How to Plant Oak Acorn Seeds for Trees

Planting oak acorns in pots will yield healthy young seedlings.

Oak trees can live for approximately 200 years, producing acorns once a year during the fall season. The acorns are the seeds of the oak tree and provide a healthy and necessary source of food for wildlife living in the area. Those acorns not consumed either rot away or eventually germinate into young oak seedlings. Planting oak acorns in pots will yield you healthy young seedlings that can be transplanted outdoors in the early spring.

Things You'll Need

• Mature acorns
• Plastic baggie
• Damp peat moss
• Refrigerator
• 12-inch pots
• Organic potting soil
• Water
• Fertilizer
• Plant heating pad
• Grow light

Instructions

1. Collect acorns for planting as soon as they begin to fall from the oak trees, which is when they are most viable. Most acorns reach maturity and begin falling from oak trees between late September and early November.

2. Fill a plastic baggie with damp peat moss. Drop the acorns that you collected into the baggie. Seal the baggie and store it in your refrigerator for approximately 60 days. This chilling process, known as stratification, will prepare the acorns for spring planting.

3. Fill 12-inch pots with organic potting soil. Remove the baggie from the refrigerator after the 60-day waiting period. Plant three to four acorns in the center of each pot, at a 3-inch depth. Pat the soil to remove air pockets. Germinate the acorns in a warm area that has a constant temperature of 65 degrees F or above and at least six to eight hours of bright indirect sunlight.

4. Water the soil in the pots at least once per week, keeping the soil moist at all times. Germination should take place within two to four weeks. Remove the weakest seedlings approximately one week after germination. Leave the healthiest oak seedling growing in the pot.

5. Continue providing the oak tree seedlings with moist soil and bright indirect light, as they grow. Feed the seedlings a diet of water-soluble fertilizer, per label instructions. Transplant the seedlings outdoors in the early spring, after the winter thaw.

Tips & Warnings

• When determining a planting location for your oak tree seedlings, choose an area with full sun and well-drained soil. Dig holes for the oak seedlings twice the width of the root balls and equal to the root ball's height. Space the holes at least 10 to 12 feet apart.

• Plant the oak tree seedlings in a location that is at least 10 to 12 feet away from building structures, sidewalks and driveways.

• If you do not have a warm area with bright indirect sunlight, set the pots on a plant heating pad, set to the appropriate temperature. A grow light will provide the required amount of light.

• Do not overwater the soil during germination. Standing water can cause the acorns to rot before they get the chance to germinate.

References

• Mississippi State University Extension Service: Growing your Own Oak Seedlings
• North Carolina State University: Growing Oak Trees from Acorns

Resources

• Oaks of the Wild West: How to Plant a Young Oak Tree