$1 of solo cups, a few buck in thrift pots, $10 of soil, & a bag full of acorns gathered from a friends house. The result: 43 oak saplings. Some are further along, but all have put on roots. It took them about a year to get to this point, but they are taking off now. I want people to know how easy it truly is to grow trees of your own.
When gathering, make sure there are no cracks or small holes, as these will most likely have maggots inside & it won't grow. Just make a few small slits in the bottom ridge of the cups (water should be able to freely drizzle through), put them where they will get atleast 8 hours of sun, water every 7-10 days. Prep? No. Just shove the acorn pointed side down into the dirt & cover with 1/2 - 1" of soil above. Honestly unless the night temps are going to dip into the low 30s or less, you don't have to coddle oaks. Leave them out to weather & grow stronger.
These babies are going to stay in the cups until they reach 9-10" tall. They will then be transferred to 1' pots. I'm going to keep them for as many years as it takes to get to an actual house. Once they reach about 4', I will ground plant them. Anyone else could do this & sell them at farmers markets.
