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Collection

Nuts usually fall in autumn—around October in most temperate states. Only collect nuts that have ripened enough to fall to the ground; do not pick them from the tree. Most nuts, particularly acorns, are best when they’ve just dropped to the ground. If they’re ripe enough, the caps are usually missing or easily removed. Larger nuts tend to yield larger seedlings. Use buckets or bags made out of materials that allow air flow—burlap, mesh, and paper work well. Plastic bags promote rotting. Label the nuts by species type and collection location. Separate nuts of different species into different bags. This will help later in deciding where to plant the nuts or how to raise them. If you are uncertain about the exact species of the tree, collect one leaf and stem to include with the nuts for identification. Otherwise, keep sticks, leaves, and other debris out of the collection bags. Don’t bother collecting nuts with obvious problems. A hole in a nut usually indicates that some insect has already eaten the seed and bored its way out. Other indicators of a bad nut include darkened color, dried up appearance, or noticeably light weight.