Question
I live in Austin, Texas. Have this very large tree in my back yard.  This year, starting around the first of August, lots of acorns, many many more from last year, seem smaller in size.  The tree is very healthy.  Does this have any meaning as to the conditions of upcoming fall/winter (colder, longer, etc).
Thanks
Wanda

Answer
Oaks produce acorns at varying populations. large crops usually occur every 3-5 years. This is dependant on moisture and the lack of late spring frosts that will kill the flowers of the oaks. For an oak tree to produce a substantial amount of acorns, a masting cycle, the tree must save up enough energy and resources. It typically takes three to four years for a tree to have a masting year. The acorns are produced once a year in the fall.

abundant seed crops are cyclical. Even trees that normally produce abundant acorn crops don抰 do so every year, and here is where it begins to get complicated. The cycle, or period between abundant crops of acorns varies dramatically from species to species. For example, black oak is reported to produce abundant acorns every 2-3 years, while chestnut oak produces a few every year, but in great abundance only every 4-5 years. White oak can take as long as 10 or as few as five years between good seed years. Red and scarlet oak are less reliable than black oak in that they may take as many as five years between abundant seed crops.

Weather in the spring can also play a role in acorn production. White and chestnut oaks produce acorns that ripen during the same growing season they are produced, and germinate in the fall soon after they drop. A warm week or so in the early spring when flowers form (about the same time that leaves appear), followed by cooler than normal temperatures when pollination takes place will almost guarantee an abundant seed crop regardless of the cycle on these species.

Species in the 揜ed Oak Group?(red, black and scarlet) on the other hand, require two growing seasons for the acorns to ripen and fall. Even then, the acorns overwinter under a light layer of leaf litter and germinate the following spring. So weather conditions two springs previously may also be a factor. Acorns that must wait until spring to germinate are more susceptible to predation by mice, squirrels, insects, birds, etc., and in poor seed years 90 to 100% of the acorn crop may be consumed by wildlife.


It does not signal anything except that it is a good year and there was not a late frost that killed the flowers.