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Growing oak from acorn.

Hello all
Im new to the forum and looking for advice.
I have potted an acorn from an oak. I kept the soil moist and placed it in a plastic bag.
It has germinated with four leaves which are each smaller than a baked bean. 
Is this considered established? Should I leave it out of bag? When it rains, the puddle on the bag is beginning to push down on it.

Kind regards,
Patrick

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Squirrels don't put plastic bags over when they plant them in my garden.   Find it a bigger pot outside or a field to plant it in (or guerilla plant it somewhere it has room to grow. )
  • I found a skinny oak sapling growing here when we moved in almost 40 years ago. It must have been an acorn someone dropped to see as there are no oaks in the immediate vicinity. I moved it to a more suitable site and it has grown into a beautiful tree that gives me great pleasure.
     If it were mine I would pot up the acorn for the first year just so it can acquire a little more stature and meanwhile you can decide on where you would like an oak tree to grow, remembering their ultimate size :)
  • AvondalePatrickAvondalePatrick Posts: 7
    edited November 2023
    Thanks for that. I had the plastic bag on following a guide after a google search. 
    I tend to just follow them to the letter. Its the baker in me. 
    I will leave the bag off and leave it in the pot for another year. 
  • Good luck with the oak, @AvondalePatrick
    I like to hear of the successes. Keep trying them. Take walks where acorns are dropping, and plant a few more. 

    If the plastic bag method has worked for you, repeat it. The world needs more tree-planters like you. The generations to come will thank you for your efforts.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    @AvondalePatrick, it’s never a good idea to follow Facebook advice without the addition of plenty of salt, common sense and realism. According to Facebook there are all sorts of remedies for repelling slugs - egg shells, coffee grounds, tin foil etc - and though all are useless they’re endlessly repeated. You’ll also learn much nonsense about dandelions and bees.
    Rutland, England
  • He said Google...why bring awful FB into it? 
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    D’oh! Brain fog.
    Rutland, England
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It's always better to research how anything of that kind grows and reproduces in nature @AvondalePatrick .
    As @pansyface and @fidgetbones have said - there's no acorns with plastic bags over them when they drop. You may not always get as many germinating when you actively plant them, but they'll be better, hardier specimens if they do. 
    It's why trees etc produce so much fruit. A lot of it lands in an unsuitable site, or gets eaten or rots, but the ones that 'take' will be good.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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