[Dingus] quercus gambelli #1

LittleDingus

Omono
Messages
1,635
Reaction score
3,063
Location
Chicago, Illinois
USDA Zone
5
No clue! Just planning to reduce the height and repot for now. I'll try to remember to post updates after my initial work on it 🙃

I was surprised at the lack of a large tap root on the babies I have compared to my other oaks the same age. I'm curious what yours looks like under the soil!

If you remember, I'd be interested in seeing what yours looks like when you do repot it. Feel free to post here...or call me out if you have a thread so I don't miss it!
 

LittleDingus

Omono
Messages
1,635
Reaction score
3,063
Location
Chicago, Illinois
USDA Zone
5
Sadly, this one did not wake up after we moved in the spring of 2022. I'm pretty sure it was poor after-move care on my part :( I lost too many trees after that move. As stupid as the tree itself was, this one hurt pretty bad as it was one of my favorites!

Lucky me, though, my wife and a friend ran the Pike's Peak marathon! While there, they visited Garden of the Gods and had sent me pictures asking what a tree was...it was a gambel oak! As much as I pressured her, she was only able to find 4 acorns to bring me back. I wouldn't let her pick any off the ground because those are very much less likely to germinate and there weren't many left on the tree.. But, 3 of the 4 germinated!

I moved them from a grow bag into the same pot this original tree was in. Even though it is now a different tree, the pot and the plan are the same so I thought I would just carry on with this thread. Mistakes are a part of life...no point hiding them.

So here is attempt #2 after it's first winter:

20230120_154023.jpg 20230120_154233.jpg

Sorry for the poor pictures...blurple lights are nearby. I'll get a better picture once it leafs out more.

I put it directly into the pot intended for it because it is large and deep and actually has a little more volume than the grow bag I would have had it in otherwise. Because of the type of oak it is...and that it is an oak...I don't expect it to thicken very fast no matter where I grow it and I hate empty pots!
 

BrightsideB

Omono
Messages
1,232
Reaction score
1,687
Location
Canton, Georgia
USDA Zone
7a
Sadly, this one did not wake up after we moved in the spring of 2022. I'm pretty sure it was poor after-move care on my part :( I lost too many trees after that move. As stupid as the tree itself was, this one hurt pretty bad as it was one of my favorites!

Lucky me, though, my wife and a friend ran the Pike's Peak marathon! While there, they visited Garden of the Gods and had sent me pictures asking what a tree was...it was a gambel oak! As much as I pressured her, she was only able to find 4 acorns to bring me back. I wouldn't let her pick any off the ground because those are very much less likely to germinate and there weren't many left on the tree.. But, 3 of the 4 germinated!

I moved them from a grow bag into the same pot this original tree was in. Even though it is now a different tree, the pot and the plan are the same so I thought I would just carry on with this thread. Mistakes are a part of life...no point hiding them.

So here is attempt #2 after it's first winter:

View attachment 469388 View attachment 469387

Sorry for the poor pictures...blurple lights are nearby. I'll get a better picture once it leafs out more.

I put it directly into the pot intended for it because it is large and deep and actually has a little more volume than the grow bag I would have had it in otherwise. Because of the type of oak it is...and that it is an oak...I don't expect it to thicken very fast no matter where I grow it and I hate empty pots!
Nice early start it’s getting!
 

LittleDingus

Omono
Messages
1,635
Reaction score
3,063
Location
Chicago, Illinois
USDA Zone
5
Nice early start it’s getting!

I babied it in the basement this winter. In KC, I kept the previous one in the garage where it tended to stay below 55F but rarely froze. Chicago winters are colder and longer.

I'm going to have to find a cooler spot for a lot of things next winter. My redwoods are actively growing already as are my live and cork oaks. I need somewhere I can keep cooler but not super cold.
 

LittleDingus

Omono
Messages
1,635
Reaction score
3,063
Location
Chicago, Illinois
USDA Zone
5
Nice, but wrong game! This one matches my avatar ;)

View attachment 358957

Also, while the effect on your card is probably the effect I'll get...the effect on this card is probably the one you want :D

@HorseloverFat : I had forgotten this post!

...and yes, the effect on your card is the one I got: I called the coin toss wrong!

So: new game :)
 

HorseloverFat

Squarepants with Conkers
Messages
11,356
Reaction score
16,220
Location
Northeast Wisconsin
USDA Zone
5a
@HorseloverFat : I had forgotten this post!

...and yes, the effect on your card is the one I got: I called the coin toss wrong!

So: new game :)

Ironically enough, I was JUST helping Jasper, my seven year-old, put together a new YuGiOh deck yesterday!

He almost beat my Jinzo deck.....

...almost.

🤣
 

ShadyStump

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
5,890
Reaction score
9,737
Location
Southern Colorado, USA
USDA Zone
6a
I babied it in the basement this winter.
Don't baby a scrub oak.
They're tougher than you, and they know it. I wouldn't let it ice over, but otherwise it should handle Chicago just fine.

I've been researching these a little while now, and following this thread for a bit (but for some reason haven't been getting notifications). I'm several months behind on collecting root cuttings from a particular stand with traits I've been trying culture.

The ones you have now are unlikely to be true gamelii. Gambelii and various similar species/subspecies interbreed and hybridize so frequently that no one is quite sure how to classify them. That said the basics are all the same, but yours would likely never hit that 30 feet a true gambelii is capable of. 10 feet tops probably.
You never will find a tap root on these. They're native to a land so rocky there's nowhere for a tap root to go. The roots will run all over, often fairly shallow, and reach into every crack and crevice, nook and cranny of the underlying rock, anchoring itself like a net. Trying to collect them in the wild is most often an exercise akin to just taking a large, leafy root cutting. I've of course been largely unsuccessful so far in my few attempts. I'm thinking now that fall actually is the best time, and treat it EXACTLY like a root cutting.

If you ever want more, just say the word and I'll try and find you some interesting ones.
 

August

Chumono
Messages
574
Reaction score
1,303
Location
Denver, CO
USDA Zone
5
@HorseloverFat : I had forgotten this post!

...and yes, the effect on your card is the one I got: I called the coin toss wrong!

So: new game :)
I've been waiting to bring up the Dingus Egg until the time is right; wonder how many besides @LittleDingus and I both practice Bonsai and play MtG???
 

LittleDingus

Omono
Messages
1,635
Reaction score
3,063
Location
Chicago, Illinois
USDA Zone
5
Don't baby a scrub oak.
They're tougher than you, and they know it. I wouldn't let it ice over, but otherwise it should handle Chicago just fine.

I've been researching these a little while now, and following this thread for a bit (but for some reason haven't been getting notifications). I'm several months behind on collecting root cuttings from a particular stand with traits I've been trying culture.

The ones you have now are unlikely to be true gamelii. Gambelii and various similar species/subspecies interbreed and hybridize so frequently that no one is quite sure how to classify them. That said the basics are all the same, but yours would likely never hit that 30 feet a true gambelii is capable of. 10 feet tops probably.
You never will find a tap root on these. They're native to a land so rocky there's nowhere for a tap root to go. The roots will run all over, often fairly shallow, and reach into every crack and crevice, nook and cranny of the underlying rock, anchoring itself like a net. Trying to collect them in the wild is most often an exercise akin to just taking a large, leafy root cutting. I've of course been largely unsuccessful so far in my few attempts. I'm thinking now that fall actually is the best time, and treat it EXACTLY like a root cutting.

If you ever want more, just say the word and I'll try and find you some interesting ones.

Thanks for the info @ShadyStump!

The problem with Chicago winters, me thinks, is the wet! I left them outside most of the winter in Kansas City but did bring them into the garage to avoid ice storms and they did fine. I'd be lazy bringing them back out so they spent a fair amount of time in the garage after the first storm of the season..

At the time of the move, they were still alive judging by the healthy looking buds they had at that time. But, I forgot they were outside and I think they got and stayed too wet. They did sit through a week of -10F temps that may also have been a bit on the cold side. But, in general, here in Chicago, I think it will be the wet and not the cold that will kill them. Since me last one didn't wake up, I'm a little cautious with this one...at least until I get my setup here under control.

I don't care much if its a "true" gambelli...I don't know there is such a thing as a purebred oak! They are so promiscuous ;) They are close enough, though, that they have the small white oak leaves...that's what I love about them. That and that they grown in colonies with lots of root suckers. I've been trying to find turbinelli for the same reason...but red oak leaves. Growing up here in the midwest with our large oaks I was enthralled by the knee high "oak forest" we found ourselves in at Arches National Park. The first turbinelli I saw I thought was some form of holly until I saw baby acorns!
 

LittleDingus

Omono
Messages
1,635
Reaction score
3,063
Location
Chicago, Illinois
USDA Zone
5
I've been waiting to bring up the Dingus Egg until the time is right; wonder how many besides @LittleDingus and I both practice Bonsai and play MtG???

Do you still play? I haven't played in years :(

I started almost at the very beginning. After a decade or so I got more into backyard astronomy than playing magic so I sold my physical collection and bought a really nice telescope! I played online only for a couple of years after that but then had too many children and too little time and money to keep up so I stopped playing entirely. My kids played for a while, but they have kids now so they don't play as much either.

I still pay a little attention to what is going on but Hasbro has pushed things in bad directions. It seams Hasbro is fucking up Dungeons and Dragons now too :( That was another vice of mine back in the day...
 

ShadyStump

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
5,890
Reaction score
9,737
Location
Southern Colorado, USA
USDA Zone
6a
Thanks for the info @ShadyStump!

The problem with Chicago winters, me thinks, is the wet! I left them outside most of the winter in Kansas City but did bring them into the garage to avoid ice storms and they did fine. I'd be lazy bringing them back out so they spent a fair amount of time in the garage after the first storm of the season..

At the time of the move, they were still alive judging by the healthy looking buds they had at that time. But, I forgot they were outside and I think they got and stayed too wet. They did sit through a week of -10F temps that may also have been a bit on the cold side. But, in general, here in Chicago, I think it will be the wet and not the cold that will kill them. Since me last one didn't wake up, I'm a little cautious with this one...at least until I get my setup here under control.

I don't care much if its a "true" gambelli...I don't know there is such a thing as a purebred oak! They are so promiscuous ;) They are close enough, though, that they have the small white oak leaves...that's what I love about them. That and that they grown in colonies with lots of root suckers. I've been trying to find turbinelli for the same reason...but red oak leaves. Growing up here in the midwest with our large oaks I was enthralled by the knee high "oak forest" we found ourselves in at Arches National Park. The first turbinelli I saw I thought was some form of holly until I saw baby acorns!
You're probably right, actually. I imagine even in summer it might be a bit wet for them: prepare for fungus issues.
...
...
My kids love the idea of D&D, but there's too damned many rules, so we usually just improvise GM rules and roll dice for guidance.🤪 It turns ridiculous in no time flat.
 

August

Chumono
Messages
574
Reaction score
1,303
Location
Denver, CO
USDA Zone
5
Do you still play? I haven't played in years :(

I started almost at the very beginning. After a decade or so I got more into backyard astronomy than playing magic so I sold my physical collection and bought a really nice telescope! I played online only for a couple of years after that but then had too many children and too little time and money to keep up so I stopped playing entirely. My kids played for a while, but they have kids now so they don't play as much either.

I still pay a little attention to what is going on but Hasbro has pushed things in bad directions. It seams Hasbro is fucking up Dungeons and Dragons now too :( That was another vice of mine back in the day...
I do still actively play; for reference I'm only 24 and started when I was around 16. I go through phases with it but learned to stop devoting money to it a long time ago. Even with my small chunk of experience in the WotC timeline, I have seen things get really bad. I play DnD too; thankfully I'm very much a by the seat of my pants DM and was raised on pirating by my old man; so I devote very little money to Hasbro in general. Just bought an adventure book for the first time ever (Curse of Strahd). Hard to find the books (less than 300 pages usually) for under 45. But even then, according to the employees at Wizards, the company sees consumers as "obstacles between them and their money". But I reckon most corporate ideologies follow this line of thought.

I've always been vehemently opposed to "good business". Too often it means "exploitative relationship with consumers".

WotC is just a great example of this because they find ways to exploit their consumers, even though most of what they sell is imaginary paper and cardboard. It makes the exploitation glaringly obvious. (sorry for the rant)
 

LittleDingus

Omono
Messages
1,635
Reaction score
3,063
Location
Chicago, Illinois
USDA Zone
5
I do still actively play; for reference I'm only 24 and started when I was around 16. I go through phases with it but learned to stop devoting money to it a long time ago. Even with my small chunk of experience in the WotC timeline, I have seen things get really bad. I play DnD too; thankfully I'm very much a by the seat of my pants DM and was raised on pirating by my old man; so I devote very little money to Hasbro in general. Just bought an adventure book for the first time ever (Curse of Strahd). Hard to find the books (less than 300 pages usually) for under 45. But even then, according to the employees at Wizards, the company sees consumers as "obstacles between them and their money". But I reckon most corporate ideologies follow this line of thought.

I've always been vehemently opposed to "good business". Too often it means "exploitative relationship with consumers".

WotC is just a great example of this because they find ways to exploit their consumers, even though most of what they sell is imaginary paper and cardboard. It makes the exploitation glaringly obvious. (sorry for the rant)

No worries. I double your age plus a few ;)

Greatest invention in collectable card games was the card protector. It let us play with any card...including non-existant ones :)
 
Top Bottom