Oak seedlings

Effects

I've got a number of oak seedlings that have germinated outside in pots but also some that I was keeping in the fridge.
I'm planning to pot the ones that are in the fridge.
Do I need to worry about the outdoors temperature right now, and further into the winter?
Should I take them inside every night?

macraignil

Effects wrote: »

I've got a number of oak seedlings that have germinated outside in pots but also some that I was keeping in the fridge.
I'm planning to pot the ones that are in the fridge.
Do I need to worry about the outdoors temperature right now, and further into the winter?
Should I take them inside every night?

Oak grow in my own garden without any interference and naturally the seedlings drop their leaves around now and go dormant for the winter. If your seedlings have been outside for a while then I would leave them there to harden off and go dormant for the winter naturally. If you have had them indoors and they are very small then you can keep trees protected for their first winter but never heard of this being necessary with oak which would naturally be adapted to our climate.

Effects

When I say seedlings, they are tiny and are a long way from having leaves. They were planted/germinated this autumn. I've none indoors except for the ones that are germinating in the fridge. I figured it's time to pot them. As they were used to fridge temp I was going to put them outside once potted.
I was worried that the frost might affect them at night though, at various stages.

gozunda

If the acorns have germinated and are at the cotyledon stage time to get them out of the fridge which I presume is dark. Pot them up and move them to a cool, light but sheltered area perhaps in something like a cold frame or similar.

looksee

I'm not sure how they are seedlings but a long way from having leaves? Anyway they are oak, they grow themselves outdoors, no need to coddle them. The only way they might be vulnerable is if they are in small pots which are exposed so they could freeze through. If they are planted out you could put a bit of a straw or similar 'collar' just to give them a small bit of protection, but think wild environment, they should be fine.

Edit, oh right what Gozunda said! (I wasn't thinking in terms of barely germinated acorns!)

macraignil

Effects wrote: »

When I say seedlings, they are tiny and are a long way from having leaves. They were planted/germinated this autumn. I've none indoors except for the ones that are germinating in the fridge. I figured it's time to pot them. As they were used to fridge temp I was going to put them outside once potted.
I was worried that the frost might affect them at night though, at various stages.

As Looksee was saying unless you put them in really small pots that could freeze right through they should be fine out doors in my opinion. I'm not saying the frost wont effect them in some way but they should be able to recover from any light frost damage and start to grow properly again in the Spring.



Just went to check on a few of the seedling oaks in the garden and the ones in the ground have lost their leaves while one I moved into a pot that is in a more sheltered out door spot still has a couple of green leaves having dropped most of them for winter as well.