Coast live oak collecting second year.

BrianBay9

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Hey @BrianBay9 what kind of roots were these collected with?

My usual procedure is to dig down along the trunk, find the first set of lateral roots, and cut the (substantial) taproot just below those. That gives me a few feeder roots, but not a large amount. Those few feeders are more than enough to let the tree recover and thrive within the first year post collection.

An exception: coast live oak usually develop a large bulge in the trunk just below the soil line. If feeder roots are coming out of the bulge, or at the bottom of the bulge then no problem. Sometimes the roots are substantially below the bulge. If you cut below the lateral roots anyway, you end up with a big bulge in the middle of your trunk and have to essentially collect the same tree again in a year (or ground layer). You can cut at the bulge with no roots and get the tree to survive but it will take longer, at least two seasons (?), to be able to work them. So if the lateral roots are substantially below the bulge, your choice is to collect what is essentially a large cutting, or move on to another tree.
 

Johnathan

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My usual procedure is to dig down along the trunk, find the first set of lateral roots, and cut the (substantial) taproot just below those. That gives me a few feeder roots, but not a large amount. Those few feeders are more than enough to let the tree recover and thrive within the first year post collection.

An exception: coast live oak usually develop a large bulge in the trunk just below the soil line. If feeder roots are coming out of the bulge, or at the bottom of the bulge then no problem. Sometimes the roots are substantially below the bulge. If you cut below the lateral roots anyway, you end up with a big bulge in the middle of your trunk and have to essentially collect the same tree again in a year (or ground layer). You can cut at the bulge with no roots and get the tree to survive but it will take longer, at least two seasons (?), to be able to work them. So if the lateral roots are substantially below the bulge, your choice is to collect what is essentially a large cutting, or move on to another tree.
Gotcha.

I'm not in Cali, nor am I going after coast live oak.... but there's not much news on collecting oaks out there last time I checked. I have seen more people here having success with them, and thats promising. I'll be headed out soon to hunt for some, our upcoming trip on the 20th is going to be delayed due to the artic blast or something lol

@BrianBay9 so you go straight from collection to pond basket? no wooden box or nursery container?
 

BrianBay9

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Gotcha.

I'm not in Cali, nor am I going after coast live oak.... but there's not much news on collecting oaks out there last time I checked. I have seen more people here having success with them, and thats promising. I'll be headed out soon to hunt for some, our upcoming trip on the 20th is going to be delayed due to the artic blast or something lol

@BrianBay9 so you go straight from collection to pond basket? no wooden box or nursery container?

I'm not sure my experience with coast live oak is transferrable to oaks elsewhere in the country. These guys have a pretty shallow root system in general. In our dry summers they're watered almost exclusively by fog that condenses in their canopy and drips off. Honestly there are days where is looks like it's been raining but only under the trees! I'm not sure how many other oaks would survive collection with little to no roots.

Yes, I go straight into pond baskets with 100% pumice. But, I live in the fog belt of coastal California. I'm not very concerned about things drying out too quickly. For almost my entire year my high temps are below 70 F, and my lows are above 40 F. I would not assume my aftercare methods would work best for you in Oklahoma.
 

BrianBay9

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The new crop of collected oaks are doing great. All have budded out and look good. Here are a few.


new oak 1 14mar21.jpg


new oak 2 14mar21.jpg
 

BrianBay9

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That second one is a chunker.

Yeah, I have to keep a check on my ambitions or I'll collect stuff too big for me to handle. Over the past two years I've now collected 18 coast live oaks of various sizes, several with almost no feeder roots at all. I have one that hasn't budded out this year. So, I'm at a 94% success rate.
 

MrWunderful

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Yeah, I have to keep a check on my ambitions or I'll collect stuff too big for me to handle. Over the past two years I've now collected 18 coast live oaks of various sizes, several with almost no feeder roots at all. I have one that hasn't budded out this year. So, I'm at a 94% success rate.
Get that dremmel ready!

If I ever want to pick one up, I know who to call.
 

Bonsai72

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You can find me at bonchibonsai on FB, Instagram or message me at bonchibonsai.com
 
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