Since there are several native diseases that may affect seedlings, the best approach is to wait at least 1 year following germination before outplanting. Symptoms to look for during this holding time include wilting and leaf spots.
If acorns came from an area with SOD, the situation is a bit more complex. At this point, we have no evidence that SOD may be present as a pathogen in oak acorns or that it may affect oak seedlings; however, “carry over” of spores that are not infecting the seedling may occur if acorns have been collected in very rainy years. While this is likely low risk, if you picked acorns in an area with high or moderate risk of SOD (use the free SODmap mobile app to determine) in a very rainy year, you could be extra cautious and treat acorns with a diluted bleach solution before germinating them.
