Quercus garryana, advice please

[Darold Petty]

Last week near Eugene, Oregon I picked up several acorns from a very fine tree on my relative's property.  These were already germinating in the mulch of wet leaves and lichen.  Internet advice about pot size is mixed and conflicting.  Some say a very deep pot is necessary to avoid damage to the "tap root", and others say this is not an important detail for pot grown plants. 

I would like to grow these acorns up to about 24-36 inches tall before returning them for ground planting around the source tree.   What pot size, and what diameter-depth ratio would be best ?

Here are the sizes of my existing pot inventory,   I generally do not like the very tall pots favored by others for palm seedlings.

3x3x5.5 inches    4x4x6 inches    6x7 inches    7x7x13 inches    8.5x15 inches

Please offer your advice about the schedule of pots that I should use, or suggest a different pot regimen, thanks !    

[Silas_Sancona]

2 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

Last week near Eugene, Oregon I picked up several acorns from a very fine tree on my relative's property.  These were already germinating in the mulch of wet leaves and lichen.  Internet advice about pot size is mixed and conflicting.  Some say a very deep pot is necessary to avoid damage to the "tap root", and others say this is not an important detail for pot grown plants. 

I would like to grow these acorns up to about 24-36 inches tall before returning them for ground planting around the source tree.   What pot size, and what diameter-depth ratio would be best ?

Here are the sizes of my existing pot inventory,   I generally do not like the very tall pots favored by others for palm seedlings.

3x3x5.5 inches    4x4x6 inches    6x7 inches    7x7x13 inches    8.5x15 inches

Please offer your advice about the schedule of pots that I should use, or suggest a different pot regimen, thanks !    

Person i know who germinates and sells Oak saplings uses 10" deep Tree Pots ( think they were 4-5" wide.. ), or Deep Pots that are 2.5" wide X 10" Deep ...and 14" 's  ( 14" inches seems a bit big / too deep to me though ) Either way, will provide the space needed for the Taproot, and allow the sapling to reach adequate size before transplanting out / stepping into bigger pots.

Tried 5" ( tall ) Anderson bands i have when germinating out some Bur Oak  but the pots weren't deep enough. Seedlings stalled and declined pretty quickly

( our heat doesn't help of course, lol )

 

[Darold Petty]

Nathan, thanks.  I will endeavor to obtain the taller profile pots.  

[Silas_Sancona]

39 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

Nathan, thanks.  I will endeavor to obtain the taller profile pots.  

No problem..

If it helps, this is what i recently picked up from Stewie to get more stuff going this year ..and take up less space.



Taller Deepot " Cell is their " D40L   ..2.7" w X  10" Deep ..That should be perfect for the Oak saplings.. let alone other " tap rooty" stuff

Shorter D-Pots are  D27L " Milkweed " cells "  ..2.7"w  X  7" Deep ..For perennial stuff / Milkweed, etc that doesn't need quite the depth of the 10" 'ers.

Think the smallest quantity they're offering is 40 per pack, vs individually ( ..Used to be listed per individual on the site awhile back. They might still sell quantities less than 40 per pk. if you call ) I myself ordered 2 packs of each, though i likely won't use them all, for now anyway.. lol.

Picked up a case of their  D20T trays for the cells also.. Fit like 20 cells per tray.  Even if you don't use all the space for the Oak(s), they're obviously nice to have for saving space, and keeping the cells confined / from flopping around all over the place ..One reason i went w/ these over Treepots.

Though about ( and likely will pick up ) some of the sturdier / hard plastic cells, but these seem pretty good for now.  As i'm sure you know, sturdier cells are pricey little things, lol.

[Turtlesteve]

Yes oaks will often struggle and die if they don’t get a good taproot down.  Best results I’ve had were by using 12” deep pots and planting them in fall/winter after the first full growing season.  I am trying to plant them as dinky 6-8” seedlings, but when the tap root is 18” and still flexible enough to orient vertically when planting.
 

[Darold Petty]

Thanks to my local friends;   I have sown the acorns and have additional pots up to 4x4x14 inches.  (The pots shown are 2.5x10 inches)

 How long can I grow these oaks in the 14 inch pots before negatively affecting the root development ?  Thanks !