Where are you located? In most places in the Northern hemisphere these deciduous trees will only just be coming into leaf. You should not be expecting them to be growing vigorously. If these have somehow been kept in leaf all winter, ie indoors, it's not surprising they look scruffy. They are potentially large trees and they will not be able to stay in those pots long. Do you have somewhere to plant them in the ground?

I am in NSW, Australia. Yeaa I am going to plan it in my backyard, it's just I have to demolish my old shed before it's ready for the oaks. Meanwhile the oaks stay in pot until it's ready. I saw young oak trees in nursery they grow taller with more leaves and seem doing fine, I wonder why mine stuck like this and no sign of growing. the oaks are about 70cm and 30cm tall.

What they are potted up in might have something to do with it. Garden soil and compost are not recommended ingredients for growing a plant in a container, even short term. The soil particles are too small, adversely impacting good drainage and aeration; and compost is excessively water retentive. Combined with the limited drainage afforded by growing in a container and the negative effects of the garden soil and compost, it is not surprising the trees are struggling.

Poor or slow drainage, lack of proper aeration and potentially overwet soils inhibit healthy root development and that can lead to reduced growth and stunting. In severe cases, it can generate root rots which lead to plant death.

Repot with a high quality bespoke container potting soil mix that is of adequate durability and sufficiently large particle size and you should see marked improvement.

Ahhh... I see, this could be the problem why no growth at all. Thanks to your remarkable advice, I am totally blank with all of this information. I will repotting and change to potting mix soil and hopefully can save these young oaks from dying.

thanks again!!!

trees have a spring growth.. and then are rather static for the rest of the year..

exactly what fall growth are you expecting???

the fact that they did not lose the leaves completely on repotting means you did a pretty good job..

most potted trees like a sip of water.. and then near drying before the next water ... total drainage is imperative.. and that usually means a media with large chunks.. with lots of air pockets ... the easiest way to kill a potted tree is keeping it wet ... and because you are messing with near drying.. the black pot should never be in sun ....

frankly.. IMO .. your best option would be to plant the tree in mother earth... and move it when the shed is gone.. trees are rather easy in mother earth.. and you are simply complicating its and your lives by messing around with potting...

just plant it ..

ken

ps: and whats the delay on getting rid of the shed???

They look fine to me.

If they were repotted when the green leaves were present, it's remarkable that the leaves didn't shed, from the transplant shock experienced when trees are not dormant at the time of disturbance.

Transplanting while in active growth is not necessarily a reason for shedding leaves, especially in a species as marcescent as oaks. It is more the case of improper or inadequate aftercare. Transplant shock is avoidable!

If a routine shedding were the case, all my trees that get planted or transplanted (not much difference between the two) during the primary growing season would be naked!! Clients would be highly irritated!!

I have both marcescent and non-marcescent oaks but I agree about aftercare being more important than anything.

Still, you can't expect explosive growth, aftercare or not. :-)

The delay on getting rid of the shed is I have more important things to get fix around the house (plumbing, weatherboards, gutter, etc). Need to spend a lot of $$$ and demolish 1.5x2m shed is on the line as well.

While i am trying my best to save the oaks, I 've just checked the roots. The oak with brown leaves on the edge: I think it might be root rot, the root doesn't smell fresh, more like damp mouldy place or foul? I can see the root colour is a bit darker and it's very loose, usually the roots will hold the soil in a pot.

The other younger oak: roots look good, it does smell fresh and in white colour.

But i've changed the soil to potting mix, it's totally different with garden soil. I can see when I water the plant, it goes down very quickly.

Not even a single leaf shed from the oaks, I know how the oak leaves change color to red, but this is different.

thank you so much for all your recommendations! really appreciate it.

Hopefully I can see some progress in the future and will transplant it to mother earth as soon as the shed gone!

Cheers

Close up oak

This when the plants just arrived and very healthy.

I hope you have a large backyard. I don't know how big oaks get in Australia, but here in the US they get huge. Before planting, you need to to check what their mature size will be..

An axiom I heard and learned is to plant potted trees right away (check/correct for circling roots when removed and before planting). They usually deteriorate in pots.

" They usually deteriorate in pots. "

I'm not sure that's particularly true. I grow an entire collection of trees in containers and have done for some time. The oldest is approaching 25 years.

I think how valid that comment may be depends on the tree in question and how well it/they are cared for in the container. Any deterioration would be due to neglect or inattention on the part of the grower.

One thing to be aware of with potting soil is it typically contains a lot of peat moss. When it dries out, it forms a brick and is hard to get it to take water. it's mainly used for growing things that require daily watering, so drying out isn't much of an issue. But with a tree, it might be. Some have wetting agents added to help prevent this. I'm in the US. Maybe in Australia potting soil is different. When this happens, what I do it stick the entire pot in a bucket of water. In a minute or two, it will re-wet.