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Random seedling from tuber

jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
in Plants
One of the things I love about this time of year all the random seedlings that pop up in various pots.

In one of my Japanese Maple pots, this very long thin root seedling with a tuber appeared.  Anyone have any idea what it is?

Posts

  • BiljeBilje Posts: 811
    Could be an acorn sprouting, the leaves look oak like 
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Yes, definitely an oak.  Probably a squirrel buried an acorn in your pot.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
    Bizarrely. I’ve seen Hedgehogs, Cats Foxes galore and even rats but never, ever a squirrel in this garden in 10 years.

    But at night something climbs into the pots - even the tallest ones - and digs around.

    I wonder if it was a bird?

    Either way I don’t have space for an oak.  
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I've seen magpies burying food in pots but I don't know whether they're interested in acorns.
    You are very fortunate not to have squirrels!
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    Don’t know about magpies but Jays bury acorns
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    Just looked it up and Magpies will bury stores of food as well.Apparently coal tits store seed for the winter as well.
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Can’t imagine a coal tit flying about with an acorn in its beak 😂  ... my moneys on a Jay ... they frequently plant acorns in pots. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
    Thanks everybody.

    The seedling was growing fairly near the bird table and we do get magpies.

    Our garden isn’t anywhere near big enough for an oak tree although I would love one. If I just put it in a container I’m prepared to root prune and all of that stuff… would this work? I’m not talking bonsai just a regular 20 L pot or something.  

    I guess if I just went and planted it in a field the council would just get rid of it at some point?
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Just chuck it out/destroy it ... a plant in the wrong place is a weed ... if every acorn planted by jays was allowed to grow we’d be in a forest and while that might be good for the planet it wouldn’t be good for us. 

    You would have no compunction about pulling up a clump of thistles or stinging nettles and yet arguably they could be more easily accommodated in your garden and provide huge benefits to wildlife. 
    Sometimes we have to harden our hearts. 
    😉 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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