Our Step By Step Germination Guide How To Grow An Acorn from an Oak Tree - Acorn Vase by Ilex Studio

1. Choose a batch of acorns that are healthy looking. Avoid acorns that are cracked, wrinkled, mouldy or with holes. For best results, we recommend sprouting several at once. Remember that we are dealing with nature and not all acorns germinate.

2. Soak the acorns in water for 48 hours. Discard any that float as they will not mature.

3. After soaking, wrap the acorns carefully in a damp paper towel and fold with the acorns tucked inside. Place the folded towel into a ziplock bag. At this point, you are encouraging the acorn to sprout, through a frequently practised method in horticulture called stratification. Stratification is trick- ing an organism into thinking it has just spent a cold wet winter outside in the ground.

4. If using a North American variety place the ziplock bag inside a refrigerator for germination. Be patient as the germination can take up time - anywhere from 2 days to 8 weeks. For British varieties keep ziplock bag out and keep it at room temperature. The correct level of temperature and humidity needs to be reached for the acorn to begin to grow.

5. Inspect the ziplock bag every few days to monitor the moisture level and the progress of the acorn. It is important that the towel remains wet. Once the taproot appears, it has germinated. Wait for the root to grow at least 1.5 cm before inserting on the open chamber of the Acorn Vase with root submerged in water.

[junkytboy]

But what do you do when you are ready to plant it?

[laurenmar]

Should my germinating acorns smell kind of bad?

[martell]

When you wrapped the acorns in the wet paper towel, then put that in a paper bag, and then waited the 8 weeks, did you store them in the refrigerator?

[nicodemusd]

Hi,
I love my acorn vase and my first little oak is going strong. However I’ve lost the instruction booklet and I’m not sure how long the sapling can stay in the case before it needs planting? Also, is there a trick to remove the plant as I can imagine the root system getting too large to fit out of the top of the vase. Thanks.

[cameronp]

Wish I knew how to deal with an accorn that smaller than the hole