Best medium for starting nut seeds
03-06-2014, 06:42 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Pa
Posts: 4,647
Best medium for starting nut seeds
Experimenting with acorn and chest nut seeds... Bought some seed starting medium from lowes and it seems like it's mostly Pete moss... Very drie and light... Once I got it to hold water it seems ok but was wondering if there was something better? What I see on you tube looks more like it has bark mixed in???
03-06-2014, 07:33 AM
#2
Fork Horn
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: northeast
Posts: 115
Go out to where you plan to plant those seedling and dig up some soil. Shake it through a screen and heat it in the oven to 170 for ten mins...let it cool and then mix it with the peat 2:1 All the above mentioned is purely to rid it of unwanted bug/eggs and pathogens.
05-22-2014, 02:50 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: MICHIGAN
Posts: 2,568
Put acorns in a plastic bag with an equal amount of leaf mold or peat mix and barley dampen. Close the bag loosely and store in the refrigerator at between 32 to 35 degrees (whites will continue to sprout at between 36 and 39 degrees). Check acorns throughout the winter and keep just barely damp. Acorns need about 1000 hours of low temperature dormancy. Plan to plant your acorns in late April from the 15th to the 20th. You can leave them in the refrigerator and plant as late as July, but an early start will produce stronger seedlings.
Do not use garden dirt since it packs and may carry diseases. Use a good quality potting soil mixed with the same amount of milled sphagnum moss. You want a porous, sponge-like soil. Take an 8 ounce Styrofoam cup and punch three to four pencil-sized holes in the sides next to the bottom. Fill to the top and tap to settle the soil leaving about an inch watering space. Place the acorn horizontally, barely under the surface. Water until it comes out the bottom and place cups on a southern windowsill. Never let the soil get completely dry, always prime first and water until it drains. Check moisture daily or more often if necessary.
In about three weeks the stalk will be five to six inches and the first set of leaves will have spread. About mid-May it is time to harden the plants off. Gradually increase exposure time to outside sun and air. Set the trees outside during the day and return them to house or garage at night.
Check for aphids and wash them off or sue a paint brush to remove them. If June bugs eat the leaves, keep plants in the garage at night until July. Warm, humid, muggy days with cool nights may spawn powdery mildew. Use a commercial fungicide. If the soil becomes too dry or if you notice leaf spots or brown margins, submerge the plant completely in water until the bubbles stop. This will leach soluble salts and fertilizer from the soil, preventing the burning of root ends which can kill the plant.
this came from a web site how to grow your own oak trees.
Last fall I shipped 25 pounds of red Oak acorns to a fellow in North Dakota. He sent me a E mail a bit ago and said most have sprouted.
Al
Do not use garden dirt since it packs and may carry diseases. Use a good quality potting soil mixed with the same amount of milled sphagnum moss. You want a porous, sponge-like soil. Take an 8 ounce Styrofoam cup and punch three to four pencil-sized holes in the sides next to the bottom. Fill to the top and tap to settle the soil leaving about an inch watering space. Place the acorn horizontally, barely under the surface. Water until it comes out the bottom and place cups on a southern windowsill. Never let the soil get completely dry, always prime first and water until it drains. Check moisture daily or more often if necessary.
In about three weeks the stalk will be five to six inches and the first set of leaves will have spread. About mid-May it is time to harden the plants off. Gradually increase exposure time to outside sun and air. Set the trees outside during the day and return them to house or garage at night.
Check for aphids and wash them off or sue a paint brush to remove them. If June bugs eat the leaves, keep plants in the garage at night until July. Warm, humid, muggy days with cool nights may spawn powdery mildew. Use a commercial fungicide. If the soil becomes too dry or if you notice leaf spots or brown margins, submerge the plant completely in water until the bubbles stop. This will leach soluble salts and fertilizer from the soil, preventing the burning of root ends which can kill the plant.
this came from a web site how to grow your own oak trees.
Last fall I shipped 25 pounds of red Oak acorns to a fellow in North Dakota. He sent me a E mail a bit ago and said most have sprouted.
Al
05-22-2014, 04:39 AM
#6
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Garrett County, MD
Posts: 251
Yeah they need to stratify before they will germinate
I'm a big bonsai fan with a couple of failed attempts under my belt
I'm also going to be out collecting maple and oak seed, well... Whilst bowhunting of course
A mature well cared for bonsai oak will produce mini acorns
Consider digging up a 4-5 ft trench and fill it with potting soil
Plant an acorn maybe every 5 inches with the cap pointed up and slightly exposed
Nature will take its course. Right now is when I try to collect seedling oaks and maples.
But if you collect seedlings you have to be careful with the roots or they won't survive. Mine didn't survive last year. So I'm still a beginner too with seedlings and seeds of trees as well.
I'm a big bonsai fan with a couple of failed attempts under my belt
I'm also going to be out collecting maple and oak seed, well... Whilst bowhunting of course
A mature well cared for bonsai oak will produce mini acorns
Consider digging up a 4-5 ft trench and fill it with potting soil
Plant an acorn maybe every 5 inches with the cap pointed up and slightly exposed
Nature will take its course. Right now is when I try to collect seedling oaks and maples.
But if you collect seedlings you have to be careful with the roots or they won't survive. Mine didn't survive last year. So I'm still a beginner too with seedlings and seeds of trees as well.
