Better Acorn Crop?

[Speedgoat]

How do you increase your acorn crop? What fertilizer do you use and when do you do it? Does it make them sweeter? I know that deer will target the best tasting crop, but how can I use that to my advantage and enhance the crop of a few select oaks?

[dbaio1]

we have been using triple 13 for a few years on a couple big white oaks.
took a post hole digger and dug down about 3' on the outside line of the canopy of the tree. Put holes about every 6 ft all the way around. use about 1/2 bag per tree. doing it about every 3 months, trying to skip the dry summer months. we still debate on the success of doing this. fertilizer or not all the white oak acorns get hit first and they are all gone within two weeks or so. some of us belive the trees we are treating are producing more mast. i wonder if its like food plots, makes them taste better but cant really tell cause they wipe them all out, treated or not.

try it out, i'm doing a few smaller trees right now that are not producing yet and they seem to be growing better.

good luck

[Speedgoat]

White oaks is what I am working with. The acorns are on the small side and I am assuming that they are bitter. Can you tell the health of the tree by the average size acorn that it produces?

[dangerous dan]

I know this is a Dumb Question, but How can you tell a white oak from a non-white oak

[Speedgoat]

From the bark. The bark is lighter in color than most Oak Trees and is more rough and uneven. Flaky some might say.

[glen]

leaves and bark is how you tell oak trees apart. If you have a water source year round then that with fertilizer will produce a better mast. The best you can do is just run grey water from a washing machine straight to an oak tree, run a line about 100 yards away from your camp or house to a oak tree and watch the deer crowd it in October.

[Swat791]

No need to dig holes since most all of the feeder roots are under 12" deep.
Look for a fertilizer that is designed for fruit or nut trees, like Miracle Grow or Jobe's Spikes.
Drive the fertilizer spikes into the ground and let it work.

[BigL]

No need to dig holes since most all of the feeder roots are under 12" deep.
Look for a fertilizer that is designed for fruit or nut trees, like Miracle Grow or Jobe's Spikes.
Drive the fertilizer spikes into the ground and let it work.

X2. I use the fertilizer spikes with good results when you get the normal rainfall. This year I didn't even try.

[Coup de Grace]

rain