of potting soil. Be careful not to let them dry out in the light soil. You can also plant them in the ground if you like. Keep natural pests away with a little screening if you are rural, rabits, ground squirrels, deer, etc love new seedlings.Good luck,Dan</p>