BillyBonesBonsai
Shohin
Can anyone give me some advise on the does and donts of collecting seedlings of this tree
collecting english oak seedlings (Quercus Robur)
- Thread starter BillyBonesBonsai
- Start date
Bunjeh
Chumono
Oaks
I have never collected Quercus Robur but I have several other oaks and they seem to be pretty forgiving if you get them when they are dormant. The ones I have I simply grasped firmly and pulled and put them in a 50% sand/50% loam mix for one year. All are well.
I have never collected Quercus Robur but I have several other oaks and they seem to be pretty forgiving if you get them when they are dormant. The ones I have I simply grasped firmly and pulled and put them in a 50% sand/50% loam mix for one year. All are well.
Gene Deci
Shohin
It would help if you include your location in your information. A lot depends on that.
I collected about three dozen white oak (probably not English) seedlings from flower beds around the building were my wife worked in the springs of 96 and, 97. The ones I still have are the trees in my collection I have had the longest - so it can be done even by a beginner. But it isn't as easy as you might think.
The flower bed dirt was soft. the squirrels buried lots of acorns and the seedlings were easy to find and collect. They almost all survived that process. Collect in the spring before they leaf out and get as much root ball as you can including the surprisingly long tap root. I put them, mostly in their own dirt, in relatively large nursery pots. The spring after I collected them a few never came out of dormancy. Others died as the summer came and went. The following spring I transplanted them into my bonsai soil thinking that might be the problem but it didn't help. Some did not survive the transplanting and I lost a few more over the summer. In another year or two I was down to ten trees, so I put them in the ground. They all thrived. I was amazed at how fast they grew. They stayed in the ground for four years. All I did was prune them back each year.
Then we moved, so I dug them up and again put them in large nursery pots. Over the next two years I lost half of them. Now I have four in bonsai pots - one was never going to be much of a bonsai so I gave it to a friend to plant out.
I was inexperienced when I began, as I believe you are, so I may have done a lot of things wrong, but this is what I now believe. Oak do not like to be transplanted, nor do they acclimate easily to life in a pot. They will try to put all their energy into one main root if you let them but if you do develop a nicely ramified root ball, they will thrive. If I were to do it again I would try air pots of some kind (search Vance Wood on this forum).
Good luck.
I collected about three dozen white oak (probably not English) seedlings from flower beds around the building were my wife worked in the springs of 96 and, 97. The ones I still have are the trees in my collection I have had the longest - so it can be done even by a beginner. But it isn't as easy as you might think.
The flower bed dirt was soft. the squirrels buried lots of acorns and the seedlings were easy to find and collect. They almost all survived that process. Collect in the spring before they leaf out and get as much root ball as you can including the surprisingly long tap root. I put them, mostly in their own dirt, in relatively large nursery pots. The spring after I collected them a few never came out of dormancy. Others died as the summer came and went. The following spring I transplanted them into my bonsai soil thinking that might be the problem but it didn't help. Some did not survive the transplanting and I lost a few more over the summer. In another year or two I was down to ten trees, so I put them in the ground. They all thrived. I was amazed at how fast they grew. They stayed in the ground for four years. All I did was prune them back each year.
Then we moved, so I dug them up and again put them in large nursery pots. Over the next two years I lost half of them. Now I have four in bonsai pots - one was never going to be much of a bonsai so I gave it to a friend to plant out.
I was inexperienced when I began, as I believe you are, so I may have done a lot of things wrong, but this is what I now believe. Oak do not like to be transplanted, nor do they acclimate easily to life in a pot. They will try to put all their energy into one main root if you let them but if you do develop a nicely ramified root ball, they will thrive. If I were to do it again I would try air pots of some kind (search Vance Wood on this forum).
Good luck.
BillyBonesBonsai
Shohin
I live in Johannesburg South Africa, I have no idea what zone it will be the same as, the weather I get is great, maybe get snow once in like 25 years so very easy to grow any type of plants
I travelled out to mpumalanga for the weekend and I have spotted these seedlings.
I travelled out to mpumalanga for the weekend and I have spotted these seedlings.
Bunjeh
Chumono
Don't worry
Someone once told me that the tuition of Bonsai School is paid in dead trees. So, it's late spring for you now. Dig 'em up keeping as much of the root ball as possible and keep them moist and in a semi-shady spot until after your winter months start. Bet you will have at least a 60% success rate.
Someone once told me that the tuition of Bonsai School is paid in dead trees. So, it's late spring for you now. Dig 'em up keeping as much of the root ball as possible and keep them moist and in a semi-shady spot until after your winter months start. Bet you will have at least a 60% success rate.
BillyBonesBonsai
Shohin
Awesome thank you
Bunjeh
Chumono
Quercus Garryana
BB: I live in the Pacific Northwest and here we only really have one variety of native Oak,..quercus garryana. They reproduce via rhizome or via seed, but either way they have extremely long taps due to the annual summer drought. I currently am batting 1.000 with my oaks despite my epic cruelty.
BB: I live in the Pacific Northwest and here we only really have one variety of native Oak,..quercus garryana. They reproduce via rhizome or via seed, but either way they have extremely long taps due to the annual summer drought. I currently am batting 1.000 with my oaks despite my epic cruelty.
BillyBonesBonsai
Shohin
thats a white oak right
Bunjeh
Chumono
White Oak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_garryana
I guess. I think it is also called Oregon White Oak.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_garryana
I guess. I think it is also called Oregon White Oak.
BillyBonesBonsai
Shohin
Thats very cool. I have also seen some red oaks around, im going to try harvest some seedlings next year, maybe even collect some acorns. Could be a cool project
BillyBonesBonsai
Shohin
I just figured out what zone my city would fall under and that would be zone 14
