Growing Oaks

bulldogges

So, about 21/2 months ago I collected a bunch of acorns to try and grow some oaks. I stratified them in the fridge and today checked on them. About half have large cracks going through them. Most are cracked and pealing a little from the rounded end, some arecracked at the top (where the "hat" would be).

Is this normal? I am assuming that this where the tap root will immerge, but have never done this before.

I have also read that it is not good to expose oak taproots to air and that they do best when planted before the tap root immerges. Should i plant them now? Will be planting them indoors.

Thanks in advance

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Joanie

Can't help you with your seeds, but just wanted to say...

It's a good thing that you're young. Clear your calendar for about 2015.... your oaks will be ready for styling...

Joanie

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rockm

A couple of things about Eastern U.S. oaks as bonsai.

1. They generally don't make good bonsai because they have very large leaves that don't reduce well.

2.They don't ramify--or produce the fine twigging that makes bonsai look good.--very much.

3.Unfortunatley, growing Eatern oak species from acorns is the worst way to use marginal material. It will take a decade before you have anything that can actually be worked on. and what you wind up working on probably isn't going to be an award winner for the most part.

If you are set on making an oak bonsai, seek collectable older, more mature, trunks of white or red oak. Trees up to 6 to 9 inches in diamter can be dug with some care and a little work. These trunks can be developed into relatively presentable bonsai in five years or less.

Also consider "non-native" oak species. I work with collected live oak from Texas here in Va. It is a reliably hardy species here and is very responsive in terms of leaf reduction and root pruning (two necessary characteristics that eastern white and red oak don't really have). If you can provide more substantial winter shelter in a cold frame, or cold greenhouse, you might also consider Quercus suber--cork oak, or one of the more amenable California live oaks as a bonsai subject.

bulldogges

hmmmm,

Thanks for the info,

Maybe I'll just give them to friends to plant in thier yards.

Joanie

Hey! I guessed right! 2015.....

Joanie

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midwestbonsai

Lucky guess!

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rockm

"Will be planting them indoors."

If that's the case, you can pretty much forget about having them as bonsai . They will not survive this treatment. Just because a plant becomes a bonsai doesn't make it a houseplant. Native Oaks are temperate climate trees that need outdoor conditions to live. They cannot be kept inside as some tropical species can.

Joanie

Was not!!

Joanie

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bulldogges

Sorry, should have been more specific, meant i would be planting them indoors now, too cold here in Pennsylvania to plant trees now.

Ok, so next question on an unrelated type of tree.

Colorado Blue Spruce, any reason I never see them sold as bonsai?