Author Topic: Planting Pine Seedlings (Read 1134 times)

Magicman · « **on:** January 07, 2012, 10:02:48 pm »

I have a few more spots that I want to plant Pines, so I ordered a box of 330 containerized trees. Instead of being bare rooted, they have a little root ball. We got about ½ of them set today.

Luke is handling the seedlings while Marty is on the dibble bar.

I found that I could poke a nice hole with the peavey and then pinch it together with a sharp shooter.

WDH · « **Reply #1 on:** January 07, 2012, 11:51:57 pm »

Those boys should have been able to follow that string!

Magicman · « **Reply #2 on:** January 08, 2012, 08:07:10 am »

It was a productive time spent together. Yup, the rows are straight.

Corley5 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 08, 2012, 09:12:15 am »

Containerized are the way to go. I planted 500 containerized red pine each of the last two springs and the survival rate was excellent. My luck with bareroot has been dismal. I planted into furrows I plowed with a Farmall Cub

I've got my order form for the Conservation District tree sale and may plant another 500 this spring.

Magicman · « **Reply #4 on:** January 08, 2012, 09:16:37 am »

To me, it's like eating an elephant "one bit at the time". I have planted several hundred trees for the past 5 years or so, but that is about over. I have now used up all of my space to plant.

We like having a few open spaces. We gotta see.

Meadows Miller · « **Reply #5 on:** January 08, 2012, 09:21:04 am »

Gday

Lynn I noticed that when I was there you almost had the farm chock a block full of trees Mate

Ifn you ever need a hand at thinning time you know who to call

containerized was about all you could get here for years some companies have gone to bare rooted though

As you said Mate time spent with the family is good time well spent Mate

Regards Chris

Bill Gaiche · « **Reply #6 on:** January 08, 2012, 11:04:12 am »

Nice work MM. In about 25 yrs. It will be intresting to see what the farm tour will be like at that special chicken-crispen? bg

Magicman · « **Reply #7 on:** January 08, 2012, 02:39:36 pm »

I already have about 7 miles of woods trails, plus, I'm working on some new ones. As my existing Pines get a bit more age on them, I have some more plans.

Side loader · « **Reply #8 on:** January 08, 2012, 03:36:15 pm »

Magicman I've got 5000 containerized pine seedlings to plant. They came from the plum creek nursery at Georgetown. I had clear-cut a 10 acre tract this summer and am replanting it now. On days when it's too wet to log my 2 man crew plants trees. I had to use a string and some pin flagging as the rows were crooked. Lugging that dibble bar around gets old fast. Even though they cost more the containerized are better. Bare root seedlings are much easier to J root. I hope you get a good stand.

customsawyer · « **Reply #9 on:** January 08, 2012, 05:38:15 pm »

I will agree that with long leaf container seedlings are the way to go but if you are planting lob or slash then you can get a good stand with the bare root. My company used to plant about 18,000 acres every winter and 98-99% was bare root trees. This is all in the south so when it comes to what you folks do up north I don't have a clue.
This is the back of the planter with the wife dropping the trees

Another shot of same thing

This is how it all got started

This is what my boys thought of having to work on the weekend.

mad murdock · « **Reply #10 on:** January 08, 2012, 06:46:48 pm »

Quote from: customsawyer on January 08, 2012, 05:38:15 pm

I will agree that with long leaf container seedlings are the way to go but if you are planting lob or slash then you can get a good stand with the bare root. My company used to plant about 18,000 acres every winter and 98-99% was bare root trees. This is all in the south so when it comes to what you folks do up north I don't have a clue.

Here in the PNW it is all random hand planted usually 10x10 or so spacing with coastal doug fir. Ground is too steep most areas to use mechanized methods. A planting shovel works better than a bar in most soils around here. We planted about 1300 trees in '08 (late winter/ early spring, hired it done). 2 guys had all the trees in the ground in 6 hrs.

WDH · « **Reply #11 on:** January 08, 2012, 07:17:12 pm »

Ripping the soil to bust up the plow pan or hard pan does wonders for survival.

Here is a thread about planting bare root stock on old pasture. The trees are entering their fourth year, and there is better than 95% survival. I need to take a pic and update this thread ........http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,33920.0.html

Lynn,

Your grandsons will remember this for the rest of their life. You are creating quite a legacy with your tree farm. It will always be a special place for your family.

Taylortractornut · « **Reply #12 on:** January 08, 2012, 09:35:59 pm »

That transplanter looks alot like my Pepper setter I use in my market gardens to transplanted onions and peppers. I had a ton of oak trees come up on my compost yard. I have a friend that got a grant for ashelter belt. We ripped and disked the ground and then we planted 1400 trees almost 2.5 hours.

Magicman · « **Reply #13 on:** January 08, 2012, 09:58:51 pm »

I have not had any problem with the survival rate of machine or "hodad" planted bareroot seedlings. SYP or Oak. It's just that in this instance, I only wanted a few Loblolly seedlings, and containerized was available. 330 seedlings cost me $40.

In the past, I have always pulled the subsoiler through first, but we really did not know exactly where all of these were going.

Magicman · « **Reply #14 on:** January 08, 2012, 10:12:23 pm »

Quote from: WDH on January 08, 2012, 07:17:12 pm

Lynn, Your grandsons will remember this for the rest of their life. You are creating quite a legacy with your tree farm. It will always be a special place for your family.

I have tried to continually involve them with the tree farm as improvements are made. They are already looking forward to painting the remainder of the property lines. Then we can start over again with re-painting. This way, they will grow up being familiar with exactly where all of the boundaries are.

The Tree Farm boundaries. The great majority of the open pasture land is now planted Pine and Oak. PatD's Straw House overlooks the brown spot in the approximate center.

Showing the additional 200 leased acres.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #15 on:** January 09, 2012, 05:01:19 am »

Quote from: Corley5 on January 08, 2012, 09:12:15 am

Containerized are the way to go. I planted 500 containerized red pine each of the last two springs and the survival rate was excellent. My luck with bareroot has been dismal. I planted into furrows I plowed with a Farmall Cub I've got my order form for the Conservation District tree sale and may plant another 500 this spring.

Bare root definitely take a lot more care. However, we had great success with red pine bare root when DNR grew them. They were big seedlings. I had a crew plant some and they were not well looked after before planting. I filled in and maybe had one or two die.

On old field we had best success with a 2-furrow plow and plant beside the hinge of the sod. That way you have the scalp on one side and the uprooted sod on the other making a big bare spot giving the tree a couple years before the weeds thicken in the bare spot. We found just spraying herbicide made it worse releasing weeds that were worst than the stuff already growing. Bedstraw is a curse on old fields.

I've seen old timers in their 80's plant trees. You have a while yet MM.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #16 on:** January 09, 2012, 05:08:27 am »

Quote from: Side loader on January 08, 2012, 03:36:15 pm

I had to use a string and some pin flagging as the rows were crooked. Lugging that dibble bar around gets old fast.

I got a kick out of that. One for the straight rows concept and two the dibble bar. How heavy is your bar? They make special ones with a step on the side to seat it into the ground. Curved handle. We had ones that were threaded on the end for different sized container diameters. J-rooting happens from improper planting, can even happen with container. Happens when seedlings are stuffed into a smaller hole than required. I can plant 1200-1600 trees a day, depending on the site, how much trash is on the ground.

One site we planted one time, the moose and deer came along and pulled them all out. One site with red pine, the deer nipped off all the candle growth of the new seedlings.

Magicman · « **Reply #17 on:** January 09, 2012, 07:29:48 am »

All of the Pines that I had planted were "low density 2nd. generation" trees.

Most of our manual planting is done by "South if the border" workers. They are short anyway and use hodads instead of a dibble bar.

Side loader · « **Reply #18 on:** January 09, 2012, 06:45:34 pm »

Swamp, these dibblebars are exactly as you describe, curve handle with the step on the side and as majicman said "south of the border" is where the labor comes from, however I've got 2 guys that are use to pulling wood with a skidder and running a feller buncher BUT it's too wet to work SO they get to plant trees. Thus the pin flagging. This is a cut-over (clearcut) so a tree planter is out of the question. I wish you were closer and you could show these guys how to do it ( 1200-1500 trees/day.) loggers are use to cutting trees, not planting them!!

customsawyer · « **Reply #19 on:** January 09, 2012, 07:11:49 pm »

I will not get into the numbers I used to plant by hand but I will say that a tree planted right is a tree planted right. It don't matter what it is planted with.

Taylortractornut · « **Reply #20 on:** January 09, 2012, 08:16:52 pm »

A few years ago I was working out of the shop doing welding work and odd jobs. One weekend I Had an old man get me to plant trees. After a half a box I figured there was a better way. He marked the ground with ground paint. I took his old Case tractor where the wheel turn out flanges were and mounted a pipe with some pin hles in it. I turned a hay spear on the lathe i nthe shape of the root ball. I drilled 2 holes a few inches apart to bolt the spear in. THis made the spear retractable. WHen it was run out it made an automatic dibblebar. Just drove down the lines and then went back and dropped the trees in and and water them in. Fun till I found the phone line.

Magicman · « **Reply #21 on:** January 10, 2012, 08:14:52 am »

This good soaking rain will be good for my freshly planted trees.

As Jake stated above, I have very good survival rate with various planting methods. The best growth rate was in areas where I pulled a subsoiler through the Fall before the planting.

WDH · « **Reply #22 on:** January 10, 2012, 08:29:35 pm »

The rain will be wonderful. Root growth will begin, getting the trees ready in case of spring drought.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #23 on:** January 10, 2012, 09:45:21 pm »

I wish that would work on hair roots. Lord knows been rained on lots.

WDH · « **Reply #24 on:** January 10, 2012, 09:50:03 pm »

Well, come on down to Mississippi and give it a try

. It might not work without the grits, though.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #25 on:** January 10, 2012, 09:53:38 pm »

Well, who could pass that up. Any place named Helsinki down there?

WDH · « **Reply #26 on:** January 10, 2012, 10:18:29 pm »

Wait until July or August

.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #27 on:** January 11, 2012, 05:00:21 am »

#$%^& that!

customsawyer · « **Reply #28 on:** January 11, 2012, 05:49:46 am »

If your scared say your scared.

Magicman · « **Reply #29 on:** January 11, 2012, 07:07:45 am »

I ain't skeered.

Magicman · « **Reply #30 on:** January 24, 2012, 05:47:03 pm »

I was able to finish planting my Pine seedlings this morning. I had a total 330 containerized seedlings and I really had to look and think to find a place for all of them. I doubt that I will be planting any more.

Planting the last seedlings.

The box is empty. Maybe I can retire that old dibble bar now.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #31 on:** January 24, 2012, 06:26:12 pm »

Looks like some nice little trees.

WDH · « **Reply #32 on:** January 24, 2012, 09:31:14 pm »

They won't be little for long.

MM, are you going to spray for grass control this spring? It makes a huge difference.

Magicman · « **Reply #33 on:** January 24, 2012, 10:31:34 pm »

Danny, those seedlings came from Tiffin, Ga. They should be able to outgrow everything..

Yes, I will spot stray Arsenal.

WDH · « **Reply #34 on:** January 24, 2012, 10:33:17 pm »

Don't stand over one for long

.

Ron Scott · « **Reply #35 on:** January 24, 2012, 11:21:12 pm »

Well done!

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Author Topic: Planting Pine Seedlings (Read 1134 times)