Quercus ilex little ones

[Flowerhouse]

I received these acorns around the new year. I had them in perlite, then transferred into acadama/lava/pumice mix when they developed radicles. They are crooked/leaning because from the time the sprouts appeared at soil level the pots have been tipped sharply (taco server is handy for that lol). Today I accidently dumped the shorter plant and therefore got to peek below the soil surface. Beneath the soil there's the acorn, then the very straight tap root, and the little feeder roots are all coming from the bottom of the tap root. Here's my question: Will these little guys eventually develop roots closer to the stem? Is there something I need to do to promote that?

 

[sorce]

I wonder if you can't slip a washer up the taproot before they grow sides.

I reckon any loose cinch can help when they grow into it.

Fuss....fuss away...I reckon an acorn has quite a bit of stored energy as compared to a thyme seed.

Sorce

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Just let them grow for now. Eventually, after repotting and root pruning in a few years you should get a better root base.

 

[Flowerhouse]

Oops! I did it again....
Honestly I need to pot these guys in pots too big for me to think I can carry both of them at once. The guy on the right above got dumped last night, is repotted in the same pot for now. In the second pic the line across the big root is where I put a wire tourniquet on last time it got dumped. Nearly all of the fine roots are below the wire, and the wire is biting in.


My plan: carry on, but stop dumping the little guy.