Growing Acorns for Food

article image
Photo by Fotolia/THEPIWKO
Once a tree is established, growing acorns is easy. You'll hardly have to do anything more than harvest them.

Let’s suppose you’ve been foraging acorns for a season or two and are so fond of them you want a food tree in your own yard. By growing acorns yourself, you’ll be able to cultivate varieties that are well suited to your soil and climate and that may be difficult to purchase. 

The first step in planting an oak tree is to select large, well-formed, healthy acorns from your favorite parent tree. Experience in gathering the nuts for eating will help you in this respect, as you’ll be able to recognize a suitable seed simply by its sheen, color, and feel. Discard any acorns that sport worm holes or are discolored, and remove the caps from good nuts soon after you harvest them. 

Acorn Storage

Fall is the preferred time for planting acorns, as many cold-climate oaks require a stratification period; that is, the nuts must remain at temperatures just above freezing for at least six weeks — and perhaps as long as 20 weeks — in order for the nuts to germinate. However, if you intend to store the seeds for planting at a later date, you can stratify them yourself: Set the kernels in a moist planting medium such as sand, peat moss, vermiculite, or sawdust and place them in cold storage. The acorns of the white oaks are generally viable for a month or two after ripening, while those of the black oaks are viable for six months or more. Drying the acorns to 60% of their initial fresh weight and then keeping them in cold storage (35-40°F) can lengthen the viability of white oak acorns to about eight months, and similar treatment might further extend the viability of black oak acorns, as well. 

Planting Acorns

  • Published on Sep 1, 1984
Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368