I have 8 Red Oak seedlings growing in my basement. I read that it is possible to grow Red Oak seedlings rapidly indoors in a small container to a height over 1m. Supposedly, transplanting is easy and predation by squirrels and deer is reduced once the trees have some wood fiber and height. 6 of 8 seedlings have shriveling leaves on part of the leaf surface, and some with brown tips (see attached picture). They are 3 to 4 weeks old, and are growing in 1L milk cartons. I check soil moisture daily with a probe. I do see some fruit flies (little black flies) hanging around. I used a bag of potting soil. The two Sylvania grow lamps are about 1m above the seedlings. I have no experience with growing seedlings under grow lamps. I would like advice on lighting, soil moisture, removal of sick leaves, fertilizer, and whatever else is appropriate. Please help!
One thing is for sure, if you don't plant them outside (after the last frost has passed) they won't last very long at all. They need to live outside for many reasons, not the least of which is gradual acclimation to below freezing temps for dormancy in winter, and the reverse in spring (along with natural humidity, lots of fresh air that helps to keep bugs off, and natural lighting). Continue to take care of them for now with the lights 6 inches above them for 14 hours a day, don't water until the top of the soil (at least) is dry, and be sure they have good drainage.
Thank you for the reply. My intention is to plant them in a semi-clearing in the forest. I was hoping they would grow up quickly in height and be at 1.5m in May or June and then put them outside. I would like to avoid using any plastic protection for the seedlings when planted. I sprayed the seedlings four days ago with an anti-fungal/insecticide (I did not know what to do), and lowered the two lamps from .9m above the highest leaf to about .6m (someone told me that at 0.9m, I was not burning the leaves, so I lowered the lamps a little). While the leaves that became deformed or got brown tips remain in their changed state, the seedlings seem to be doing better. I also made drainage holes (no water came out) so that I do not have to be always measuring the soil moisture. I will lower the lights again to 0.2m as you suggest and see if they still do fine, or better. I will also add a little 20-20-20 fertilizer to my water and see if this perks them up.
So far as I know all Oaks are tap rooted trees. Which means if they haven't already suffered encircled roots they will soon and will eventually girdle. They need to be in tree tubes which are deep and may provide an air pruned root system. Even in tree tube they won't reach a meter in height without having root damage. The insects are probably Fungus Gnats or Shore Flies. They can be controlled with insecticides or BTI. They may also ruin the roots on your Oaks. HTH Chris
