Red Oak Acorns Anyone?

mapleveneer · August 17, 2003, 04:17:48 PM

A post under sawmills and milling got sidetracked into acorns.
https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=sawmill;action=display;num=1061078956

I have several large red oaks of prime quality in my yard. The genetics have got to be good. The ones I have cut in the yard and the woods easily make veneer grade.

In the fall the acorns fall onto the lawn which makes it real easy to get them. I usually shovel them into the bucket of the tractor, drive out in the woods where i have recently opened up with some cutting, and then shovel them back out and spread them around.

If anyone is interested in good genetics red oak acorns from the Northeast I can shovel them into a box and they can be yours for the cost of shipping. Some years they get wormy and are no good. I don't know yet about this year as they haven't matured yet. I'll make sure that I don't send you the worthless wormy ones.

The acorns in the yard attract the deer particularly in the spring. Also, usually about the second mowing of the lawn in the spring eliminates a couple thousand oak sprouts.

Let's see now, can I sell them on Ebay?

rebocardo · October 19, 2003, 11:29:07 AM

I would like a small box, please. Maybe 50 acrons, I just want to get 2-3 good trees so I can replace some white oak that I am cutting down. My e-mail is BII at dscga . com

I have some really nice white oaks, about 30 inch wide at seven feet off the ground that produce an unbelievable amount of acrons if you want some. I am hoping for another bumper drop this year.

Kevin · October 19, 2003, 07:05:14 PM

What's the scoop on planting oak?
Bury the acorn?
Green or ripe?

mapleveneer · October 20, 2003, 06:03:50 AM

Let nature do her thing. Just spread them around and come spring they will sprout. The nuts fall before the leaves so typically they are under or mixed in with the leaves. They like sun.

Stephen_Wiley · October 21, 2003, 09:52:25 PM

mapleveneer,

Have you any idea to shipping weight of say 200 ?

Do you know the species of 'Red Oak' you have is it Northern Red Oak?

Would like to get a box of 100-200 depending upon cost to ship to Oregon.

trey_w · October 22, 2003, 05:31:49 PM

I'll take a box of red, no problem to pay for shipping. I can even send it to you through paypal to make it easy.

rebocardo, can I get a box of white when the time comes?

We are talking about wine right? :D

Just kidding.

L. Wakefield · October 22, 2003, 06:08:55 PM

Rebocardo, I wouldn't mind getting some of the white, either. They are scarce enough here and are a very nice tree. I think the deer would scoff em up tho. lw

rebocardo · October 23, 2003, 08:01:41 PM

I have the fattest squirrels on the street, the way they waddle a three legged cat could catch them. Caught one of my squirrels napping in the sun again in the crotch of the tree during mid-day. I guess the food supply is good :-D

I am sure deer would love them. I was going to start eating them myself, I just could not quite convince myself they might taste okay as soup.

I am still waiting for them to drop, all I have gotten so far are green ones. As long as I get what I got last year, you can have as much as you want. Last year I ended up throwing bags of them away, probably 500 pounds, that the animals did not eat.

trey_w · October 30, 2003, 03:37:19 PM

I read somewhere that to store acorns you should put them in the refrigerator. Is that right? Should I do that until spring? Or should I try to plant them in something right away?

Tom · October 30, 2003, 04:19:46 PM

I read, when I was researching Live Oak, that the acorns should not be dried for planting but should be planted fresh. I don'tknow if that holds for all acorns or not. I've planted Chestnut White Oak acorns fresh and gotten some trees and have planted some after storing in a box in the house for a couple of months and gotten nothing. That might be why I had no success.

mapleveneer · October 30, 2003, 05:03:56 PM

I still say let Mother Nature do her thing. Spread them around in the woods like they dropped from a tree. Stirring up the duff a little might help also. The ones that sprout on my lawn do so just from nuts laying on the surface and they have been out there all winter.

I was out deer hunting this afternoon in an area where I have done some pretty heavy thinning of the understory over the last few years leaving the mature oaks. It is like a carpet of year-old oak seedlings in there now from last year's nut crop. Sounds like a place the deer should be.

A couple oak-fed Massachusetts bucks. The one on the left is from 1996, on the right 2001

This one is from 2002. I shot and missed. Another hunter wounded him several weeks later but didn't find him. The farmer/landowner found him feeding the coyotes in late Jan. under 3 ft. of snow.

Ron Scott · October 30, 2003, 05:34:21 PM

Very nice deer. Real trophies.

trey_w · November 06, 2003, 04:00:49 PM

Got my Acorns!! Thanks!! It took awhile since I had to move but I finally made it. :D

Viking · November 24, 2003, 07:08:24 PM

do you still have some of those Acorns ?

mapleveneer · November 25, 2003, 04:03:20 AM

The crop was a little scant this year and I have cleaned up about all that I can. Maybe next year.

A request for 100 lbs from the west coast put quite a dent in them. There should be quite a grove of oaks there in a few years. Or maybe they are just using them for deer feed?

Viking · November 25, 2003, 09:27:33 AM

Oh, ok

save me a few if you can next year.;) haha.

cringo · November 26, 2003, 02:19:32 PM

to store red oak acorns get a m/t paint can with maybe a dozen or more BB size holes in it store the acorns in this container with the lid on tite as you can. bury the container in the yard or somewhere where nothing will disturb it. this way they will be stratified for at least 90 days during the winter early next spring dig the can full of stratified acorns up and plant where you want. The can serves as a cage to keep rodents away. Make sure you mark where you buried the can. good luck.

rebocardo · November 28, 2003, 02:53:48 PM

So, storing them inside is no good?

You have to bury the nuts one way or another so the outside shell comes apart for the seedling to be ready to go?

So far my white oak is a no show. I can see the acorns on the branches (too far up to reach), but, they have not dropped yet. Nor have most of the leaves. So, I am still waiting.

cringo · December 02, 2003, 06:36:02 AM

You can store them in the referigator in a paper sack or in a plastic storage bag with a straw taped halfway in and a little sticking out. This way they can breath, make sure the temperature doesnt ever freeze that would kill the acorns.
Leave them in the refer. for at least 90 to 100 days.
After they are stratified in the refer. they are ready to plant. good luck
Charlie

mapleveneer · December 02, 2003, 01:34:00 PM

I don't understand it. It's 15 degrees F outside now with no snow on the ground which is littered with acorns and they seem to sprout all right in the spring.