From Seed Division: Sputnik184’s Quercus Robur Forest

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Here’s my second attempt at a forest from seed for the contest. The predominant tree in this area is definitely the Quercus Robur so had no trouble collecting lots of acorns. In the past I have always put acorns between damp kitchen paper to germinate and I did this over Christmas.
 

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HorseloverFat

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Here’s my second attempt at a forest from seed for the contest. The predominant tree in this area is definitely the Quercus Robur so had no trouble collecting lots of acorns. In the past I have always put acorns between damp kitchen paper to germinate and I did this over Christmas.
Groovy!
 
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Out walking today I picked up a lot more acorns that were already germinating to add to my forest
 

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AlainK

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A daring attempt, for it's more difficult than other species like Acers : oaks tend to have a long tap root, I don't know about young seedlings. Another problem here with Quercus robur is that they are almost all the time plagued by oidium. It doesn't kill them, but they're weaker.

I wish you good luck with yours, an oak grove would be really great... ;)
 
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I always cut my tap roots before the first planting and have found that gives me a good root spread.

Yes powdery mildew is a problem but I think it’s worth the challenge.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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In seedlings up to 9 years you can pretty easily cut off the tap root. If there are enough side roots.

I'm planning on girdling them with zip ties.

Powdery mildew can be prevented with biological protectors, peroxide showers or copper sulphate or general micronutrient mixtures that contain metals.
IMG_20201230_130631.jpg

Here's my box of squirrel food.
 
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In seedlings up to 9 years you can pretty easily cut off the tap root. If there are enough side roots.

I'm planning on girdling them with zip ties.

Powdery mildew can be prevented with biological protectors, peroxide showers or copper sulphate or general micronutrient mixtures that contain metals.
View attachment 348852

Here's my box of squirrel food.
Could you expand on your mildew treatments please? Sounds fascinating
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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Could you expand on your mildew treatments please? Sounds fascinating
I started using trichoderma viride two years ago, ever since the mildew in my entire back yard has been minimal. It doesn't happen until late fall in September or October. I spray my trees once or twice a month with a spore solution from leaf emergence until august. I spray with commercially available micro nutrients (Fe, Mn, Mb, Cu, Zn, all metals basically) as a general health booster. But these metals are known to kill some microbes, so that's why I keep using trich viride.

Before that time, I used copper sulphate when the leaves were hardened off, a needle pinhead pinch (10-25mg or something?) on 3 liters of water has always been sufficient but it required three or four treatments throughout the summer to really be preventative. 10 bucks worth of copper sulphate will last you a decade or so. It's pretty cheap.

I followed some citizen scientist that got 30 people to try hydrogen peroxide on mildew at 1, 1.5 and 3% and it seems that the 1.5-3% range does seem to kill most mildew in one or two treatments within a week. But once it's dead, it has already chewed down the cuticle so the foliage is unprotected from sunburn. The tree will end up with some minor sunburns that could eventually turn dull and/or brown. On top of that, peroxide requires continuous spraying to be effective; hit every spot you see as soon as you see it, otherwise the mildew will just continue spreading. It has little lasting protective effects.

There's some bordeaux mix recipes out there that combine lime sulphur and copper sulphate, and some commercial materials that contain sodium silicate (which will friggin burn your foliage right off! But the label is correct: no more mildew! Figures..). I have read about people using potassium silicate (used in painting) as an effective mildew inhibitor but I have personally never tried it.
There are some sulphur gas mixtures, but you don't really want those fumes anywhere near you.
 
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I started using trichoderma viride two years ago, ever since the mildew in my entire back yard has been minimal. It doesn't happen until late fall in September or October. I spray my trees once or twice a month with a spore solution from leaf emergence until august. I spray with commercially available micro nutrients (Fe, Mn, Mb, Cu, Zn, all metals basically) as a general health booster. But these metals are known to kill some microbes, so that's why I keep using trich viride.

Before that time, I used copper sulphate when the leaves were hardened off, a needle pinhead pinch (10-25mg or something?) on 3 liters of water has always been sufficient but it required three or four treatments throughout the summer to really be preventative. 10 bucks worth of copper sulphate will last you a decade or so. It's pretty cheap.

I followed some citizen scientist that got 30 people to try hydrogen peroxide on mildew at 1, 1.5 and 3% and it seems that the 1.5-3% range does seem to kill most mildew in one or two treatments within a week. But once it's dead, it has already chewed down the cuticle so the foliage is unprotected from sunburn. The tree will end up with some minor sunburns that could eventually turn dull and/or brown. On top of that, peroxide requires continuous spraying to be effective; hit every spot you see as soon as you see it, otherwise the mildew will just continue spreading. It has little lasting protective effects.

There's some bordeaux mix recipes out there that combine lime sulphur and copper sulphate, and some commercial materials that contain sodium silicate (which will friggin burn your foliage right off! But the label is correct: no more mildew! Figures..). I have read about people using potassium silicate (used in painting) as an effective mildew inhibitor but I have personally never tried it.
There are some sulphur gas mixtures, but you don't really want those fumes anywhere near you.
Trichoderma viride sounds interesting. Will do some more research. Thanks for the advice.
 

AlainK

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Hi companion (sputnik) 😄

When in my early teens (50 years ago :rolleyes:), that was a hit :

 
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Hi companion (sputnik) 😄

When in my early teens (50 years ago :rolleyes:), that was a hit :

Rather enjoyed that Alain. Hadn't come across the Spotnicks. In the UK that style of music is usually associated with The Shadows. Even covered many of the same tracks.
 
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Planted the germinating acorns and covered with sphagnum to maintain moisture and protect from mice etc
 

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LittleDingus

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I always thought you should lay acorns on their side. Oaks form a foot and a trunk out the same end of the corn...the pointy end. They don't shed the corn like a seed coat.

Or maybe not all oaks grow like that?

And maybe it doesn't matter because the trunk will find its way up either way...but someone taught me that once and I've been doing it ever since.
 
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Yes the root and shoot both grow out of the pointy end but I have always put mine in diagonally pointy end down and they seem to come up okay. The acorns had all started to germinate before planting and the root had been cut to get better spread.
 
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Lots of little oak trees now
 

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Update on the oaks. All came through the last few months okay and are budding well. Will have to begin to decide what kind of group to work towards.
 

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Update on the oaks. All came through the last few months okay and are budding well. Will have to begin to decide what kind of group to work towards.
Shortly after my last update I separated out the larger of my seedlings and wired a little shape into the trunks before planting them in a shallow oval pot. They were planted in a potential forest grouping with the largest at the front of the left group and a smaller group to the right and farther back. I probably planted more than I needed expecting some casualties from the repot but they have grown really well. I am hoping to keep this forest small. Shohin would be nice but I’m not sure with oaks. The remainder of the seedlings are growing on for a larger group. I have been constantly cutting off the big leaves and this seems to be producing lots of shoots from the trunks. The wire has now been removed.
 

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Cajunrider

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Shortly after my last update I separated out the larger of my seedlings and wired a little shape into the trunks before planting them in a shallow oval pot. They were planted in a potential forest grouping with the largest at the front of the left group and a smaller group to the right and farther back. I probably planted more than I needed expecting some casualties from the repot but they have grown really well. I am hoping to keep this forest small. Shohin would be nice but I’m not sure with oaks. The remainder of the seedlings are growing on for a larger group. I have been constantly cutting off the big leaves and this seems to be producing lots of shoots from the trunks. The wire has now been removed.
Looking good! Great progress.
 
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