andy_o

I was just a little bit curious on which oak trees produced the most acorns and how long it took to get them to grow.


I know there is many different apple trees but what kind could I put up to get lots of apples quickly.

These are just some random questions that hit me the other day at the local green house lookin for garden supplies.

answerguy

Depends a lot on what you mean by "quickly".

Neither apple trees or oak trees will give you instant gratification.

The quickest to bear in the oak tree category would be sawtooth oaks, I believe they can put out acorns in 5 years or so.
But how big a crop you would get in those first bearing years I don't know. I'm thinking enough to keep a family of squirrels
happy is all you can expect.

For apple trees not only do you need to worry about how many years it will take them to deliver a crop you have to worry about when in the year they will bear the fruit. If your season starts in November it won't do you much good if all your fruit is eaten up in September. Two late bearing apples are Arkansas Black and Northern Spy.

andy_o

I'm looking more along the lines of helping the deer herd out as much as i can not for hunting purposes yet. I live in a area with a really weak deer herd and would like to help it out in any way possible.

Rebel Hog

Andy, you would have to have around 25 to 30 oak tree's so it would be
productive enough for wild game. Squirrels, hogs and deer all like them.
Oak tree's to be productive enough, around 20yrs. I have over 200 Live
Oak tree's that are over 100yrs old. I also have around 100 Crab Apple
tree's that are 20yrs old and over 30 Wild Persimmon tree's that are
30yrs old. I'm talking about being productive enough for Wild Game, not
just being 5 or 10ft tall. Your soil has to be right and you have to feed
your tree's. Live Oak, Crab Apple and Wild Persimmon are the one's that
deer love the most here in Florida. Plus you put out 4 to 5 mineral salt
block's at different locations on your property. Wildlife management is
alot of work, but enjoyable if you really like it!

answerguy

If your goal is to help deer out you should think about what you can do to help them through the winter months.
Apples will be eaten by mid-fall at the latest, same with oaks. Mid-fall isn't a time that food is scarce for deer.
Planting winter rye or winter wheat or a stand of brassicas will do a lot more to help deer get through the winter.
IMHO

farm hunter

I agree w/answerguy on this topic. It makes little sense to offer food in the fall - if your goal is to help the herd along. Fall is "a time of plenty" for almost all game animals.

The critical times for deer are Late Spring, Late Summer and Mid winter (depending on your locale). In most areas - a perenial clover plot covers all 3 critical periods. In areas w/ serious snow - it covers Sprng and Summer.

The most critical time is in the North is Late Spring (Nutritional needs at Fawning) - in the south it is Late Summer (nutritional needs at weaning - and post weaning).

For your area - it will pay to determine the best food sources at these times - and develop a plan to supplement it.

FH

StrmChzr

imo,

plant as many oak trees and apple trees as possible. you want to attract deer to a localized hotspot such as acorns and/or apples during the fall (i.e. hunting season/observing/pics/etc.) i'd agree that well-conceived food plots are the foundation upon which to build a successful food plot, program, but again, i'd plant as many beneficial trees as i could afford/time to plant. (remember i live in ks)

i'm feeling a little guilty having procrastinated w/ my sawtooth oak order (forestry service was completely sold out the first of march). tree plantings can be fairly time consuming, but oak and fruit trees are a wonderful addition to any hunting plot b/c of the seasonal nature of their fruit/mast.

ktswisher

I had planted about three acres worth of sawtooth and gobbler sawtooth here in central ks. The sawtooths were producing at 4 years and by the seventh year were putting out pretty good. The gobbler sawtooths on the other hand were putting out twice as many acorns at 5 years. I used both weed barrier fabric and tree shelters on mine and after about two months of watering every weekend left it up to mother nature. Gonna have to start over this year though, neighbor had his pasture aerial sprayed and it drifted over on practically all my trees. Gonna put in both types again and also maybe 75 to 100 fruit trees.

answerguy

I sure hope that the farmer is compensating you for your loss.

StrmChzr

man, that sucks!!! [:@]

i wouldn't count on that..................ever heard of the hatfields and mccoys?