oak tree germination?

[Kellie_Bonnici]

In article <l0302090bb05081a7f699@[149.152.32.5]>, koning at ECSUC.CTSTATEU.EDU (Ross Koning) writes:
>At 5:39 PM -0400 9/24/97, binaryboy at intouch.bc.ca wrote:
>>what are the chances of me germinating an oak tree from an acorn from
>>an oak tree down the street? at what period during the acorn's
>>development would be best for planting? does it have to experience
>>cold before it will start to grow? how wet? fertilizers? ETC???
>>
>>thanx!
>>		aram <binaryboy at intouch.bc.ca>
>
>Aram,
>
>The chances are excellent.  First wait until the acorns are
>falling naturally.  Then select fallen acorns that you examine
>closely for small holes (where insects and others oviposit) to
>help avoid having parasitized acorns.  Then plant these about
>one-inch below the surface of some well-prepared soil.  I think
>the seeds will likely need a cold treatment if they come from
>trees in Canada (bc.ca means north temperate zone).  You will
>want to protect your planted acorns from squirrel damage.
>Place a few moth balls (paradichlorobenzene) on the soil over
>the acorns, and then lay a large square of hardware cloth
>(looks like very coarse screening) over the spot and hold it
>down with some rocks.
>
>When you start seeing signs of sprouting next spring, remove
>the hardware cloth but leave the moth balls there...maybe add
>some more.  After the seedlings have several leaves, the
>squirrels will probably leave them alone.
>
>ross
>

Why the mothballs? I don't know any technical details about them, but they are
somewhat widely regarded as toxic. Is it necessary to place them near acorns,
and if so, for what reason? I worked at a native tree nursery this summer where
we grew many trees from locally collected seed (incl. acorns) and mothballs
were never mentioned.

Always curious, 

Kellie

>_______________________________________________________________
>Ross Koning                 | koning at ecsu.ctstateu.edu
>Biology Department          | http://koning.ecsu.ctstateu.edu/
>Eastern CT State University | phone: 860-465-5327
>Willimantic, CT 06226 USA   | fax: 860-465-4479
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