Planting Osage in western Kentucky

[Jim Davis]

I have gathered some hedge apples and will separate out the seeds soon. I plan to start them in peat pellets. When would be the best time to get them  sprouted for the best time to transplant?

[Pat B]

Jim, an easy way to get them started is to put them in a plastic bucket with water and basically let the fruit rot. You will end up with a slurry with the seeds separated that you can pour in a shallow trench and cover it up. In the spring the seeds will sprout. Let them grow for the season like that then transplant them next fall after the leaves fall off or the following spring. Planting in the fall is a good time because even when the plant goes dormant for the winter the roots will continue to grow through the winter giving you a stronger seedling.

[Eric Krewson]

I planted a slurry like Pat said but transplanted the seedlings into gallon pots when they were a couple inches tall. I let the seedlings grow for a year in the pots and weeded out any that were obviously bent or twisted. I ended up selling my entire flock to a guy who wanted to start some on his place.

One thing about osage is the taproot will grow out the bottom of the pot and take root if you are not watchful. Breaking the root off harms the plant.

Another thing; We used to order bare root osage seedlings from the Missouri forestry dept. Dirt cheap for well established 2' plants. They say the are just for Missouri residents but they did ship anywhere back in the day, maybe they still do.

https://mdc6.mdc.mo.gov/Applications/TreeSeedling/Home/ProductDetails/52?

[BowEd]

It's funny in time osage can propogate on it's own pretty easily.At least around here it does.

[PatM]

Interesting read:

https://www.americanforests.org/magazine/article/trees-that-miss-the-mammoths/

[Bayou Ben]

That was an interesting read Pat.

I've been meaning to plant some osage myself.  Thanks for posting that link Eric.  I was going to order some but saw that they don't ship until the end of February, I guess when they get new sprouts.  I'll set a reminder for myself.  Seems like a good price for seedlings.
 

[Eric Krewson]

They do ship out of state;

Prices range from $0.22 to $0.90 per seedling. This is slightly
more per seedling than last year. Historically, we adjusted
seedling prices every four years, but it’s been five years
since the price of seedlings has changed. The increase will
help the nursery offset rising operation costs. See pricing
chart below. Sales tax of 6.100 percent will be added to all
orders unless you provide a tax-exemption certificate. An
$8 handling charge is added to each order, no matter the
number of seedlings. Out-of-state shipping is $10 per 100
seedlings with a $10 minimum.

[Eric Krewson]

The article said nothing eats osage fruit which is generally the case but I have see browsing later in the winter after the fruit had rotted, something was eating about half of each fruit.

[Bayou Ben]

I ended up ordering 25 of them.  I didn’t want to forget.

This was an interesting read.   Seemed the bucks would eat one or 2. 
http://dfwurbanwildlife.com/2014/02/19/chris-jacksons-dfw-urban-wildlife/white-tailed-deer-osage-orange-eaters/

Sorry if we are getting off topic Jim

[bentstick54]

Just as a side note, I have watched many a cow eat “hedge apples” while I was sitting in one of my treestands.

[BowEd]

The deer eat em too.I've seen them.Otherwise the frequency of volunteer trees showing up all over the place in buffer strips and pastures would'nt happen.

[HorseApples]

We don't have ton of these in central TX but I found one on a hike the other day with lots of fruit on the ground.
Now I am going to do the same.
Any different instructions for our warmer climate?

Also, is Osage considered a fast grower?

[PatM]

Just as a side note, I have watched many a cow eat “hedge apples” while I was sitting in one of my treestands.

 That falls into the  category mentioned in the article.

 It does  exaggerate by saying nothing eats it but surely  there is less consumption than there was back in the days of Mammoths and Ground Sloths  etc.

[osage outlaw]

Deer and squirrels eat osage fruit.  I see it all the time.  The deer wait until the fruit decays and becomes soft.  The squirrels will set and tear one apart to get to either the core or the seeds.  I'm not sure what part they eat once they get inside of it. 

Besides the misinformation about nothing eating osage fruit it was an interesting read.  Just a few days ago me and my Dad were looking at a honey locust and noticed the thorns are only on the bottom half of the tree.  That article explains that.

[PatM]

  It would be interesting to see which part they eat and whether they crush the majority of the seeds and render them inviable when eating them.   That seems likely for squirrels at least.

 Less effective dispersers might have fit the article better.