Planting oaks, walnuts and chestnut by direct seeding mimics Mother Nature’s methods.

There are many advantages to direct seeding:
1. Root system develops naturally on site, with no transplant disturbance (“transplant shock”). Direct seeded nuts often outgrow transplanted seedlings!
2. Ability to collect & plant seed from local trees that you know are well adapted to your soil and climatic conditions. (Planting nuts gathered from a local “champion” tree doesn’t guarantee your new tree will have the same advantages – you know the characteristics of the mother tree but don’t know the source of the pollen or how the combined genes will manifest themselves – but it definitely gives you a better chance of producing a superior tree as compared to buying “bed run” seedlings.)
3. The fun & satisfaction of playing a role in the natural process of regeneration.

There’s just one small problem: Mother Nature produces literally thousands – perhaps millions – of nuts to successfully generate a single, mature tree. Nuts dry out, get eaten, or never germinate. Those that do germinate get browsed by deer & rabbits, swarmed under by grass and weeds, or succumb to moisture stress and drought.

So how do you turn the odds in your favor? That’s where Plantra comes in!
Plantra Treeshelters (a.k.a. Tree Tubes) shield planted nuts from animal damage, and create an ideal low-stress micro-climate for growth. It’s like giving every planted nut its own personal greenhouse of protection!

Plantra Weed Mats block the weeds & grass that compete with your planted nuts for water, light & nutrients, so your new trees get everything they need to become the forest of tomorrow.

How to grow trees by seed:

General-

1. Woody plant seed manual- USDA Forest Service
2. Growing Wisconsin trees from seed (pdf)
   
3. Growing trees and shrubs from seed (pdf)
4. Germination of tree seed
   
5. Seed stratification
6. Overcoming seed dormancy: trees and shrubs
   
7. Seed propagation of woody ornamentals
   

Species specific-

1. Guide to Planting Acorns, by Larry Severeid (pdf)
2. Growing your own oak seedlings (pdf)
   
3. Grow oaks from acorns
4. Growing oak trees from seed (pdf)
   
5. Pecan seed germination
   

Photos of seeds being grown with Plantra's products

American chestnut establishment from direct seeding by Aryln Perkey
California natural oak regeneration by Plantra team