Swamp White Oak - had 2 acorns sprout??

[ChrisWNY]

Two years ago, I planted 3 Swamp White Oaks in my backyard, purchased in 20 gallon containers from a local nursery, about 40' apart. Last Fall, they all produced acorns. These trees aren't very old, they are each about 12-14' tall, trunks are ~3" in girth. So, I decided to plant a few acorns after doing the "water test" (as I read online), since they didn't float in a bowl of water, I assumed perhaps they were actually fertile and capable of producing a sprout. March and April rolled around, nothing, no sign of a sprout. I figured they were just immature/infertile acorns. A couple of weeks ago, lo and behold, 2 out of 4 I planted in a garden bed had sprouted!

From what I've read, Oaks aren't supposed to produce acorns for 20+ years. There's NO way my Swamp White Oaks are 20 years old, I would estimate 5-7 years old at most. Is this some freak of nature going on here? Both of the new Swamp White Oak seedlings are doing great, they are about 4" tall now with 6 or 7 leaves each. I spray them occasionally with Liquid Fence to keep the deer/rabbits away, I will install real fencing around them in the next couple of weeks to ensure they remain protected long enough to get a good start.

 

[ChrisWNY]

Any comments on this? First I thought I only had 2 out of 4 sprout, now ALL 4 have sprouted over the past couple of weeks. One day there's no seedling, then a day or two later, 5-6" seedlings with 4 or 5 medium sized Swamp White Oak leaves show up. The weather has been very hot as well, high humidity with temps near 90F every day the past week or so. Very perplexing...

:jawdrop:

 

[S Mc]

Chris, I completely missed your original post on this. Whereas I don't speicifically know the situation with Swamp white oak, Quercus bicolor, what I have read on Bur oak, Q. macrocarpa, is that the "species" doesn't produce acorns for over 30 years. However, HYBRIDS can produce acorns at a very young age. We have seen them on trees in the nursery that are in the size range of yours.

Remembering though, that a "young" nursery tree may still be several years old. Your 14' trees could easily be 15. We have Swamp white oaks growing in our "nursery" that are 12" tall and 3 years old.

Sylvia

 

[ChrisWNY]

Interesting, so they could already be 15 years old? Never considered that. Then again, nurseries sell large Blue Spruce trees that are probably 10-15 yrs old, so it makes sense the same would apply to a deciduous trees. I've read however that Quercus bicolor has a fairly moderate to fast growth rate for an Oak, especially in its native territory. The past couple of years, for example, my Swamp White Oaks have doubled in crown size, putting on at least 12-18" of new growth per year.

What is the best way to determine the age of a *live* Oak (we know counting the rings works for a dead one)? The only bit of info I found is to measure the circumference of the trunk 1.5m high off the ground. Measure it in cm and then divide by 2.5 to get years. That doesn't make sense to me though, because knowing the trunk is only about 3" around (7.65cm) 3-4' off the ground, that means the tree is less than 2 years old, which we know is way off.

 

[ChrisWNY]

Update: Called the nursery where the trees were purchased 2 years ago. They stated that it's common for Swamp Whites to start sprouting acorns by the time they are 4-5 years old, especially when they grow in landscape situations where they have access to more fertilizer and sufficient amounts of water. They also said that the Swamp Whites I purchased were probably about 3 years old at the time of purchase, they average 12-15' tall by 5 years, so I'm guessing my trees are right at the 5 year mark. I guess Swamp Whites are ideal Oak trees if you want to have your own source for growing new Oaks after just a few years.

 

[computeruser]

Interesting topic. Learn something new every day!

Our SWO came at .75" caliper, 10' tall, and appeared to be about 5 years old based on my read of the pruning cuts that kept its size and shape in check prior to purchase. By contrast, I have a couple white and red oaks that are 12-18" tall growing in my flowerbeds (amazingly in places where they would be great as mature trees), and they are 5 years old. I tried to transplant a couple of the white oaks, and their taproot was 2x the diameter of the above ground growth, even at 2' down!

 

[S Mc]

Wow, very interesting.

We bought 2 year old liners from a wholesale nursery. These were pencil size diameter and 12" tall. This will be their second season in our "nursery" where they are planted until large enough to be replanted out in the landscape. They are now MAYBE 18" tall.

Your specimen, Chris, would then be averaging close to 3 ft a year if it is only 5 years old.

I will say we are not pumping the fertilizer to these young trees as a nursery would, rather letting them develop in their own time.

Sylvia

 

[tar]

If the swamp white oaks seedlings are like the Burr oaks I planted they need shade the first year or two. Had good luck with a wire tomato support wrapped 20 inches or so high with porous plastic cloth sold to shade a porch but let rain through. When tree was taller than that the leaves don't seem to sun burn. At least down here in Arkansas heat / latitude 35.