English Oak - quick germination

Discussions about propagating from cuttings, seeds, air layers etc. Going on a dig (Yamadori) or thinking of importing? Discuss how, when and where here.
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by Beano »

There were only shells of them left, lots of leaves fallen, we dug around underneath them. Just nothing left.
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by MOGGINATOR »

hi all

so after reading this post and knowing of about 30 English oak trees in the park near my house I decided to go out and have a look and see if I could find any knowing Melbourne and knowing that the seasons tend to run later here than the rest of the country I thought why not try I found approx. 50 acorns in about 5 mintues of looking and I left about 300 behind and I wouldn't have the room to put them all I have potted them all up a little bit different covered some fully and not and put the acorn into the soil many different ways to see if it makes any different I also did the float test on them and only 3 floated I still put them in just incase see the pics below and will keep you all updated along the journey
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by shibui »

I usually plant acorns lying flat on the sides. When they germinate the root comes out the pointy end and goes down. The shell stays on the seed and after a week or 2 the shoot starts to grow upwards. If the seed is vertical the shoot goes up into the shell and gets trapped unless it is strong enough to push the shell off the cotyledons.
I think you will find that the roots will go round and round those little plugs. Roots are usually around 15cm long before the growing shoot even starts to emerge.
You have plenty to play with. I hope you will try cutting the roots of a few as they germinate to get some better root systems on them. Best done when the root is really young because it grows new roots easiest at that stage. Nip the end off leaving just a few cm of root and replant. You can also wait until the plant is bigger when you should find some lateral roots starting to emerge from the main root. At that stage you can also remove the main root just below some laterals, even if they are still really tiny they will still grow happily.
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by MOGGINATOR »

well that's good to know about 80% of them I put on their side so I hope I get lucky with that and I will definitely try and cut the main root off on some of them and get the lateral roots happening on them thanks for the tips now I just have to hope they grow
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by legoman_iac »

Just had some more success! Previously had 2 acorns shoot in one pot, none in the other/second pot. Just discovered a new shoot in the second pot!!! Better late than never, hehe.
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by legoman_iac »

These acorns are crazy! More and more surprises. Just had number seven shoot up (7 out of 8)!!!!!
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by Raging Bull »

Well, it's that time of the year again and fortunately I've been able to collect some acorns while visiting my sister in the Adelaide Hills. After re-reading this thread it's now really inspired me to plant the acorns to try for a Mighty Oak Tree :lol: , Should only take twenty or thirty years. :whistle:
Does anyone know if they need to be stratified in the south-east Qld area? Has anyone successfully grown any oaks from seed in that area?
Cheers, Frank.
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English Oak - quick germination

Post by Beano »

I got some back in February and I’m happy to say they have *finally* popped! Certainly took more than 2 weeks, though I got my acorns very early when they were not fully mature. I am excited to see a single leaf! Hopefully some more will send up shoots.


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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by SueBee »

IMG_7443.JPG
Here is a pic of some acorns under my oak trees.The trees are about 80 years old. Acorns anyone? I also have hundreds of young seedlings coming up plus of course some in training pots....though I have heard it is hard to get Quercus Robur to reduce in leaf size...is this correct?
IMG_7444.JPG
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by Beano »

Yes but just make it a big bonsai to compensate. That will of course take some decades. They can be reduced but it’s not very easy, so I’ve read anyway.
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by SueBee »

LOL Thanks Beano...I hope I have " some Decades" left to me....though I doubt it. :fc:
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by Raging Bull »

Thanks Beano,
This way I at least know they do grow up here:-
"I got some back in February and I’m happy to say they have *finally* popped! Certainly took more than 2 weeks, though I got my acorns very early when they were not fully mature. I am excited to see a single leaf! Hopefully some more will send up shoots."
I'll just try and be patient with the little darlings, I collected a couple of dozen and with a bit of luck some will germinate. :fc:
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by legoman_iac »

I found, from the 8 I planted, they range by a few months. One pot produced quicker than the other, and there was about 2 months between the first and last to shoot.

Left pot, slower but worth the wait:
left_pot.jpg
Right pot to shoot was first, tall one was the first:
right_pot.jpg
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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by Beano »

Just wanted to put out there something I’d noticed with my English oak from seed.

After they sprouted, I did an experiment. I read that once you cut the taproot, they will sulk for years. I decided to cut just one of them, the first year after sprouting and leave the other 2 alone. This is seedling number 1. As you can see, it sulked and it still is sulking.

This year, I decided to cut the tap root on the other 2, since number 1 survived. Now they took longer to leaf out than number 1 this year, but they have now done so quite well and don’t appear to be as bothered about their taproot being cut. Hopefully they will just power on now. Number 1 looks pretty much how it did all last year. Number 2 had no leaves, only buds last week and now it’s well pushed out. Hopefully in time I can build something nice from these.

Image
Image


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Re: English Oak - quick germination

Post by shibui »

I've found it better to pinch the radicle (tap root) when it first emerges from the acorn. Doing it then seems to make little difference to growth but certainly initiates lots of new lateral roots.
To make it easier I just keep the acorns slightly damp in a plastic bag or some other container. Usually there is some decaying leaves or soil mixed with the acorns which may or may not help or may or may not keep them damp. Just check each week and remove any with roots showing and pot them up - or pinch the root and then pot up.
This method does not seem to alter germination rates but I know I'm not wasting pots, soil and space on acorns that won't grow.

I've found that it can take months after the root emerges before the shoot emerges and appears above soil.

As I think has been found above, oaks do not require stratification or chilling.
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