When can I plant an oak seedling?

Diann in news:0SBTc.1102$Kf4.342 @nwrddc02.gnilink.net:

dry western oaks seem to grow best when seeded directly. yet the reveg people seem to plant presprouted (sleeves or whatever)

Yes. Plant the oak tree now. :)

should keep it in a container for about 2-3 years. Move it to a larger container in the spring, just as the leaf buds start to swell.

Since you live in an climate with rainy summers, you don't have to prune the taproot. Your native oaks are already adapted to summer watering. However, don't let the seedling become potbound with a taproot that winds around and around. Keep moving it up to larger containers.

You can set it into the ground when the trunk is about the thickness of your index finger. By then, it is no longer a seedling. It's a sapling.