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This bur oak acorn that I planted in the fall has started to sprout over the past few days and I'm wondering if it needs to be buried a little deeper in the soil. It hadn't grown at all in like two months, with just the dark green part sticking out of the acorn shell. As you can see from the pictures, it is going through a growth spurt.

Bur Oak sprout 1/26/2024 Bur Oak sprout 1/26/2024

Bur Oak sprout 1/29/2024 Bur Oak sprout 1/29/2024

I think that brown part coming out of the soil was covered up by the acorn shell until I repotted it about a week ago. I'm not sure if it is stem or root. I haven't found any good reference pictures so I thought I'd ask the good folks on stackexchange for some help. Thank you!

YoeyYutch
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I have fond memories of growing burr oaks from acorns and was trying bonsai techniques on them.

  • I don't see anything to worry about with the seedling
  • they need to overwinter outside and are not indoor plants
  • when overwintering don't make the mistake I made and assume that wildlife won't eat them
  • it was difficult to get the leaves to reduce in size. A six inch tall plant with leaves that are two or three inches long is not a good bonsai candidate
  • putting the stones on the surface of the soil will keep the soil moister. I recommend removing the stones. If you add a capillary wick now while plant is young you should be able to get moss to grow which is a lovely look and which my burr oaks tolerated

The brown part of the stem is where the acorn was attached and is not part of the root system. The roots begin below the soil line. At this stage it is growing a tap root with a few laterals. There is no need to repot yet, perhaps in the spring.

kevinskio
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