Oak sapling with Bonsai potential

[Jnicholes]

So, I haven’t posted in a while, mainly because my oak bonsai died. Something happened while I was transferring it outside.

Whatever it was that caused it to die, I’ll learn from it.

today, I found this oak sapling growing, and I think it has some good potential to be a bonsai. I was able to pull it out with minimal root damage.

it already has the tapered look, and it’s taproot was severed somehow, but it survived. This means I can put it in a shallow pot, and I don’t have to work on tapering it that much.

Pictures:





What do you guys think? Does it have potential to be a good oak bonsai?

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Yeah, pot it up and watch it grow... may take a few tens of years

 

[Jnicholes]

Yeah, pot it up and watch it grow... may take a few tens of years

Thanks. To be honest, patience is something I need to learn. This may help me learn patience.

Anyway, at least I got a good oak sapling for Bonsai now. Plus, it’s already accustomed to my climate conditions.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Well you'll learn patience or collect/ buy/ seed enough plants to satisfy you with this hobby..lol

 

[Forsoothe!]

You mumbled something about "...I was transferring it outside" it wasn't indoors, right? It's hardy and must stay outside.

 

[Jnicholes]

You mumbled something about "...I was transferring it outside" it wasn't indoors, right? It's hardy and must stay outside.

Well, THERE’S my problem! Thanks for pointing that out. I germinated it inside.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Tell us more...

 

[Jnicholes]

I just found this. In case the sapling doesn’t work out.



I am aware it will take several years, but it’s still something I want to try to do.

 

[Jnicholes]

Tell us more...

I started an acorn inside a while ago. When it was growing, it stayed inside. I knew it had to go outside eventually, so when the temperatures were right, I attempted to transfer it outside. In the end, it died. Probably the shock.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I have lots of small oaks like that growing around my yard. I was told that it's best to let it grow. Put it in a big box with good soil and just let it grow for a few years to thicken up before putting it into a bonsai pot.

I also planted a bunch of acorns in the fall and they are 5-6" now. Those look much healthier than the ones I dug up, so you might want to grab some acorns in the fall too.

EDIT: This fall, plant new acorns outside and just let the oak pop out when it's ready instead of keeping it inside.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Probably to direct sun from the relatively low light of a house. From now on, go from house to protected bright shade outdoors for 10 days or 2 weeks, then partial sun for another 2 weeks, then full sun, but no drought.

 

[Jnicholes]

Probably to direct sun from the relatively low light of a house. From now on, go from house to protected bright shade outdoors for 10 days or 2 weeks, then partial sun for another 2 weeks, then full sun, but no drought.

Understood, thank you.

 

[Tieball]

It has taper....now.....that will change as it grows. The taper will get higher and higher up. Eventually you’ll chop it and restart the taper.

It does has nice roots for a starter oak. And a nice gentle bend to work with.

 

[LittleDingus]

I started an acorn inside a while ago. When it was growing, it stayed inside. I knew it had to go outside eventually, so when the temperatures were right, I attempted to transfer it outside. In the end, it died. Probably the shock.

Oaks are pretty robust. I've had oak from acorn where the top growth completely died off because of a transplant or moving outside (I also start all my seed indoors...usually in the fall) or whatever only for a new trunk to form a month later. Acorns store a ton of energy! After the first year, the tree usually has enough energy reserves to survive without the acorn.

It's very likely to top growth burned up in the sudden light increase...but I'd also give it good odds that if you continued to water normally, it'd come back. Often times people give up on deciduous trees at the first drop of leaves. But many deciduous trees can recover from that given time. It really depends on why they lost the leaves. If it was to sun burn...it should recover just fine.

 

[LittleDingus]

today, I found this oak sapling growing, and I think it has some good potential to be a bonsai. I was able to pull it out with minimal root damage.

it already has the tapered look, and it’s taproot was severed somehow, but it survived. This means I can put it in a shallow pot, and I don’t have to work on tapering it that much.

Most trees that small have nothing BUT potential

You haven't stated what your goals are? Nor do I see what type of oak this is?? A lot will depend on the answers to those two questions.

Some examples from my collection:

This is a cork oak (suber) ~2.5 years from acorn. The picture doesn't do it much justice. It's budding, but the buds haven't burst yet this year...the leaves are all last season (cork oaks are evergreen) and are looking a little haggard. It just went into a pot a few months ago and I'll start working on filling it out this season. It's a nice size for a young looking tree and the leaves of cork oak are on the small side so the scale is not too out of whack. My goal is to keep this one this size...I have other cork oak still growing out for larger trees.



This one is a type of scrub oak (gambeli). It's about 1.5 years from acorn. It grew like mad last summer! Really hoping it does that again! I'm trying to grow this one not as a "bonsai", but as a thicket as they tend to grow in nature. I'm after a dense thicket with a single trunk snaking up. Trunk thickness isn't a concern to me on this one.



This is a shingle oak (imbricaria). I collected it from the wild this past fall after it went dormant. It's starting to bud out like crazy now. You can see that it is a significantly more mature looking oak It's probably a dozen years old and naturally dwarfed by the location I collected it from: the rocky side of a bluff that gets hit by high winds pretty constantly. Shingle oak leaves are much larger than cork oak. Unless they reduce significantly, they will be way out of scale even on this tree. The leaves it still had on it at collection (the dead leaves hang on most of the winter) were 5" long.



This one is southern live oak (virginiana). Most of my oaks are in this stage. It's ~2 years from acorn. It's just under 6' tall. The trunk is < 1/2" thick. I include it because most people don't realize the space a "sapling" will take up in a year or two if you let it...and you HAVE to let it if you ever want anything that doesn't look like a young oak!



I have a few other oak species...but it's too dark to get pictures. Where you go with yours and how long it will take to get there depends very much on what species you have and what your end goal is. If you're after an aged oak look with a fat trunk...be prepared to care for a 12' tree I just trunk chopped a chinquapin with a 2" trunk that was that tall. If you chop earlier and grow the tree more as a shrub to keep it a more manageable height, you can get to a thick trunk too, but it's going to take longer and you're going to have a large bush in the mean time If you want a young looking tree that is shohin sized...you need an ammenable species to start with, but you can get there sooner.

Hopefully this gives you a little idea of what to expect on your journey...please keep us updated on your progress. I love oaks of all ages

EDIT:

I forgot that I had these pictures of my swamp oak (bicolor) that I picked up from a nursery recently and trunk chopped for another perspective.

 

[Jnicholes]

Most trees that small have nothing BUT potential

You haven't stated what your goals are? Nor do I see what type of oak this is?? A lot will depend on the answers to those two questions.

Some examples from my collection:

This is a cork oak (suber) ~2.5 years from acorn. The picture doesn't do it much justice. It's budding, but the buds haven't burst yet this year...the leaves are all last season (cork oaks are evergreen) and are looking a little haggard. It just went into a pot a few months ago and I'll start working on filling it out this season. It's a nice size for a young looking tree and the leaves of cork oak are on the small side so the scale is not too out of whack. My goal is to keep this one this size...I have other cork oak still growing out for larger trees.

View attachment 370821

This one is a type of scrub oak (gambeli). It's about 1.5 years from acorn. It grew like mad last summer! Really hoping it does that again! I'm trying to grow this one not as a "bonsai", but as a thicket as they tend to grow in nature. I'm after a dense thicket with a single trunk snaking up. Trunk thickness isn't a concern to me on this one.

View attachment 370824

This is a shingle oak (imbricaria). I collected it from the wild this past fall after it went dormant. It's starting to bud out like crazy now. You can see that it is a significantly more mature looking oak It's probably a dozen years old and naturally dwarfed by the location I collected it from: the rocky side of a bluff that gets hit by high winds pretty constantly. Shingle oak leaves are much larger than cork oak. Unless they reduce significantly, they will be way out of scale even on this tree. The leaves it still had on it at collection (the dead leaves hang on most of the winter) were 5" long.

View attachment 370822

This one is southern live oak (virginiana). Most of my oaks are in this stage. It's ~2 years from acorn. It's just under 6' tall. The trunk is < 1/2" thick. I include it because most people don't realize the space a "sapling" will take up in a year or two if you let it...and you HAVE to let it if you ever want anything that doesn't look like a young oak!

View attachment 370823

I have a few other oak species...but it's too dark to get pictures. Where you go with yours and how long it will take to get there depends very much on what species you have and what your end goal is. If you're after an aged oak look with a fat trunk...be prepared to care for a 12' tree I just trunk chopped a chinquapin with a 2" trunk that was that tall. If you chop earlier and grow the tree more as a shrub to keep it a more manageable height, you can get to a thick trunk too, but it's going to take longer and you're going to have a large bush in the mean time If you want a young looking tree that is shohin sized...you need an ammenable species to start with, but you can get there sooner.

Hopefully this gives you a little idea of what to expect on your journey...please keep us updated on your progress. I love oaks of all ages

EDIT:

I forgot that I had these pictures of my swamp oak (bicolor) that I picked up from a nursery recently and trunk chopped for another perspective.

View attachment 370831 View attachment 370830

Thanks for all that great advice and pictures. Yes, I failed to specify my goal. Species I’m actually not sure about, I can figure it out. I have some friends on a garden forum who can help me out with that.

My goal is to grow a bonsai Oak. I’ve always wanted to grow one and have one. As for the shape of the bonsai, I haven’t reached that point yet for my goal. Maybe I will go with something that has a thick aged trunk.

I want to do this because of something I heard once. Pardon the cheesiness, but even a nut can turn into a mighty oak.

I’m still figuring it out.

If I do end up making it look like a very aged trunk, I’m going to need a bigger pot.

Thanks,

Jared

 

[Mikecheck123]

My goal is to grow a bonsai Oak.

You should start with nursery stock, not an acorn. I'm sure they sell oaks in Idaho.

 

[LittleDingus]

You should start where you want but with realistic expectations on what will be involved to get where you want to be.

If you want a quaint little tree in a pot to have a pet oak...you can start from seedlings and get there. You'll not likely get to a show quality tree. Many wouldn't even call it a bonsai. But you can have something that makes you smile.

Most serious bonsai enthusiasts would consider an oak a bonsai intil it has old looking craggy growth and a wide basal flare. Due to leaf size on many oaks, the finished tree needs to be a couple feet high. Getting there from seed is obviously a much longer journey. Many will buy a nursery tree or collect from the wild to shortcut a decade or two. There's no problem with that.

Some are more interested in the styling/shaping aspect of bonsai. Waiting around for a tree to grow is a waste of time. As is the space and resources to grow out a tree to the point they can do "the fun part" on.

Others are more interested in the horticultural aspects of tree care. The process of watching the tree mature is "the fun part".

Many new people have no idea what to expect! No disrespect, but "My goal is to grow a bonsai oak." is not a goal. "I would like to keep an oak pet of modest size alive in a container to enjoy it as we age together" could be a goal. "I would like a show quality bonsai that I can be the hand of god upon to replicate great age in minuature" could be a goal. How you achieve each goal in your lifetime is significantly different.

For the record...my goal is trees I can care for and grow old with. This is not "bonsai" by the strict definition of the form. That's why you'll get a lot of "start with something bigger and chop it" advice. It's not bad advice if "bonsai" is your goal

 

[Tieball]

If I do end up making it look like a very aged trunk, I’m going to need a bigger pot.

It’s possible to get to that....very aged trunk....you mention. To get there in your lifetime you’ll need to give the tree all the opportunity you can to grow wildly.