Seed thread - a few questions of course.

Orion_metalhead

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Question for those who have grown oaks from acorns. I have two at the moment which I field collected already starting to root in the autumn. One of them is still currently growing well with a single taproot. The second one had some damage to the taproot and I wasn't sure if it would survive but I threw it in a pot anyway. When I last checked, the acorn had sent out three or four other root tips... I'm wondering if I should try cutting the taproot on the other acorn to try and get some better root growth straight off or if I should wait until after a year or so of growth when the plant has more energy and potential root mass to snip it?
 

Shibui

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I routinely trim the radicle (it's not really a tap root) on oaks soon after the roots emerges. They don't seem to mind and the result is nearly always a good mass of lateral roots. The older they get the less they like root pruning.
 

Orion_metalhead

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Ok, perfect. The radicle right now is about 2.5" long. Is it too long to cut or should I give it a go?
 

Shibui

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Should still be no problem at 2.5". I'd probably cut it back to 1/2" or so and replant.
 
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