Why are acorns falling?

I'm driving around our neighborhood, and the streets are covered in acorns already. I thought they usually drop much later in the season. Am I missing something?

According to obscure church the world is ending on Saturday.

Live Oaks are dropping. But ones at the property are not dropping ye(white oak)

pin oaks are dropping a few here... they arnt quite ready though..

I have a Live Oak. They're starting to drop already.
I really think the hurricane (followed by the light cool front) made them drop early.

Ok. I'm not sure which oak trees we have, but it's not that big of an oak tree, just standard neighborhood landscape trees. I never paid attention to the various oaks. I just remember them dropping when it's much cooler out. And the big oaks at the deer lease drop late Oct to early Nov.

Acorns fall when they have matured. They mature based on when the pollenate. If they pollenate in May, they will fall in September, June will be October. Of course, that is just a start. They will continue to fall for quite some time.

Acorns dropping and deer and hogs feeding on them. We still have a lot of acorns on the tree's yet. Mesquite tree's are beginning to shed their leaves already. Is it early for the mesquites to be losing leaves?

I think it's because it is drying up (at least in our area). Trees start shedding acorns/pecans/whatever early when it dries up.

Been falling here in Bell county for atlas a month same at my buddies place in Erath

Our live oak acorns have started to drop, they are to green for the critters. I think it had something to do with the hurricane and 40° plus drop in temperature that followed.

We have some acorns falling, but not too many. The deer have started eating them at oaks around the yard. I need to look at which trees are dropping acorns. The deer prefer the sweeter acorns of the White Oak family, but they'll eat them all.

Almost all the oaks in the area I hunt have rooting under them from hogs. I hope the hogs eat all the dang acorns so the deer will eat the corn

They are right on time here in North Texas

two+ years of trees getting good rain throughout the year - allowed them to store up some energy and complete acorn production early (versus all the summers of drought before, where they have to struggle the whole summer AND fall to produce).

This. It's as dry as the fart of the buffalo.

Some are dropping around Longview. The Spider Lilies have already bloomed and dried up which usually is several weeks later than now.
Like others said the cool weather may have something to do with it.

The Post Oaks at my place started dropping two weeks ago. First noticed deer quit coming to feeders, and my goats quit eating grass. Like someone said, no rain here for over a month after wet spring and summer. Shedding immature acorns and some leaves.

Chad, I'm a forester. Spring came about a month to a month and a half early this year. So the growing season is a month to a month and a half advanced ahead of a normal year

Our live oaks are dropping already. Luckily they have no where near as many on them as they did last year. Didn't see any post oaks dropping yet. I know the deer prefer those.

Started dropping just a few days ago here in Boerne area.

Normally they drop around the second week of october

Chris, oaks in the red oak family, which include live oak, develop acorns in two seasons. Oaks in the white oak family take one season. The first buds to break dormancy on hardwoods are the flowers. In general in a year like this the red oaks are a little ahead of the white oaks.

Good info Smokey.
We had acorns dropping three weeks ago in Mason County.

No Hurricane here and my street and driveway are covered.

My sprinkler system is keeping mine watered ......unless it is the air.

^^^^^^ I'm not a dendrologist , but I think you got that backwards (easy to do).

Pretty sure it is the Red Oak family that takes two seasons to produce acorns. Not that it matters with respect to when acorns begin to drop (which is always after they matured). 'Pollination' is the key.

I am in east Texas and they have been dropping for well over a month now. White oaks are even dropping in the river bottom.

live oaks have been dropping for a few weeks now here in Blanco County. bumper crop too so I don't think it's because it's dry. early spring/fall sounds about right.

Pecans are starting to drop as well which can mean only one thing. it's Pecan pie season!

walking my dog in town houston today and noticed acorns falling for the first time. both from white oaks and live oaks. i walk him every day and today was first ive seen so its the very beginning here.

Gravity.

Yes sir you are correct. I was typing fast and mis spoke. I will edit my post to show such

Most often when there is a bumper crop of acorns it will be either the red oaks or the white oaks. Very seldom do you see a bumper crop in successive years from the same species of oaks or both species the same year. Alot of a trees stored nitrogen supply is somewhat depleted in a heavy mast producing year and it will usually have lower production the following year while it rebuilds it. Also much like fruit trees, the oaks that produce early are genetically predisposed to do so, and a bow hunter can bank on them in a normal year, before the rest of the acorns start falling in abundance.

Everyone, thanks for all the insight into the subject! I was just curious about it. I think Sneaky might have the most philosophical (and correct) answer!



True dat! LOL! I like it!

Global warming, Trump's fault

I couldn't help myself.

The ground is covered in them and leaves turning, but our trees got stressed from flood.

When oaks are stressed they'll shed part of their crop to ensure that yhey produce viable seed. If the acorns are green, it's shedding from stress. there will be another drop of mature acorns later.